BBC 6 Minute English
Transcript
Neil
Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute English, I’m Neil.
Rob
And I’m Rob.
Neil
Rob, what generation are you?
Rob
Well what are my choices?
Neil
You can’t choose what generation you are, it depends on when you were born.
Rob
Oh, OK then, what are the different generations?
Neil
Well, there are baby boomers, who were born in between the 1940s and the early 1960s. Then there was Generation X, born between the mid 1960s and the early 1980s. Then there is Generation Y, also known as millennials, born mid 1980s to late 1990s, and …
Rob
OK, let me guess, Generation Z? Born in the late nineties or early noughties?
Neil
You’re very smart. So, which one are you?
Rob
Ah, that would give away my age, wouldn’t it? OK, I have to confess I am Generation X. And what about you, Neil?
Neil
Yes me too, Generation X. But today we’re going to focus on Generation Z, also known as Gen Z. What marks Gen Z in particular is that they are the social media generation. They have never known a time without social media.
Rob
Oh, poor them!
Neil
Mmm, well, that’s one view. Other opinions are available. Before we look at Gen Z in more detail, a question though. No one can quite agree on who first used the term ‘social media’, but we do know from which decade it came. Was it:
a) the 1980s
b) the 1990s
c) the noughties, that is the first decade of the 21st Century.
Rob, what’s your answer?
Rob
Well, come on, it’s quite a recent thing. It’s got to be c) the noughties.
Neil
We’ll find out the answer later in the programme. Now we’re going to hear from Hiral Patel who is an analyst for Barclays. She appeared on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme and was asked whether there was much difference between millennials and Generation Z. Does she think they are the same or different?
Hiral Patel
Most people view Generation Z as mini-millennials – and that’s because there is an obsession with the word ‘millennial’. Our research shows that Gen Z are different and that they have their own set of values and preferences which consumer brands need to cater for. Our research found that Gen Z are tech-innate, hyper-informed consumers, and extremely savvy. This hyper-connected world that we live in today is a new norm for them.
Neil
So Rob, does Hiral Patel think there is much difference between the two generations?
Rob
Yes, she does. But she comments that not everyone does. Millennials a term that is used so frequently that many people think it refers to all young people. Gen Z, she says are not mini-millennials, they are quite different and have their own values and preferences.
Neil
And this is important for consumer brands, for companies who want to sell to this generation. They need to cater for that generation, which means they need to provide goods that Gen Z want.
Rob
And she describes Gen Z as being tech-innate hyper-informed consumers.
Neil
It’s a bit of a mouthful but essentially it means that they are extremely comfortable with modern technology and social media and as a result have a lot of information about what’s going on in the world. This makes them savvy.
Rob
And being savvy means being able to understand situations well and make clever decisions because of this knowledge.
Neil
Now, I think I’m pretty savvy when it comes to modern connected technology and media, but I didn’t grow up with it, it’s new. For Gen Z, this level of technology is what is normal, it’s all around and always has been, it’s their norm, as Hiral Patel put it. Here she is again:
Hiral Patel
Most people view Generation Z as mini-millennials – and that’s because there is an obsession with the word ‘millennial’. Our research shows that Gen Z are different and that they have their own set of values and preferences which consumer brands need to cater for. Our research found that Gen Z are tech-innate, hyper-informed consumers, and extremely savvy. This hyper-connected world that we live in today is a new norm for them.
Neil
Right, time to review this week’s vocabulary, but first let’s have an answer to that quiz. In what decade was the term ‘social media’ first coined? Was it:
a) the 1980s
b) the 1990s
c) the noughties
What did you say, Rob?
Rob
Yeah, well I said c) the noughties.
Neil
You’re wrong. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 1990s is the answer. I’m sure most of you got that one correct. Right, now, the vocabulary.
Rob
Yes, this week we’ve been talking about generations. This is a term used to describe people born in a particular period of time, usually, but not always a period of about 18 to 20 years.
Neil
And we were focussing on Generation Z or Gen Z which includes those born in the early noughties, which is the first decade of the 21st Century from 2000 to 2009.
Rob
The next expression was to cater for. This means to provide something that is needed or wanted for a particular group. And if you are trying to sell something, you need to cater for your target market.
Neil
And if your market is Gen Z you need to be aware that they are tech innate, hyper-informed. They have grown up with connected technology and are very knowledgeable.
