Research Inquire

Students will take the general focus of their group (or of their own) and they will create an Inquiry Based Research Paper split into three equal parts, two of which are geared to audiences of the student’s choosing. Finally, students will participate in a brief reflection or “self-rhetorical analysis” of the different rhetorical decisions made between each part and how the chosen audience and purpose affected the final results.

Generations can be defined as the particular time period that an age group is born in. Because of this, some generations can collectively act similarly due to their shared experiences that happened in the country that affected them all in some way. The term ‘baby boomers’ is to describe the generations that were born in the year 1946-1964, and ‘generation z’ is the group of people that are born in 1997-2012. In the late 1990s, technology boomed into being more mainstream and in every household in America. As the new generation emerges, especially ‘gen z’, became the most disconnected however interconnected era through social media. However, Generation Z created a gap between other generations by isolation and the emotional numbness from early stages of development by worldly traumatic events which can be argued that it was due to the technological advancement in society. In my research paper, I will take some ideas and data from articles such as Social Networks and The Mass Media by Daniel Siegel which focus on different theories to further understand what social media is and its effects. Followed by Generational Cycles in American politics by Patrick Fisher which talked about new generations’ political identity and its further impacts. Make Way for Generation Z by Alexandra Levit that focuses on introducing gen z and explaining who they are followed by Move Over Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z that is a more serious tone that also introduced gen z and their underlying collective trauma.

My research paper is targeted towards general audiences but as well as gen z to further understand themselves and how to deal in real-world situations as they are heading towards adulthood. By using the different author’s point of view, it creates a serious tone to start the conversation of the problems that generational differences and not understanding each other may have towards the future. This research paper will not be focusing on the individuals of how and which generation raised people who are born in the era of generation z. This paper will also not be focusing on any other country than America due to the confusion it might have on the overall audience of this paper. However, this paper will focus on collective traumatic political events and their effects may have on generations. This topic will include the aspects of social media’s effects on teens.

Generations are a way to group age cohorts. To understand generational identity, we must understand the different generations of collective traumas. Baby Boomers lived through the post World War 2, civil rights movements and also ‘benefited most from the welfare state … when healthcare and education were free, jobs plentiful and housing were affordable’.  Most people believe that boomers have the last to these great advantages in regard to having stability in their lives.  Baby Boomers are the last to live the ‘American Dream’ and their economic decline affects, everyone, now. Next, Millennials who are born in the rage of 1981- 96 ‘were raised during the boom times and relative peace of the 1990s only to see their sunny worlds dashed by the Sept. 11 attack and two economic crashed in 2000 and 2008. Theirs is a story of innocence lost’.  Millennials became stingier with spending money due to them not being able to exceed beyond minimum wage and not being able to move out of their parental home to a home of their own. Most do not have a career, just a job. Finally, Generation Z emerged in the ‘aftermath of those cataclysms in the era of the war on terror and the Great Recession’. Most people may describe gen z as independent, diverse, and the first to raise in the era of smartphones. However, gen z grew up faster because they had to.

At a young age, gen z was the first generation in an American society that did not feel safe anywhere they went because of previous external and internal events that happened in America. The results of 9/11 were the increase of security and surveillance in America where no previous generation has experienced before. In recent years, there has been an increase in school shootings, as well as economic troubles regarding disparities in wages due to past recessions. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine have been making gen z feel more disconnected from social settings even higher than before. With a generation that is highly aware of their depression and anxiety; disconnections of understanding people who are older than them are bound to occur. “Changes in political circumstances, societal norms, and economic conditions over a period of 15–20 years can lead to people within a cohort having different formative experiences”.  The evolution of technology that happened in the late 1990s evolved fast, smartphones are now mini-computers, and anyone can be connected to anywhere in the world at the tips of their fingers. Gen Z is the true player that uses social media to their advantage because that is where their sense of security and safety came from. Social media has become an outlet for gen z because of the placebo effect on making them feel connected towards one another. The connection between the two is that social media ‘outlets can provide information, increasing political knowledge or informing individuals as to the preferences of influential elites with regard to political participation, opinion, a vote choice’ due to bias. You may be wondering how social media can be political since some people can filter their feeds to be funny or informative on any other topic. Gen Z became a generation that is the most aware of situations and political events on a global level due to social media. They were exposed to many different networks that can alter their own views on society.

“Social networks detail the set of other individuals who directly influences one’s behavior”. In the 2000s, al-Qaeda conscripts originated from marginalized Salafi and Deobandi communities in Europe recruitment tactic changed completely with the rise of ISIS. ISIS began to recruit from a broader base of individuals who largely had little or no relationship with Muslim communities. Their recruitment process starts with glossy English-language publications like Dabiq, and social seeds and hashtags across the social web. Dedicated websites on the Darkweb and readily available ISIS propaganda online are coupled with a recruitment process that is socially geared towards the disenfranchised millennial audiences. From this example, we see another breach of security due to terrorism starting targeting people on social networks, where now misinformation and being anonymous started changing what it meant to be online. From being exposed to potential dangers online, Gen z became more cautious but also arrogant because of the amount of information they intake in a daily basis.  “Generation Z takes in information instantaneously and lose interest just as fast”. I believe this is where the gap between generations started to form because we see gen z knowing so much for their age, true or not, and other older generations like Baby Boomers take their information from traditional family members and places more related to them. Yes, gen z is the youngest generation to start their own businesses and grow a way of life through being an influencer, Gen z might feel connected through social media however they are losing a sense of reality when they rely heavily on online networks.

There is an issue between the translation of generational identity between gen z and previous generations. From the collective researches and articles, gen z has become isolated and put their identity on social networks then reality which makes them prone to feel more disconnected when dealing with real-world situations. Gen Z is not able to translate the information they received from social media to generations like baby boomers simply because they do not understand the concept of how to work online networks. This is why gen z is very disconnected in society but interconnected in social media due to them being exposed to many different global issues. Gen Z grew up faster than any other generation from political exposure, the sense of having no safety or security in the real world or even online. Gen Z has created a subculture for themselves that is separate which makes them become a little conceited since they are so ‘self-aware about the world’ and are advocating for change to all. Previous generations cannot seem to understand them because their conversations do not coexist with each other.

So, what can gen z and other generations do to close the gap between them? First, gen z needs to get off their phones. We are too involved in the online world that we don’t look up to see how reality really looks like. Instead of taking most of our information’s online which can be misleading, we should learn from the books, other people and create spaces where any age groups can talk to each other than fight on whose generation is better for the future. This is a small but essential step needed to close the gap.  Until then, gen z will continue to create s gap between generations and be exposed to so many different aspects at a young age due to social media.

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