iGen

Publisher's Summary

An entertaining first look at how today's members of iGen - the children, teens, and young adults born in the mid-1990s and later - are vastly different from their millennial predecessors and from any other generation, from the renowned psychologist and author of Generation Me.

With generational divides wider than ever, parents, educators, and employers have an urgent need to understand today's rising generation of teens and young adults. Born in the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s and later, iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person - perhaps why they are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

But technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them; they are also different in how they spend their time, in how they behave, and in their attitudes toward religion, sexuality, and politics. They socialize in completely new ways, reject once sacred social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. More than previous generations, they are obsessed with safety, focused on tolerance, and have no patience for inequality. iGen is also growing up more slowly than previous generations: 18-year-olds look and act like 15-year-olds used to.

As this new group of young people grows into adulthood, we all need to understand them: Friends and family need to look out for them; businesses must figure out how to recruit them and sell to them; colleges and universities must know how to educate and guide them. And members of iGen also need to understand themselves as they communicate with their elders and explain their views to their older peers. Because where iGen goes, so goes our nation - and the world.

©2017 Jean M. Twenge (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Really, Amazon, no PDF?

This is a fascinating topic, written by a great scholar in the subject matter. Unfortunately, the narrator frequently refers to graphs and studies that are presumably shown and/or are sourced in footnotes. Unlike with other Audible titles, there does not appear to be a companion pdf for this book.

20 of 20 people found this review helpful

Interesting study of today's youth

First, Madeleine Maby's performance was perfect. So many readers mispronounce or make incorrect inflections. She is also pleasant to listen to, with just the right pacing.

Ms. Twenge both intrigues and frightens with this in depth study. Having both Millennial and iGen children I have noticed to contrast in thinking, confidence, and work ethic.

A recurring word throughout is "safety". I've raised my kids to understand the world is not a safe place, it never has been and never will be, so learn to deal with that. Yet they still fear the future and lack confidence; just as pointed out in this book.

The abundance of statistics was impressive, however I think the publisher fails us in not providing a companion PDF file. I would have liked to see the numbers and graphs the author refers to.

I went into this book curious and with an open mind. As I progressed I noticed one of the main premises seems incorrect. Twenge even included this in the book's subtitle. She contends that iGen is more tolerant, yet spent a great deal of time demonstrating their complete lack of tolerance.

Tolerance is the acceptance of ideas and constructs that conflict with your own. What Twenge calls tolerance is really acceptance of compatible or already accepted behaviours. iGen accepts only ideas that they believe in. Ideas that contradict their own are considered "harmful" and not only go unheard, but they demand zero-tolerance and punishment. Severe punishment in fact. How does this differ from a northerner in 1840 accepting slavery as an alternative lifestyle?

I love that iGen is hard working, not arrogant, and libertarian. However, it scares the hell out of me that they don't believe in the 1st Amendment and believe even accidentally or unintentional offenses should be punishable by termination or worse. When these people come into political power such intolerance could have radical and negative ramifications. We could be staring down at the end of freedom in exchange for safety and conformity.

Using Twenge's reasoning every generation is tolerant since we all tolerate ideas and actions that confirm to our own standards. Accepting homosexuality is tolerant only if you believe it is wrong. I was raised to be tolerant, allowing others to have opposing ideas, listen to them, and consider the merits. I don't see any evidence of this mindset in a safe-zone generation.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Irreplaceably insightful

Milestone glimpse into the rising generation focused on safety and doing well while growing up slowly.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Information...but

Great Information but difficult to process via audio book. May want to follow up with hard copy.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Don't buy your kid a smartphone...

.... until you read this book! Such important information far exceeding just that aspect. I have 3 daughters under age 11 and this was so thought provoking!

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

It's all right

not the best book I've listened too. It's pretty accurate as far as data and observations go but Dr. twenge struggles to keep her bias for solutions and opinions out of the latter half of the book the first half she is very careful though. the interviews with igenners are very insightful

A Wake Up Call

Fascinating data that makes me sad for our nation and our youth. It provides great insight into what has changed and is going to continue to change. This should be mandatory reading for all parents of igen'ers and employers.

Insightful

Can't wait to see what this generation does, as a late boomer I look forward to what my 13 year old can accomplish. "Individualism will save us all."

Interesting read

nice compilation of statistics; relatively objective tone; taking trends with a grain of salt because people like to defy categorization

We shall see

Twenge is a bit full of herself, and some of the examples she chooses may be to get an emotional response, but this book has affected how I interpret my kids and their friends. It may be confirmation bias, but some of her observations could be right.
Stop being a helicopter parent, and allow my child to grow. Give them opportunities to fail and to interact with real people. Have loads of kids over to the house, even if they tear it up.
One hour is OK, 3 hours is BAD.
Snap chat+facebook = FOMO+depression

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

informative

Informative but a bit narrow as it focused only on US iGen. Would love to see comparison to other countries.

Great book, lot of stats

I really enjoyed listening to this book, and they make a really good job of it.
It's just a little statistic heavy for an audiobook and you get a little lost in them. Maybe a pdf would help.