trees are people too

in my media researching I have stumbled upon the heinous. I introduce to you: Generation C. Uh-huh.

I had only just recovered from the pleasure of discovering (through research, I assure you, not personal experience :cough:) the wonderful attributes of generation y, the children of baby boomers who are all about individuality, self expression, cynicism and celebrity, and who are (were, sorry) the most technically savvy generation in history.

But apparently there is already a new generation, all strapped up and ready to supersede.

It’s not Generation Z or the internet generation, as I so foolishly thought. No, Generation C (the C stands for the Content Generation) is the new and latest generation defined by ‘by trend spotters, media commentators, technology industry observers/CEOs and semioticians‘ (now we know who is pigeonholing us).

The interesting thing about this generation is that it is less defined by its social demographics – in particular its age – and more defined by its media habits. This is outstanding – rather than a generation being defined by its habits (and media and communication playing a crucial role in this definition), media itself is now defining an entire generation. This is not about our values, our desires, our emotions (although I would like to argue they are reflected in our media usage), this is about how we access, process and disseminate information, how we communicate.

Generation C is a group that ‘creates, produces and participates in news and information in a connected, informed society’. That’s us!! Us, the prosumers. Anyone who is engaging with the digital age really falls into this category by default, and therefore Gen C spans across numerous generations. A space for all ages.

Generation C is composed of those who are literate in Web 2.0, digital media and digital networking, and those who create user generated content – which is most of us, if you have commented on a blog, submitted a video or photo to a website or contributed to a wiki.

The whole definition captures the incredible phenomenom of user generated content, websites such as youtube, wikipedia, flickr, even facebook and myspace, and the avalanche of content that consumers are producing. As noted here, Generation C needs to be able to media multi-task to survive, and we, as media practitioners, need to be spectacular at this.

So right now I am writing my blog and trying to watch TV at the same time. Genius. Well, not exactly, but you get the idea. The way media technology is advancing will change not just how we communicate, but how we interpret and create, as I discussed in a previous post about video.

In the past six months I have learned at least three new media skills, and I am applying them regularly, be it thrashing delicious, writing html or finding the record button on my phone. or the shut up and post button on my blog. I guess that makes me Gen C.

More on UGC next time, which is where I was heading with this.