https://medium.com/@Sarah.Jane/are-you-a-millennial-a-hipster-or-just-a-hypercritical-bully-does-it-even-matter-59a3776f2b7f

Got me thinking about the mabiguous nature of "generations" as outlined in the US.  Have the boomers, X, and millenials being th ebig three that dominate current culture.  In particular Millenials get a lot of press online and in print.  In simple terms these generations are defined by set years of birth, although depending on who you ask these can have a bit of wiggle room.  Due to this I find Millenial is often used in disparging terms towards "youths" with the classic characteristics of selishness, laziness, and entitlement.  In fact many people who would qualify for this group, mainly the older ones within it, reject that they can be a part of it because of the connotation.

• According to Iconoclast, a consumer research firm, the first Millennials were born in 1978.
• Newsweek magazine reported that the Millennial generation was born between 1977 and 1994.
• In separate articles, the New York Times pegged the Millennials at 1976-1990 and 1978-1998.
• A Time magazine article placed the Millennials at 1980-2000.

I guess in culture, generations are defined by the significant life change brought upon them. Our current generation is the internet. Before that the Computer. Before that the TV. Before that the War. Before that the depression. Before that the War. Before that the Car?

... maybe, something like that. I dunno.

The odds of an event, cultural shift, or technological advancement not happening in next ten years is hard to believe.  There hasn't been a period of 100 years of stagnation since the Renaissance kicked off and if anything change has been happening more rapidly.  The opposite effect could be that culture shifts so much that someone born within the same decade as another could have little in common.  Someone born in 1980 and someone born in 1989 for example likely have very different childhoods and relationship with technology.

Also, I will acknowledge this is a from a closed data set of a singular national culture rather than a worldwide one.

It's too sloppy.

There was a time when that span of time was a fair estimation of a "generation's" experience, but with how quickly technology advances and how drastically it proliferates and alters our lives, people are having vastly different experiences that were born a mere 8 or so years apart.

I, born in 1988, did not have the same experience as someone born at the end of the 1970's, and can certainly say I had a very different experience from those born in the late 90's.

Obviously it is a lot easier and clearer to define it by years. On the other hand, it makes more sense to look into cultural borders, as this influences stuff. Luckily, for a given country this is basically the same. You can define a year after Internet became widespread, or after 9-11. So I would say the best is defining by years, but choose the significant years by cultural effects.