Jesse F Ballenger

I'm curious if there is any sense of whether #mastodon has or is developing a generational identity?

Anecdotal or data-driven takes welcome, but as a start, indicate your #generation below and boost. Discussion of the assumptions behind this welcomed!

(I had to lump older generations in with boomers because evidently surveys are limited to four choices.) #generation #GenX #GenZ #millenials #Boomers

Gen Z (Age 10-25)
7.1%
Millenial (Age 26-41)
34.7%
Gen X (42-57)
44.5%
Boomer and older (Age 58 & up)
13.8%
Poll ended at .
Dec 7, 2022 at 2:28pmWeb
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 7, 2022

One assumption behind this is that the major social media platforms have developed pretty clear generational identities:

#facebook = Boomers
#twitter = Millennials
#tiktok = GenZ

Show threadMofongoDec 8, 2022
@jfballenger i guess we need an open source spy micro video sharing app.
Show threadRichard ShawDec 9, 2022

@jfballenger

#Usenet = GenX

GenX early adopters would have used platforms that worked on dial up internet which would have been Usenet and email lists.

I suspect GenX usage has been most affected by how technology changes have changed the nature of platforms.

Show threadOldandCrankyDec 9, 2022
@RichardShaw @jfballenger I'm a usenet boomer. I still miss usenet.
Show threadFRANK.MCCONNELDec 11, 2022

@RichardShaw @jfballenger

It's "Usenet", and I tend to spell it "netnews" because there's multiple transports and there were and are hierarchies other than the canonical Big 8

Show threadRichard ShawDec 11, 2022

@hairyvisionary @jfballenger

Thank you for pointing out my spelling mistake. I am dyslexic so I get these things wrong occasionally. I have now edited it.

Show threadSusan Davis 🇨🇦Dec 11, 2022

@RichardShaw @jfballenger

"Would have?" That's precisely what I did, back in the day. FidoNet '86 to '88; Usenet from late 88 on. Dialup to campus machines, then SL/IP and PPP. It was after 2000 before I had broadband.

#Usenet

Show threadSusan Davis 🇨🇦Dec 9, 2022
@jfballenger GenX being left out of your assumptions is the most GenX thing ever.
Show threadJake 🇺🇸 🇵🇱 Dec 9, 2022

@sue @jfballenger

Ain't that the truth LOL! Yet it seems GenX'ers are leading the pack here.

Show threadcoldDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger
Not sure the assumptions have any validity whatsoever, after what will one day be known as the "Musk singularity", or "post-Musk social media".
Show threadDBCDec 10, 2022
@jfballenger As a Boomer, I am active on Facebook, Twitter and Mastodon. Not sure I want to share with the Chinese on Tik Tok.
Show threadFRANK.MCCONNELDec 11, 2022
@jfballenger "facebook = Boomers" is pretty funny when you consider that this latter-day boomer first heard of it around the time he turned 41 and at that time it was meant for college/university students; I am not denying that older-than-me folks go for it in a big way
Show threadScott BrimDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger Also the responders are self-selecting, and whether they respond could easily be influenced by how they feel about being classified, etc.
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 7, 2022
@scottbrim Yep. This is certainly not a scientific poll. I'd welcome discussion of whether it makes sense to think about generational differences this way.
Show threadDave DiamondDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger 58, not a boomer
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 7, 2022

@dldnh I'm 61 and definitely never felt like a boomer either. I used what seems like a widely accepted generational age schema, Interestingly, they break boomers into younger and older categories.

https://www.beresfordresearch.com/age-range-by-generation/

Age Range by Generation | Beresford Research

Use this chart to access age range by generation names. We built this table to assist with our custom market research. It's updated annually.

Show threadDave DiamondDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger interesting, I've never seen it broken down like this.
Show threadChuck, just ChuckDec 9, 2022
@dldnh @jfballenger, at 63 I’ve always thought i was a tail-end Boomer.
Never heard of Generation Jones before now.
Show threadScunnert2Dec 7, 2022
@dldnh @jfballenger 59 & I feel the same, boomers to me are people in their mid 60s & older. Perfectly happy having grey hair & grandkids but not being classed as a boomer
Show threadJane Tomlinson - Artist 🌻⭐️Dec 9, 2022
@Scunnert @dldnh @jfballenger same here.
Show threadLiz JonesDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger Call me a donut, but ‘millennial’ is an awkwardly identified generation because it’s split by those that had the social media norm as teens and those that didn’t and I notice a big difference in those older/younger. I’m on the cusp, with it really kicking into everyday life when I was 19/20. Will add to your poll though. :)
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 7, 2022
@LizJonesMusic Great point. It's always interesting and debatable what social developments were salient enough to define the experience of an age cohort. But the penetration of social media into daily life certainly seems like one!
Show threadStephen PorterDec 8, 2022
@jfballenger @LizJonesMusic don't forget Xennials, born 77-82z, late stage Gen X, too young to "experience" the 1970s, 80s only as children and started having all the stereotypical Millennial problems before it became "official": not affording homes until we're into our 30s, not affording university, having dubiously useful degree, not being able to "walk in off the street" in jobs unlike Boomers did, & having Boomers Claim We're lazy, etc. Millennials had better online access :)
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 8, 2022
@stevep1978 @LizJonesMusic Thanks - I am just learning of this concept now!
Show threadRorzerDec 9, 2022
@stevep1978 @jfballenger @LizJonesMusic it me
Show threadRich Lafferty 🐀Dec 10, 2022

@LizJonesMusic @jfballenger I feel the same way about GenX -- I'm late GenX and am "millennial-leaning", but definitely not millennial. But I feel more in common with early millennials than with early GenX. Too young for punk.

