The Who have never been more apropos. Over the past decade, the amount of new books (a quick Amazon search for Generation Y yielded over 7000 results) profiling Generation Y has soared, sparking a new industry of those who base their careers pontificating over Generation Y, explaining the feelings and beliefs of the new generation to large corporate audiences for a hefty fee. Stereotyping Generation Y has become a new industry unto itself, and anyone with the platform to say something seems to have something to say about Generation Y, either negative or positive.

We have been described as dumb (in The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)), depressed (in Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled–and More Miserable Than Ever Before), great (in Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation), or just simply as taking over (in Generation We: How Millennial Youth are Taking Over America And Changing Our World Forever). Can all of these contradictory views of generation Y can be true? Does the lack of consistency between the views of generation Y show that these books and profiles are quick to stereotype what is actually quite a large and diverse group of young Americans? And, most pressingly, do any of these views answer the question: what is Generation Y really like?

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Before she goes to sleep, Sheena Yap often relaxes by watching TV sitcoms with her boyfriend. She looks into her boyfriend’s eyes, says good night and gives him a kiss.

She then closes the video-chat session and shuts off her laptop computer.

Yap, 21, an international student from Singapore, is a junior at NYU. Her boyfriend, also from Singapore, is studying in Shanghai, China. They maintain their long-distance romance through video chatting via built-in cameras on their computers. It had only been ten days into their romance in summer of 2007 when Yap had to leave for freshman year at NYU. Over two years later, they are still video chatting and still dating.

“It makes you feel like you’re there with the person, in a way,” she says. “At least with video chat, we ‘see’ each other everyday.

Video chat has become an increasingly popular way for college students to keep in touch with all loved ones, whether friends, lovers or relatives, especially while separated by physical distance. Not every college student is eager to jump in front of a camera just yet. Instant Messages, e-mails and phone calls are still most popular among the Gen Y community. Yet for tech-savvy college students who want to maintain relationships over distance but care about saving money too, video chatting is a simple solution.

Even Kevin Jonas uses video chat.

“This comes as a result of the prevailing technology that allows video chatting to be more than a fad,” says Tom Ricardo, an IT consultant for On Site in 60, a computer consulting company in New York City. Several years ago, video chatting was difficult and expensive. Since then, Internet connections have significantly increased in speed, video equipment has become quite cheap, and most computers now come with installed cameras.  “It is a utilization of technology that wasn’t available years ago.” Read the rest of this entry »

On September 22nd 2006, a 19-year-old college student, Reggie Shaw, was driving along a two-lane highway near Logan, Utah. His car swerved, crossed the divide, and hit another car coming from the opposite direction. Inside were two scientists. Both men were immediately killed when their car spun out of control and collided with a pickup truck.

It wasn’t until Shaw, sitting in the back seat of a police car immediately after the accident, pulled out his phone, and began text messaging, that the police officer on the scene became suspicious. After thorough investigation, it turned out that Shaw was texting behind the wheel only seconds before the accident occurred. Read the rest of this entry »

A Muslim named Kaivan and a Jew named Dylan are both typical members of Generation Y.  They both subscribe to a different religious belief, but neither is fighting over who is right.  For them, their religion is not about whose is the best, but which religion works best for them.

Overall, Generation Y breaks into three religious categories.  There are 27 percent who consider themselves “Godly,” 27 percent who are “Godless,” and 46 percent who are Undecided.  This is according to the survey OMG! How Generation Y is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era. This survey found that while today’s young people still follow the same religions their parents did, they differ in their expression of faith.

For many, this means replacing religious services that may feel outdated.  “Most young people today will say they are spiritual, not religious,” said Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, the Jewish chaplain at NYU.  Those spiritual youth believe holiness is subjective, and doesn’t have to be determined by an organized faith.  “People began thinking in terms of ‘me’ and not ‘the community,’” Rabbi Sarna said. Read the rest of this entry »