Lifestyle Opinions

By: Alyssa Velasquez

Generation Z is the group born between 1997 and 2012, with ages ranging from 28 to 13. This generation (my generation) is known as the first to grow up in an ever-evolving digital world with advancing technologies.

Though digital media and the internet are what we may have in common, I realized that within this group, there are many different phases of life these people are going through.

It is easy to come to the conclusion that a 28-year-old and a 13-year-old are not currently going through the same things in life. One has to worry about paying their bills on time, and the other needs to pass their math test. This is the opposite side of the spectrum, which makes me wonder if this group was “grouped” correctly.

Millennials

The Millennials (Gen Y) are the generation before Gen Z, with people born from 1981 and 1996. This generation was the first young adults to have full access to new technologies that no generation had before them.

Many of us “Gen Zers” have older siblings or family members who were born in this generation and find that they relate to this group more than their own.

Zillennial Generation?

I’ve seen a lot of TikToks or Instagram reels in relation to older Gen Z, typically the 1997-2005 (some debate 2005 is too young, but now that they are in their 20s, I personally think it’s acceptable), saying we should have our own generation category called the Zillennial. Right smack in the middle between not relating to the younger Gen Z, but also not old enough to be a Millennial.

I would see videos of Gen Y saying, “Gen Z doesn’t know what this is,” and it’s MTV music videos. I know what that is because I grew up with older cousins who were the last of the millennial age. The comment section was mostly saying we know what it is, and maybe they are referring to younger Gen Z.

So the question is, should there be a small subgroup of a generation called “Zillennial”? What I can say, as someone born in 2003, I cannot relate to someone born in 2010; the technologies during that time were different, and even what was going on in the world was different. In my opinion, I think it is arguable that we can include a small subgroup of the Zillennial era of people.