Also you're a donut.

Show threadMorganDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger see, I'm technically Gen Z, but I would definitely not ever say that Mastodon or the fediverse are at all Gen Z.
Most people I've met on here are significantly older than me. That said, I wouldn't call it Gen X or what have you either, because I think use of it has more to do with other aspects of identity than age
Show threadGaridinDec 7, 2022
@jfballenger For what it's worth, Gen X is a smaller generation. I wish there were some way to factor that in. For example, if you have 20 Millennials and 10 Gen Xers, 1 of the latter is equal to 2 of the former.
Show threadDaryl76679Dec 8, 2022
@jfballenger Didn't expect us GenZers to be such a minority.
Show threadAndy BroomfieldDec 8, 2022
@jfballenger It’s weird in that as an older millennial I feel more aligned to Gen-X, at least the more rebellious parts.
Show threadTessa75Dec 8, 2022
@jfballenger I wonder if you will get the same results when you only put the age ranges in your answer options ( so without genx/z millennials boomers). Perhaps people do not vote because they are in a certain age group, but do not "like" the label attached. Voted GenX btw.
Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 8, 2022
@Tessa75 Yes - I think that's true. Age is objective, but generational labels carry a lot of cultural baggage. Certainly, I don't like the generational label I'm tagged with. Yet it's such a pervasive way of categorizing people.
Show threadRobDec 8, 2022

@jfballenger To vastly overgeneralize generational trends: Mastodon seems complicated and fiddly from a user experience perspective, so it's going to skew towards Gen X and Millennials that grew up adapting to emerging digital tech that was awkward and fiddly.

Most Boomers won't want to deal with the technical complexity of servers and federation, and Gen Z was raised on more polished digital products so they're less tolerant of having to fiddle with things.

Show threadRobDec 8, 2022

@jfballenger This isn't intended as shade to any cohort and individual situations will vary. Just anecdotal observation of how much time people are used to wasting messing around with digital platforms that aren't smoothly designed around an optimized user interface.

If you spent your youth trying to make sense of the 1995-2005 internet, you probably just have higher tolerance for a janky experience because "dealing with jank" was a necessity then.

Show threadJesse F BallengerDec 9, 2022
@rob That's a really interesting theory. As you say, it's a vast generalization (as most claims about generational difference are), but maybe something to it.
Show threadOldeHippi 🦋🎨🙏🌺Dec 9, 2022

@jfballenger

Not voting. Why is this important?

Show threadKarl Morant 🇨🇦  🖖Dec 9, 2022

@jfballenger

Flannel and Nuclear armegeddon are my thing!

Show threadAaron Crocco ✅Dec 9, 2022
@jfballenger I’m a Xennial, so I can’t vote.
Show threadSphinxy Dec 9, 2022
@AaronCrocco @jfballenger Xennials unite! 🥳
Show threadGrunkDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger #poll
Show threadMy name is Gloria ActuallyDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger oh cool I’m gen X again
Show threadMy name is Gloria ActuallyDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger the universe can’t ever seem to decide if 1980 is Youngest Gen X or Oldest Millennial. I’ve been called both all my life lol
Show threadNicholasBuzzredDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger ahhh, I'm a gen x here, but a melenial most places
Show threadJoanna HolmanDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger I don’t know if it’s a generation thing so much as a people who’ve been online long enough to do platform migrations multiple times so are not fazed by the mastadon learning curve thing
Show threadKyoteDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger Interesting results so far that more Gen xers are here🤔 As for me, I'm Millennial 🤷🏾‍♀️😌
Show threadDanDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger old guys rule 💪🏼
Show threadDavid Wilson-BurnsDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger I’m too new to tell, but first, let me thank you for acknowledging the existence of gen-x. I am Gen-x and was invited to mstdn by a Gen-xer.
Show threade. e. arroyoDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger i'm a millenial but mastodon makes me feel like a gen Z
Show threadPeter RelphDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger Maybe you could mention the populace wide % for each bracket
Show threadasekingDec 9, 2022

@jfballenger

Gen X'er here.

Show threadRichard BairwellDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger Technically I'm Gen X (so voted that way), but just by a couple of months - feel more millennial.
Show threadJonathan SmithDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger I’m a Gen X, who accidentally voted Millennial while scrolling.
I suppose that makes me officially a daft old bugger.
Show threadTathar is dragons! ΘΔDec 9, 2022

@jfballenger

I always assumed that [before Twitter's implosion] Mastodon appealed most to the Millennials and Gen X'ers who remember the Internet back when that word was still capitalized, forums and personal websites dominated the web, and the closest thing to centralized social media was an instant messenger.

Show threadmyska Dec 9, 2022

@jfballenger Wow

I'm a really small part of this place

Show threadRahel BailieDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger what about generation Jones?
Show threadJamieSearleDec 9, 2022

@jfballenger @MostlyUnpainted

I answered with Gen X based on the age break downs you’ve included, but I identify as Xennial, the inbetween generation.

Show threadnikoDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger @stufromoz hmm…. I’m a boomer and I’m still 57, we’ll at least until tomorrow…
Show threadStefan Romero GrieserDec 9, 2022
@jfballenger Naming generations is among the more stupid things in culture. And I realise that is a very Gen X thing for me to write.😏