When I get bored, I’ll look for something interesting to read on the internet that’s not news (what you need to worry about today), listicles (top 10 reasons you should read this bullshit so I can get advertising money), or cute pet videos (instead of watching videos, I play with my own pets).
Occasionally I’ve searched for blogs focused on Generation X, which is my generation.
It’s surprising to me there’s very few. When I Google “Generation X Blog” the first page include a blog that hasn’t been updated since 2016 but had a funny and memorable post about MTV, another that hasn’t been updated since 2011, an insurance sales website, and a few articles on Generation X.
Googling for “Millennial blog” gives 3 pages of Millennial focused blogs. I stopped looking after that.
I suppose that one reason for the difference is that Millennials grew up on the Internet and are used to social media while Generation Xers might be more reluctant to share personal info online.
Another reason might be that for my generation, self-expression and creative pursuits were not activities that were encouraged.
As kids, we were taught that our job was to show up at school on time, shut our mouths and be compliant for 7-8 hours. Then go home, make dinner, do 1-3 hours of homework, do chores and then go to bed.
Then wash rinse repeat.
If we had downtime, we got part time jobs. Some lucky kids who had 2 parents and a few spare dollars might not have had to work. A few super talented kids were athletes.
We were told that if we made good grades, we’d graduate and go to college to get a degree. From there, our degree would get us a “good job” where we’d arrive on time, shut our mouths and be compliant for 8-10 hours. Then go home, make dinner, do chores, watch TV and then go to bed.
Then wash rinse repeat.
Musicians and artists were famous people on TV or doomed to be being starving artists. Average Generation Xers were not encouraged to develop our creativity.
We were told that creative pursuits were unrealistic.
We weren’t encouraged to start businesses. We were told these were too risky.
The very few Gen Xers who I personally knew that followed a creative path were the bohemians. They always seemed happy but were usually broke. They led unconventional lives.
Everyone else fell into line.
A few of my peers graduated college, landed good white collar jobs, bought a house and now share pictures of the kids on facebook.
Others never made it to college. Many took jobs as laborers, cashiers, grass cutters and other low paying jobs.
The more fortunate ones had slightly better careers with the military, with the local government or in healthcare. They all share pictures of their kids on facebook too.
All of us seem to be busy working for someone else – often doing something mundane at a job we never really wanted.
Maybe that’s why my generation doesn’t blog much.