Lesson 1: THE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT

MILLENNIAL AND THE RISE OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

Who are the millennials?
Pew Research announced as of 2018 that the label millennials are those who were
born between the years 1981 and 1996. In today's time-2021-they are the ones
who age 25 to 40.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION

1.    Values meaningful motivation
Millennials value meaningful motivation. They may be characterized as being motivated
by creative work, sharing their gifts and making an impact on others and within their
communities. Oftentimes, these intrinsic motivators can be seen in a millennial's
approach to their careers. Many can frequently be found working toward helping others,
imparting inspiration or working to improve on a community or world-wide issue.
Additionally, many millennials aim for goals that offer ways to further their meaningful
work rather than monetary gains. While this generation's professional drive often helps
them advance in their careers, many seem to do so for reasons other than a salary
increase or monetary bonuses.

2.    Challenges the hierarchy status-quo

Millennials are known for their resolve in sharing their opinions and ideas, as well as
challenging their superiors when they feel it is warranted. While this trait can seem as
though millennials share contempt for authority on the whole, this characteristic actually
comes from the idea that what is best for the company results from active listening,
collaboration and considering all points of view. Millennials also seem to prefer working
across many functions, offering creative solutions and moving away from the
boundaries of professional status and level. Additionally, this generation seems to truly
believe that approaches such as these are more beneficial to the workplace than merely
following orders passed down from the top of the professional hierarchy.

3.   Places importance on relationships with superiors

More and more frequently, millennials have shown that when it comes to their careers,
they prefer a supervisor or manager that they can connect to as a mentor. This
generation has made a point to get comfortable working with their superiors and asking
for advice and counsel with regard to their career development. In addition to receiving
advice and feedback, millennials place importance on building rapport as well as
pathways for frequent communication with their managers.
4.   Intuitive knowledge of technology
As many millennials grew from childhood to adulthood, they witnessed the expansive
growth of technology. With that growth, millennials seem to have developed the ability
to quickly adapt and change according to new and more modernized technology as it
becomes available. Smartphones, virtual reality, interactive software and even artificial
intelligence may continue to see the millennial generation adding to its development. In
fact, the millennial generation may even be the first generation to be fully globalized
online during adolescence and early adulthood.
5.Open and adaptive to change
Not only are millennials described as adaptive to change, many embrace it. Oftentimes,
this generation has been one of ushering in changes in business, technology and the
economy. Most seem to recognize that these industries are constantly changing and
that the methods of working within the modern-day career field must change with
them. Being adaptive to the continuously changing atmosphere they live in also allows
this generation to advance in and take on a variety of roles.
6.Places importance on tasks rather than time
Millennials seem to be very task-oriented rather than time-oriented. This can appear in
the form of productivity with producing results, as well as placing a higher priority on
the quality of a product, deliverable or otherwise task-related output. This generation
places importance on working toward producing rather than being concerned with how
many hours they are able to put in at a job. More often, millennials may want to be
flexible in their schedules, working outside of a traditional "9 to 5" career so they may
use more of their personal time to pursue things outside of work.
7.Passion for learning
Not only are millennials open to change and adaptive, they seem to possess an
extraordinary passion for learning new things. This generation exhibits deep curiosity
about the world and displays the desire to further develop skills and knowledge that can
help them within their professional lives. Furthermore, millennials seem to understand
the importance of setting and achieving goals, both for personal growth and their
careers.
 8.Openly receptive to feedback and recognition
Rather than waiting to be reviewed on a biannual or annual basis, millennials also
appreciate regular feedback. This generation values input, advice and mentorship from
their managers, and they seem to be extremely receptive to continuous feedback on a
weekly or daily basis. Furthermore, performance management and development can
often be priorities for Generation Y, resulting in the need to hear from their supervisors
about how they are performing in their jobs. Additionally, this generation seems to
thrive off of open recognition, so positive praise in the workplace is something that can
benefit their motivation. Millennials generally appreciate knowing that what they are
doing is making a difference and that their talents are valued.
9.Free-thinking and creative
It could be from the vast availability of technological mediums, or the fact that
millennials grew up during the time of transition from conventional methods to
modernized and technologically advanced ways of working. Because of this innovation,
millennials may tend to be more imaginative in their thinking. If problems arise in the
workplace, millennials typically have the ability to come up with creative solutions to fix
them.
 10.Values teamwork and social interactions in the workplace
This generation also places a great degree of importance on working within a team
environment. Collaboration on projects, problem-solving with different points of view
and creating new and innovative approaches to working their fields may be cooperative
endeavors that millennials undertake while working on a team. In addition to
productivity and quality results on their teams, it may seem that many millennials also
desire a social atmosphere in the workplace. Qualities like fun, relaxed and comfortable
can be used to describe most millennials' idea of a fitting and optimal workplace.

