It feels like just yesterday we were learning of the specific subset of millennials dubbed «geriatric millennials.» The date range for the group varies. Some websites say it’s 1981-1984. Others say it’s 1980-1985. Either way, the term feels a little derogatory. As someone who was born in 1988, I have to admit that I relate to some of the micro-generation’s experiences. I wasn’t nearly as plugged in as younger millennials – I didn’t have a cell phone until my freshman year of college (even then I had to get my crush to co-sign, a move that would enrage his father when I moved back to Brooklyn from Toronto). Though I spent a lot of time on chat rooms and on MySpace and AIM, I didn’t experience any of the cruel cyber-bullying that was a reality for the younger set. We weren’t allowed to be members of Facebook until we had a university email. Things were different. That said, I don’t really feel I belong to this older group. And it would seem I’m not the only person in my mid to early thirties who feels this way. 

In a recent tweet, Twitter user @svershbow suggests there is another micro-generation that grew up both with and without the internet and finished high school as the social media wave crested.

While it’s a little strange to claim that the social media wave had crested back in ’06 when Facebook was still devoid of crazy essential oil moms, @svershbow may be onto something. The tweet inspired people who were born around that time to share their own experiences from the era – the most unifying being the frequenting of internet chat rooms. We may not have had Instagram, but it was incredibly easy to enter a room of people and pretend to be someone drastically different than a bored and probably horny pre-teen with too much access to the internet – or ignorant parents. 

Despite all the support, there were, of course, plenty of people who took issue with the designation. Mainly people from Gen X who felt it’s an erasure of a more universally shared experience. We appreciate the opposition, but prefer all the mentions of A/S/L and cringey Facebook «night out» albums. Even without a name, our experience happened, and this walk down memory lane reminds us that it was weird as hell.