Rob
This makes them extremely savvy. This adjective means smart and intelligent. In this context it means they are able to make smart decisions about what to buy because they are connected so many sources of information. And for Gen Z, this level of interaction and connectivity is the norm. It’s what is normal, what is usual for them. So where I struggle sometimes with modern life and technology – for Gen Z, it’s easy.
Neil
Well, that may be true but I’m savvy enough to know that it’s time to end the programme.
Do join us again next time and remember you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and of course our website bbclearningenglish.com. And let’s not forget our app, Rob!
Rob
Download it now. It’s free!
Neil
Join us again next time. Goodbye.
Rob
Bye!
Sumamry
How Generation Z Will Change The World According To Experts | TIME
Transcript
Generations are really about cultural change. By studying generations, we can get an idea of how growing up now as a child or a teen is different from it was for say the Gen Xers, growing up in the 80s, or the Boomers, growing up in the 1960s.
Looking specifically at numbers, we define Gen Z as those born between 1995 and 2012. 1995 just happens to be the year the internet was commercialized, so that also captures the generation of people who were born after the internet existed who don’t know a world without the internet.
Compared to previous generations, they spend a lot more time communicating with their friends electronically, and they also spend less time hanging out with their friends in person. My generation, we’re truly digital natives. We’ve really only known a world where our phones are smart. You know, we turn to technology for a lot of things whether it be entertainment, research, or education. It’s truly just part of who we are. I’m not entirely convinced that iGen’s skill with social media is going to be a complete positive. It’s also linked to depression, anxiety, and unhappiness, especially for people who are spending too much time on social media and comparing themselves to others too much.
People always talk about taking digital detoxes and stepping away for a little bit, and I don’t know if it’s necessarily cutting out the phone for a month at a time, but understanding that it’s okay to put down your phone for a couple of hours, don’t have it at the dinner table, try not to be on your phone right before bed. There’s just a time and a place for everything, and I think understanding that is really important. I think something that parents can do to help with this anxiety, the phones, and information overload is really helping them sort of analyze and prioritize the information, which is something that’s definitely needed with this generation.
At the moment, what many people think of when they think of iGen is a teen or a young adult, you know, looking at his or her phone, but I think they’ll become known for other things as time goes on.
One of our traits that is very upfront with my generation is that we’re very, very realistic. At a young age, we were thrown into a world that you could say wasn’t the prettiest. You know, we grew up amongst the 2009 recession, after 9/11, and our parents didn’t tell us we could necessarily be whatever we wanted. They told us that it’s a hard world out there. You’re gonna have to work your butt off, and if you’re not willing to, there’s plenty of others that will.
Gen Z entering the workforce, it’s gonna be a lot of change. For Gen Z, if I can log on and log in, I’m at work. So I think the physical office is really gonna be challenged. Another thing that we know about this generation is that they’re really gonna challenge the pace at which things get done.
Everyone talks about work/life balance, you know, I’ve got my work and my life and work’s from 9:00 to 5:00, and then your life, and how do we balance the two? What I love about Gen Z is they just don’t think it works, and it really hasn’t worked. What they go for is work/life blend where work and life are seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
By spring of their senior year, iGen teens are less likely compared to previous generations to have their driver’s license, to work at a paid job, to go out on dates, to drink alcohol, and we’ve already seen this with Millennials and young adulthood. Taking longer to settle into careers, to marry, to have children, and so on. So the whole developmental trajectory is slowed down.
Gen Z is by far the most diverse generation ever, and we’re also the most interconnected around the globe. Part of the reason is that now with our generation when something happens, the entire world finds out immediately through social media, through hashtags. We’re always connected to each other so we feel as though whether it happened in the same building or a thousand miles away, it is immediately affecting us because we hear about it, and so there, we feel obligated to help and be a part of the situation whether it’s positive or negative.
They are also the one that values equality the most, whether we’re talking about race or gender or sexual orientation or transgender issues. They’re really much more open and focused on equality.
We really do not fear failure, so whether it be through political activation or entering a new workplace or trying a new thing, we’re willing to try something and fail, and this is gonna have a great impact on the other generations. For the rest of us who have been so cautious, that’s gonna really rub off, to get us to step outside our box and maybe try some new things.