DIFFERENCE OF MILLENIALS TO OTHER GENERATIONS

 
1.   Millennials are more educated.
 
The number of women who have finished their education increased. During the Silent
Generation (covers people who were born between the year 1928 and 1945), only 9
finished or graduated college; four years at least. If we were to compare the silent
generation and generation x (millennials), the women who completed their education
increased by 36% at the same age. For the male population, just like the female, have
increased the rates of young men who graduated university or college. Three in ten the
millennial generation, which is 29%, have completed their n with the least attainment of
a bachelor's degree.
 
2.   The number of the female population who has completed education increased
 
The female population has made bigger improvement over time when it comes to
education. Amongst the millennial generation from ages twenty-one (21) to thirty-six
(36), women who at least finished a bachelor's degree are 7% more than men. During
the silent generation, with the same age bracket, women were six point behind men
who have finished college education with four years the least attainment. As for Gen
Xers, they were the first generation whose women outnumbered men when it comes to
college educational attainment with 3% advantage among the millennial women.
 
3.    The number of working women increased.
 
In the year 1965, the female population of the silent generation were young with
majority of 58% women who were not in the labor force. With the Generation X or the
millennials, 71% of the female are employed and 26% are not in the labor force.
 
4.    Millennials are three times less likely to get married.
 In the year 1965, an average woman is most likely to get married at twenty-one (21)
and a man at twenty-three (23). With the millennials, as of the year 2017, the age slides
to twenty-seven (27) for the females and twenty-nine (29) for the males. When asked
why they haven't gotten married yet their reasons vary from not being financially
prepared (29%), they have not found their special someone with the qualities of their
standards (26%), and 26% said that they are not ready to settle down at such a young
age.
 
5.   Millennials are more racial and ethnically diverse.
 
As of the year 2017, the non-Hispanic whites are 56% of the American population
compared to the Silent Generation which has 86% of non-Hispanic whites. The Asian
race has also increased, however, the black remains almost the same.
 
6.   Millennial men are less likely to become a veteran
 
Despite the age where millennials are born in the conflict between Iraq and Afghanistan
wherein the United States military are engaged, they are less likely to serve in the
military than the older generation. Only 4% of the millennials are serving the military
compared to the 47% of the men of the silent generation who came in the age of the
Korean war and its aftermath.
 
7.     Most of the millennials in today's time live in the metropolitan area
 Nine (9) out of ten (10) millennials are residing in the metro areas with a percentage of
88%. Compared to the older generation the silent generation only had two-thirds which
is 67%, lived in the metropolitan area. With a similar rate, 68% of the baby boomers
were staying in the metropolitan area whilst the Gen Xers have a closer percentage
compared to the millennials with 84%.
 
THE IMAGE OF MILLENIALS
 
It is not a secret that the older generations do not hide their distaste with the millennial
generation. They have called the millennials killers of the industry, judging them with
their outlooks when it comes to marriage, career path, and simply their perspective in
life.
 
Although people often see just the other side of spectrum, millennials have created
movements that changed a lot. An example would be the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall
Street.
 
 Good things or bad things, however you want to see the generation of the millennials,
they are still the future leaders of the country, in business, and society in general.