How did you figure out what you liked?

There is no process more personal yet more public than the construction of an individual’s identity. Our identities are connected to those around us and myriad other related or unrelated factors. In some ways, we have complete control over our identities; in others, we have almost no control. Given the intense personal nature of this concept, forming a unified idea for how identity develops is difficult. One of the best large distinctions to make is across generational lines. Generations are defined by the larger context of the world around them; the Baby Boomers grew up in a post-war pro-freedom America, while the Millenials of the world watched the Twin Towers fall and the housing economy crash before they really found their footing in the world. These large events can be identity shaping, especially for the youth of their era. My generation, Generation Z (or Zed for our British brethren), has had one of the largest world events in recent times: the booming of technology out of giant rooms in military buildings and into our pockets and our homes. This society-warping change undoubtedly affects more or less everything my generation experiences, whether through the usage of digital alternatives to real-world activities, possible interests usually not available in one’s environment, or the ability to discuss and debate various topics with others around the globe; all of this combines to create a notably diverse generational identity.

Before we can examine the generational differences in identity development, we must gain a basic understanding of identity development in general. Each person is born into a specific context. This context comes from the lives and values of their immediate family members, the physical surroundings that make up their world, and the influences of various people in their lives, as well as countless other factors that differ from person to person. From there, the person has two main options: accept or oppose their surroundings. This process is sometimes subconscious and other times the subject of intense internal debate, but eventually a conclusion is reached, whether this is an active decision or a decision to ignore a topic. The combination of these thousands of tiny or large decisions and the amount of weight we give to these ideas eventually help us form a cohesive idea about our identities, whether or not we consciously realize it.

A good example of this is food. Throughout my life, I have tried thousands of different foods. I have made a decision about my feelings toward everything I have ever eaten, essentially accepting or rejecting my surroundings of others enjoying eating something. Over my 16 (17 in June) years of life, these individual decisions have combined into my general food identity: I’m not a fan of cheese and I am a fan of anything with enough sugar. Now, this food identity helps me make decisions about what to eat and what not to eat; I know to avoid the mozzarella balls and focus on the pastries. I can also make these decisions about food without really thinking too hard most of the time. This is the central idea of identity, the process of figuring things out little by little until I let those little things make decisions for me.

In order for a person to incorporate something into their identity, that person needs to have a great deal of experience with that one thing. It needs to be a prominent part of their surroundings, or have the potential to become a prominent factor in those surroundings. The digital world provides near-constant access to what could become identity-defining activities. For example, I played a card game at summer camp for a few years called Magic: The Gathering. I loved the game, and spent countless hours at camp playing with my friends. But, when I left camp and returned to elementary and middle school, no one else had heard of this classic card game, so I was unable to play. I played a few games with my sister, but she was unreliable in her playing habits. Finally, I discovered the world of Magic: The Gathering on the internet. Now, I read countless articles and have played hundreds of games online against random internet opponents. I have had access to this game, and could deepen my understanding and love for the strategy. This is when Magic Player became a facet of my identity, and this could not have happened without the content and connection of the internet filling my surroundings with information. This is one of the most important aspects of the digital world: because of its wide range and depth of information, anyone can get lost mining their way through content. Our surroundings are now, for all intents and purposes, infinite, and so relatively anything could become part of relatively anyone’s identity, regardless of an individual’s physical surroundings.

One of the digital realm’s largest effects on my generation is social media. Social media is an umbrella term for an application that creates a digital network for the purpose of sharing information. Some of the time, this information is related to one’s own life; other times, it is related to one’s opinions. Either way, social media provides a large outlet for whatever is going on inside our heads. This affects the identity creation process in that we now have a way of expressing our identities to the world. These vaguely personal posts can seem incredibly simple, even unimportant, but their constant presence becomes a key factor in the affirmation of an individual's identity. For example, say there is a person that posts something along the lines of “Just watched the new Spider-Man. Best Marvel movie of the year!” This tells us the new Spider-Man film has made its way into the poster’s surroundings, and that the poster has accepted it and is now a fan of the new Spider-Man. This, by itself, seems to be a minute part of their identity, as our scenario has not been fully constructed. Now, consider that this same person has released similar posts about other superhero movies for a few years. This tells us our friend here is not just a Spider-Man fan, but a superhero movie fan. Now, let’s imagine this person posts not only about superhero movies, but about everything. Bagels. Promotions. Wars. Suddenly, through this social media account, we have a pretty good idea of who our superhero-loving, bagel-hating, recently promoted veteran is.

Social media helps an individual take these many different elements of their identity and display them for the world in a single space. This gives the individual a clear sense of their identity, as it can be laid out in front of them. While my generation was not the first to experience social media, we have taken the phenomenon to the next level. According to a recent study, 50% of Generation Z members use social media as a news source at least once a day, compared to 44% of millennials and 37% of Generation Xers. Therefore, this medium has an especially pronounced effect on Generation Z.

It is clear that through increased access to a wider variety of things, and through outlets for active confirmation of those preferences, that my generation approaches the identity definition question a little differently than those who have come before us, because of our increased access to a larger digital world. All of this creates a situation where my generation and future generations are more able to clash with their immediate surroundings, and develop a more specific niche for themselves. A central idea of Generation Z is our diversity, and the internet has allowed for a culture of celebrated diversity to emerge. We do different things and have different ideas; everyone has access to this multitude of options, so forging a trail off the beaten path has become the norm. With this depth of differences, we face the future with determination and power.

Sources:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2695870

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43497339

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124159/us-generational-social-media-news/