A few facts shared by Pew Research Center on the millennials, born between 1981 and 2000. A few things are radically different, apparently for the better:

• [Millennials] are the most ethnically and racially diverse cohort of youth in the nation’s history. Among those ages 13 to 29: 18.5% are Hispanic; 14.2% are black; 4.3% are Asian; 3.2% are mixed race or other; and 59.8%, a record low, are white.
• They are starting out as the most politically progressive age group in modern history. In the 2008 election, Millennials voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 66%-32%, while adults ages 30 and over split their votes 50%-49%. In the four decades since the development of Election Day exit polling, this is the largest gap ever seen in a presidential election between the votes of those under and over age 30.
• They are the first generation in human history who regard behaviors like tweeting and texting […] not as astonishing innovations of the digital era, but as everyday parts of their social lives and their search for understanding.
• They are the least religiously observant youths since survey research began charting religious behavior.
• They are more inclined toward trust in institutions than were either of their two predecessor generations — Gen Xers (who are now ages 30 to 45) and Baby Boomers (now ages 46 to 64) when they were coming of age.

Link

I was a bit surprised to find that this generation has that much trust in institutions. The rest had been known for a while as the Pew explains. Generations will be one of the topic explored during the upcoming Lift10. We will try to understand and uncover the myths and realities behind the cliches, and understand the different usages of technology. Check the conference program for more.

PS: Wikipedia puts a different name on this generation. There Millennials are Generation Y (mid seventies to late nineties), and Generation Z is what the Pew calls Millennials. Confusing, but not very important at the end of the day.

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