Which one are you?

Since you're on the internet right now, and assuming it's not your first time, you've probably already noticed that this space is pretty much dominated by a younger crowd.

You've likely heard them referred to as Millennials or as Gen Z.

And how are they different from generations X and Y?

What's with all the labels anyway?

And how can you make heads or tails of which one you belong to and what defines your generation?

Well, according to sociologist Carl Mannheim, it all comes down to generational location, meaning that all members of a generation share a similar collective experience.

We'll get into what those might be for your generation.

But before we do that, take this moment to subscribe to our channel and hit that notification bell, so that you'll always be the first to see all our new videos.

Now, where were we?

Yes, people are categorized into generations depending on when they were born.

For today's video, we're gonna focus on people born in the US.

As of now, there are five living generations.

The Traditionalists also known as the Silent Generation who were born before 1945.

Then there's the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964.

Anyone born between 1965 and 1979 are considered Generation X.

While Millennials or Generation Y were born between 1980 1995.

Finally, there's Gen Z or Centennials who were born from 1996 to the present.

These ranges are just approximations, of course.

You can be born within three years of the beginning or end of a generation and still belong to it.

What's more important is the collective experiences people born within these years share.

The Traditionalist Generation who are now age 73 and older has a wide range of collective experiences.

Some are old enough to remember one or both of the World Wars, the Great Depression and even the invention of sliced bread.

As a result of these experiences, most traditionalists value hard work, commitment and practicality, and they don't like to be wasteful.

That's not to say other generations don't share these values; it's just that the scarcity of resources during these trying times fostered a culture of doing whatever it took to survive.

They also tend to be more respectful of authority, that is the "always respect your elders' generation," which you might recognize in your older relatives.

Traditionalists gave birth to the baby boomers who were, of course, part of the huge birth rate increase following the second World War.

Boomers changed a lot about American society, particularly (in) advertising and marketing.

Since they were such a large part of the population, they did a lot of the spending and had a great impact on the economy once they entered and left the workforce.

The post-war political landscape was pretty rocky, so there's plenty of collective experiences for this generation to choose from.

The Vietnam War and the controversy surrounding the draft, the Cold War and the red scare, the civil rights movement, Woodstock and counterculture, the moon landing, and the list goes on.

All these experiences made for a wide range of characteristics and values.

This generation started out liberal when they were involved in all the political and social movements, but they then grew more conservative as they aged.

There's some disagreement as to when exactly the boomers end and Gen X begins.

A lot of people born from 1961 to 1964 don't identify as boomers and don't have any emotional connection to the collective experiences that shape them.

This has prompted some researchers to classify Generation X as those born from 1961 to 1981.

Gen X got to experience the aftermath of all the changes the boomers made.

With both parents now entering the workforce, Gen X kids had less adult supervision than previous generations which caused them to be more peer-oriented.

The use of computers also took off during these years, making Gen X more entrepreneurial than their parents and grandparents.

The collective experiences of Gen X include the crack epidemic and the emergence of the AIDS crisis,

which made them much more cynical and disaffected as teens and young adults than boomers or Traditionalists had ever been.

Music also defined a lot of this generation, with the invention of music videos and the popularization of hip-hop, rap and Grunge.

Millennials, they've been the topic of much debate, even over when their generation starts and ends.

Some demographers have decided that Millennials were born as early as 1977, while others extend their cut-off to as late as 1999.

And of course, there's the ever-popular Millennial bashing.

Other generations complain that Millennials are selfish, entitled, narcissistic, addicted to their phones, lazy, impatient, impulsive, overly sensitive, weak-willed, and the name-calling goes on and on

While it's true that some Millennials share these traits, the same can be said of literally anyone else in the world.

There's no need to vilify an entire generation for wanting and expecting good things for themselves or for taking full advantage of the awesome technology that surrounds them.

In fact, the sweeping technological advances of the digital age have made Millennials much more group-oriented than their predecessors,

which accounts for their social progressiveness and tendency towards left-leaning politics.

And Z includes everyone born in the 21st century.

They can be the children of either Gen X or Millennial parents, and this difference can affect their relationship with the technology, they've grown up with.

Gen X parents who were raised without widespread access to the internet are more likely to be restrictive with their kids' devices.

Millennial parents, on the other hand, grew up as the technology we have now was developing and gaining popularity,

so they tend to be more lenient when it comes to their children using gadgets.

Such digital savvy lends itself to the entrepreneurial spirit mentioned earlier with Gen X.

So Gen Z also tends to value collaboration more in both school and work.

Centennials were born into an environment where digital devices were widespread and readily available.

So they have a very different relationship with it than previous generations.

In fact, 40% of Centennials surveyed said that a reliable Wi-Fi connection is more important to them than reliable bathrooms.

Of course, it's possible they might use that Wi-Fi to find a nearby public restroom, but still, it's the principle of the matter.

Millennials and Centennials share the most similarities and collective experiences out of all the living generations.

So there's a lot of debate about the exact range for each of them.

No matter where exactly these generations start, they've mostly experienced the same things.

A majority of Millennials can remember where they were when the September 11th terrorist attacks happened.

They can tell you exactly when they got their first cell phone, and when they first made a Myspace account.

They can recognize the theme songs to Family Ties, Rugrats and other popular shows of the 80s and 90s.

Someone born in 1996 might not remember or have an emotional connection to the events of 2001, which is why some researchers classify them as Centennials rather than Millennials.

The technological immersion that marks the turn of the century and defines the younger generations has definitely affected how they communicate.

Everything online happens pretty much instantaneously,

so Millennials and Centennials tend to expect other things to happen quickly too, especially responses to texts and emails.

It's also led to a specific sort of humor in Gen Y and Z that completely baffles older generations.

A lot of this humor references other jokes, so if you haven't seen a specific Vine or SpongeBob episode, then it just sounds like nonsense.

You could even count meme culture as a collective experience that two generations share.

But when it comes down to it, generational lines are just as arbitrary as borders on a map.

They don't really matter.

They're just stuff we made up to help define ourselves better.

But really, you can define yourself and your generation however you want.

So what defines your generation?

When do you think each of the generations start and stop?

What are some collective experiences people share in the place you're from?

Tell us in the comments below.

Give this video a like if you found it useful, share it with your friends and family and always remember to stay on the bright side of life.