Why We Need to Change How We Talk About Younger Generations

Social media is relevant to all of us, but more so for younger generations, who have found that it can be a useful tool. Certainly, there’s the darker side where teens face cyberbullying and body shaming, but there’s another side. A portion of teens and younger adults have found that they can use Facebook, Twitter, and the rest as a forum for change if only the older generations will listen.

Millenials Are Changing the Workplace
This social revolution is beginning in industry, where millennials are finding that they’re unsatisfied with the status quo and see room for change. First on that list is their employer’s purpose. It’s not enough to make a product or provide a service. Younger generations expect the companies they work for to have a purpose and one with which they can support without compromising their own values.

Going along with that, younger generations expect transparency. We’ve already seen this in the way that millennials interact as consumers, demanding a certain level of corporate responsibility from the brands they follow. Now, they’re taking that to the workplace, as well. While some information must always remain confidential, millennials expect their employers to share as much as they can. This isn’t just idle curiosity. They want to care about their jobs and they want to feel as though they really are a part of the organization. While keeping secrets and an overall reluctance to share information may have been the way to do things in the past, younger generations are not okay with that and they are speaking up.

Millenials Are Changing the Game
Everyone’s parents tell them that they can be anything, as long as they work hard and apply themselves. The difference between millennials and the rest of us is that the younger generation is actually taking their parents at their word. They’re not content to sit around at a job they hate, looking forward to the weekend and complaining that it all went by too fast.

The social media explosion and the new digital age have changed the game, one which millennials are playing to win. While the rest of the world criticizes them for the few dumb stunts that get over publicized on Facebook, they’re taking advantage of new opportunities. The internet helps them learn about investing, entrepreneurship, and the commercial value of gaining a mass social media following.

While the rest of us criticize younger generations for being lazy, entitled, or just plain stupid, they’re out there proving us wrong. Instead of alienating millennials, perhaps we should be learning from them.

Originally published at arisleydaurena.com on May 7, 2018.