Generation C

Generation C (also known as Gen C) is the label given to a new generation by trend spotters, media commentators, technology industry observers/CEOs and semioticians. What the C stands for is currently under debate, particularly given the lack of direct research (as opposed to deductive reasoning) on the subject. Although, some believe this to be irrelevant seeing as Generations X & Y do not stand for anything either.

The American Press Association's Media Center describes Gen C as "creating, producing and participating in news in a connected, informed society."

Psychographic vs. Demographic

Like Generations X and Y, Generation C does not have definite start and end dates. Commentators GeneRally describe Generation C as ‘young’ however the age ranges are severely inconsistent, ranging from those born in the early 1980's all the way to those born at the beginning of the new millennium. Unlike previous generations, Generation C appears to be defined more by behavior and psychographics as opposed to common demographics. For example, major components of the movement would include its members' hometown or worldwide acts of selflessness or altruism, as well as offering new additions to a society's creative output; wherein another major requisite would be those who "produce and share content". Though these hypothetical philanthropist/artists need not necessarily be considered mass consumers as some marketing strategists have already begun to assume.

Early sightings

Generation C was first documented in detail on Trendwatching.com in March 2004 . Then and subsequently, Trendwatching.com has identified C as standing for creativity, content, celebrity and control.

In March 2005 the first book discussing Gen C was released, Communities Dominate Brands, by Tomi T Ahonen and Alan Moore (278 pages hardcover, futuretext) with a whole chapter on Generation C (as in Community Generation). Since then this book and its usage of Gen C as the Community Generation have been quoted at numerous instances and by such organizations as UK publisher Emap, advertising agency Ogilvy, Oxford University and UK based Sub TV, Nokia and Coca Cola.

In May 2006, New Zealand's Idealog magazine published an article "Meet Generation C", which brought together many of the already-identified characteristics of Generation C. The article compared Generation C to the archetypical Renaissance Man or Woman, positing that the rise in creative expression was due to the same conditions that led to the renaissance - namely trade and widespread peace.

In June 2006 the first university short course mentioning Generation C in its agenda was run at Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education.

In June 2007 the first university short course about Generation C was run at Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education

In August 2007 the second book covering Gen C was released. Digital Korea, by Tomi T Ahonen and Jim O'Reilly (284 pages hardcover, futuretext) which examines the advanced digital information society of South Korea, explored deeply the South Korean youth and its advanced state and behaviour in exhibiting Gen C behaviour, reporting for example that 30% of South Korean Gen C youth send over 100 SMS text messages per day.

Related Terms and Trends

Generation C could be said to comprise the people who use Web 2.0, create user-generated content and participate in the co-creation of products and services. UK university broadcaster SubTV CEO Peter Miles concurs saying Gen C distinguishing aspect is the use of SMS text messaging as Gen C's connect almost telepathically sending dozens, some even 100 text messages per day in what Miles calls a hive mentality, allowing groups to spontaneously connect, collaborate and share.

The first commercial service proposition targeting Generation C (with the Community Generation definition) exclusively and based strongly on the book by Ahonen & Moore, is UK based youth-only mobile phone service provider Blyk, which limits its customers to those between ages of 16 to 24.

Alan Moore is continuing his writing into Generation C through lectures at Oxford and MIT and with his second book project, as of yet unnamed.

Jake Pearce is currently working with journalist Simon Young and youth activist Ilai Amir on the world's first in-depth research into Generation C. They have coined the term "digitally native" as the differentiating factor between Gen C and other generations. In other words, there is a growing idea Generation C was born into a digital world. However, those in the vast age-group of Generation C are opposed to this being a differentiating factor because it excludes those born in the mid-to-late 80's, leaving them "digitally naive". Many of those who are soon to reach post-college adulthood wish to uphold same ideals and are eager to be involved in the newly coined Generation C.

Tomi T Ahonen is doing research in several countries to follow up on his South Korean book about Gen C and is finishing a new book examining specifically the role of mobile phones for Gen C. This book is tentatively entitled Mobile as the Seventh Mass Media and will have a chapter on how the preferred communication media for Gen C is the mobile phone.

What 'C' stands for

The proposed title of 'The Content Generation' has thus far been maintained although there is currently no consensus regarding what the 'C' stands for, and based on a review of three years of all references to Gen C available on the internet and key databases, there has not been as yet an attempt to validate any hypothesis put forward. The evidence cited for Generation C and the motivation for their behavior is indirect (e.g. numbers of people contributing to YouTube or myspace, uptake of certain channels over others, or content on the Web).

The lack of direct evidence into the subject precludes any judgement regarding whether Gen C is a ‘global phenomenon’, particularly since only 5% of the global population has access to the Internet, and some mostly USA-focused commentators had cited Internet driven behavior as critical to Gen C.

Since then, observing that mobile phones already reach 38% of the total population of the planet, and SMS text messaging is the most addictive service used by Generation C, newer thinking has emerged that the defining technology is in fact mobile phone usage as first argued by Ahonen & Moore in their book of 2005. The Catholic University of Leuwen study on mobile phone addiction found that the majority of teenagers are wakened at night to incoming text messages and 20% regularly have sleep problems due to night time text messaging exchanges.. Authors from Howard Rheingold (Smart Mobs) to Ajit Jaokar (Mobile Web 2.0) have illustrated how strongly the change in behaviour is rooted in mobile phone and SMS use, rather than internet use.

There is also a small environmental group making different use of the name Generation C. Recently started in St. Andrews, the group is gaining popularity slowly in several different countries spanning over several countries. The 'Generation C' hopes to combine forces with similar environmental groups in the United States. They claim that global climate change is going to effect 'Generation C', not the current generation in power. Therefore, this new generation should make the C stand for 'change'. The website for this group will soon be seen at www.generation-c.org.

Currently the 'C' has been noted to refer to the following items:

• C – Cusp
• C – Caring
• C – Culture
• C – Control
• C – Content
• C – Channel
• C – Criterion
• C – Celebrity
• C – Cynicism
• C – Character
• C - Community
• C – Connected
• C – Consensus
• C – Complexity
• C – Collaborative
• C – Communication
• C – Code (internet coding)
• C – Companies/Corporations (most will be working for large companies and/or corporations rather than small or medium sized businesses)
• C – Creativity/Creative/Creators (also Creative Class)

Other terms include: Millennials, Gamers, Pharmers, the "Internet Schooled" or Students of the Internet, the optimistic New Revolutionaries or New Altruists, as well as the less than hopeful, Apathetic Generation, Internet Generation and the "Sad Generation" (See reference under Generation Y). In addition to their many monikers, their involvement in the digital revolution has been dubbed the "open source movement".

External links

Employee Evolution: the Voice of Millennials at Work
The Gen C centre
Gen C videos by Jake Pearce
Collection of Gen C articles
Key Gen C-related blogs
Generation C - spotted in the wild
Books about Generation C
Generation C-related organisations
The Generation C report
Looksy.org - the voice of Generation C