Disconnected

By all accounts, the Millennial Generation is the most connected in US history.  Thanks to the radical, world-changing powers of the internet, we grew up chatting, instant messaging, e-mailing and later on tweeting and Facebooking.  I can message my foreign exchange sister in Germany, send a photo to my brother-in-law in Arizona, and text my best friend from high school all in a matter of seconds.  We were taught to network, to constantly be in communication, to share everything about our lives –photos, videos, resumes, status updates.  The average millennial has 319 Facebook friends (Factbrowser).  And yet…Researchers are showing that overwhelmingly, Millennials/Generation Yers are lonelier than any previous generation (Mashable).

This is something of a chicken or egg situation only with a few more variables (chicken?  Egg? Egg producing hormone injections? I digress…).

 Are we so lonely because we are so connected?

 Are we drawn to social media because we are lonely?

 Has social media eroded our ability to interact like normal human beings?

 Has the decline is social capital that began in the 60’s finally culminated into an entire generation with zero sense of community?

 I don’t really know.  I have a feeling that these variables are working together to create a desensitized group that craves validation and acceptance and often tries to find that through social media outlets (i.e. I have to immediately upload this photo to Facebook so everyone can see how much fun I’m having).

I can only speak to this anecdotally, but when I look at my group of friends - the people I went to college with, the people I now spend my time with – We crave community.  We have dinner parties, sign up for art classes, have book clubs...And I think this is largely because we are trying to recreate the sense of community we heard about from our parents and grandparents.  We don’t want to be lonely Twitter robots broadcasting our lives to people we barely know…We want to be part of something outside of a Facebook group.  We want to matter.

What does this mean for your association?  Well, its good news for non-profits/associations/organizations that are looking to engage young people. 

We want to you have an opportunity to capture a truly interested audience of volunteers and donors.  Offer your millennial members opportunities to be recognized (volunteer of the month, donor of the month, etc), opportunities to make a difference, and a real sense of community and they will keep participating.

-Nicole