Scan barcode
laura_corsi's review against another edition
3.0
Let me give you a short summary: because of social media and smart phones iGen or the derivative Gen Z which I hear is more popular right now, are scared to death, absolutely petrified to grow up. Unfortunately, in my experience of this new generation that seems to be somewhat true. Glad my iGeners are a little later in the generation so I had warning how bad screen time is and had already implemented the suggestions Dr. Twenge suggests. Crossing my fingers for Gen Z!
rsuray's review against another edition
5.0
Not only can I stop recommending this book to everyone, but I can't stop bringing it up in conversations and debates. Generational psychologist Twenge argues why a subset of the millennial generation, born in the early nineties and coming into adolescence when the majority of Americans owned smart phones, is hugely different than any other generation preceding them. She hits many startling and interesting points about iGen; for example, one of my favorite, how they are so much more inclusive and championing of minority groups, yet they balk at any opinion different to theirs, stifling social and intellectual growth.
As an adult born in 1994 but not having a smartphone until my 20s, I still relate to the vast majority of iGen-related phenomena that Twenge describes. The characteristics I both love and hate about my generation are defined in statistics. For example, political activism. It has long irked me that people I follow on social media constantly virtue signal but do not seemingly get involved in their community and/or vote. Twenge proves my suspicions true by showing us that only a mere percentage of people will submit an easy e-letter to their Congressman, etc. compared to the days when people had to go to their local libraries to look up their representative's address. (Note: this book encompasses many points of the 2016 election and is not dated in that regard.) But a major point of Twenge's throughout the book is that inaction is a hallmark of iGen, from dating, to religious beliefs, to general growing up, to politics. The inaction is often coupled with other prominent traits, such as obsession with safety, and it was very telling to find these traits across many different facets of life outside of smartphone usage.
It seems that, from a brief glance, most Goodreads reviews for this book are either from the parents of iGeners or iGeners themselves. The parents of iGeners tend to review the book in a positive light and iGeners more poorly. To the parents, I gotta say, you are the helicopter parents that Twenge describes: if you are deeming iGen behaviors as bad, either reflect on if they actually are so or if you are the cause of them.
The reviews from members of my own generation seem to detail how Twenge cherry-picked the points that she wanted and ignored other factors. I did not find this to be the case at all (I have a MA in soft data if this backs up my experience with this point). She is very clear at the beginning of the book that though she was an adolescent in the 1980s, she is not trying to make any inferences, good or bad, to the changes that iGen brings to many facets of life. The only chapter she does so is the concluding chapter, where she offers some advice for parents as to how to get their kids off their phones and active in the community. Hardly a bad thing. Part of me suspects that some iGeners reading this book felt called out at some points. Good.
As an adult born in 1994 but not having a smartphone until my 20s, I still relate to the vast majority of iGen-related phenomena that Twenge describes. The characteristics I both love and hate about my generation are defined in statistics. For example, political activism. It has long irked me that people I follow on social media constantly virtue signal but do not seemingly get involved in their community and/or vote. Twenge proves my suspicions true by showing us that only a mere percentage of people will submit an easy e-letter to their Congressman, etc. compared to the days when people had to go to their local libraries to look up their representative's address. (Note: this book encompasses many points of the 2016 election and is not dated in that regard.) But a major point of Twenge's throughout the book is that inaction is a hallmark of iGen, from dating, to religious beliefs, to general growing up, to politics. The inaction is often coupled with other prominent traits, such as obsession with safety, and it was very telling to find these traits across many different facets of life outside of smartphone usage.
It seems that, from a brief glance, most Goodreads reviews for this book are either from the parents of iGeners or iGeners themselves. The parents of iGeners tend to review the book in a positive light and iGeners more poorly. To the parents, I gotta say, you are the helicopter parents that Twenge describes: if you are deeming iGen behaviors as bad, either reflect on if they actually are so or if you are the cause of them.
The reviews from members of my own generation seem to detail how Twenge cherry-picked the points that she wanted and ignored other factors. I did not find this to be the case at all (I have a MA in soft data if this backs up my experience with this point). She is very clear at the beginning of the book that though she was an adolescent in the 1980s, she is not trying to make any inferences, good or bad, to the changes that iGen brings to many facets of life. The only chapter she does so is the concluding chapter, where she offers some advice for parents as to how to get their kids off their phones and active in the community. Hardly a bad thing. Part of me suspects that some iGeners reading this book felt called out at some points. Good.
tomstbr's review against another edition
5.0
Great overview of the latest generation as they come of age. Heaps of food for thought.
clarke11235's review against another edition
4.0
A great read, particularly in conjunction with “The Coddling of the American Mind.”
hannahmve's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
On the whole, I enjoyed this book; I found it really informative and easy to read, and it's evident that the author is really keen to understand Gen Z (or iGen, as she calls them) in more depth which makes sense as Gen Z are the next generation coming into the workforce.
However, there were large portions of this book that felt very condescending. There were lots of comments about how Gen Z is more sensitive and emotional which I don't necessarily disagree with, but when mentioned in the context of caring out LGBTQ rights, sexism, racism, etc, it felt like a cheap way of making Gen Z seem really over dramatic, pinning the blame on their desire to have "safe spaces" everywhere. It is also overwhelmingly American. The only subjects mentioned in this book are American which completely skews so many of the author's observations.
As an introductory text to the topic I think it was good and I didn't hate the reading experience, but it was lacking in a lot of areas.
However, there were large portions of this book that felt very condescending. There were lots of comments about how Gen Z is more sensitive and emotional which I don't necessarily disagree with, but when mentioned in the context of caring out LGBTQ rights, sexism, racism, etc, it felt like a cheap way of making Gen Z seem really over dramatic, pinning the blame on their desire to have "safe spaces" everywhere. It is also overwhelmingly American. The only subjects mentioned in this book are American which completely skews so many of the author's observations.
As an introductory text to the topic I think it was good and I didn't hate the reading experience, but it was lacking in a lot of areas.
rebeccasmith620's review against another edition
3.0
Reads like a really long research paper or text look - I skimmed a several chapters of this just to get on with it - it’s overall pretty interesting talking about how this generation is different than Millennials/Boomers. I think the author overall annoyed me, it felt like she was patronizing and sensationalist while making the case that she wasn’t. I agreed with most of her points and was helpful to understand primary motivations of this generation and how it differs than others.
dr_winslow's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Although I can certainly respect Twenge's research for what it is, this book read somewhat like a conclusion in search of an argument. Twenge tried to get ahead of the "kids these days just aren't what they used to be" pictures of her work, but fails to do so adequately enough to avoid her work coming across as "My generation was better than yours." She notably avoids critiquing the characteristics of Gen X & Boomers while heaping disdain on Millenials and Gen Z. Some of her points are valid (phones will have a negative impact on the next generation's health & wellbeing), but others feel like a loose interpretation of vague statistics (phones are the cause of EVERYTHING). 3/5.