Millennials must push for change beyond technology


It’s easy for millennials to feel special these days considering their overwhelming participation and leadership in current social and political movements. Generation Y is constantly reminded of its distinct advantages over its predecessors, namely the ability to share ideas within seconds, to summon the world of information at its fingertips and to organize groups with the power of a few clicks and keystrokes. With virtual petition sites such as Change.org, visual representations of approval (e.g. the Facebook like) and tools to self-publish, millennials have no excuse not to become involved in at least the discussion of some cause. In other words, with technology that facilitates open discussion and enables transparency, surely this generation will accomplish great social change.

But just because these tools exist doesn’t mean their potential is always reached; their limits are pushed to varying degrees. Unfortunately, most discussions stop short of becoming full-fledged movements. The spectrum of social awareness could start with a tweet or a Facebook post and end with organizing followers into a dissenting student group, like Hong Kong protestor Joshua Wong did at age 15. In fact, the particularly tech-centered youth activism in Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil and the Middle East has led many to compare millennials to another well-known generation of activism: hippies.

Discussion over this claim is heated. Its proponents believe today’s youth culture — including values, fads and entertainment — carries a striking resemblance to those expressed in the 1960s and ’70s. For example, they compare civil rights to gay rights, Woodstock to Coachella and LSD to MDMA. Millennial activity on social media sites is eerily similar to the freedom of expression practiced by hippies.

But each generation acts according to completely different contexts. Different time periods yield different informational resources, cultural tastes and social, global and political issues stemming from new or snowballing conflicts.

Millennials possess technological privilege, but it is paradoxically also a hindrance to their causes. Hippies had to work harder to inform themselves on causes, not to mention getting their voices heard on a larger platform. Whereas Generation Y carries out its activism exclusively virtually at times, which leads to bandwagoning, hippies genuinely broke down systemic barriers to support their causes. An isolated Tumblr post isn’t directly defying any authority figure. Many traits characterize millenials — an eclectic group above all — but to dub them a generation of activists would be overwhelmingly generous.

Yet, this doesn’t mean millennials won’t have their time in the sun. To deny activism as a relevant aspect of Generation Y would be equally off-putting. Today’s youth is idealistic with an entrepreneurial drive that can be at times naïve. A recent poll, conducted by telecom giant Telefónica, asked millennials worldwide a series of questions regarding their influence on their surroundings. A majority of young people from the 27 countries polled believed they could make a local difference. The poll also revealed that most millennials see hope for growth in entrepreneurship. And it’s hard not to feel special when a month ago, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon  called on today’s youth to take action in spreading democracy. According to Ki-moon, young people currently possess unprecedented networking skills, as well as the largest demographic stake in the global population.

Though this is all good news, social media tools like “likes” and “favorites” could give millennials a false sense of their influence. Their activism shouldn’t stop there. The lazier end of Generation Y should learn from inspiring contemporaries such as Joshua Wong and navigate the continuum of social change in a digital era rather than try to find themselves in yellowed photos of Woodstock. It might create unnecessary pressure to be constantly reminded of generation-specific advantages, but the truth is not all millennials are created equal. Though there are some tremendous social movements underfoot through innovative use of modern tools, there are also highly embarrassing abuses of them. Generation Y is neither special because of its resemblance to previous generations, nor for its unprecedented gadgets and networks.

The future will remember millennials not for the posts that had the most Facebook likes, but for the innovators who used their resources to make meaningful social change.