MILLENNIALS a photo essay
ARTIST STATEMENT EACH GENERATION IS LOOKED DOWN ON BY THE ONE BEFORE IT. FOR MINE, IT’S NO DIFFERENT. THE PERCEPTION OF MILLENIALS IS THAT WE CAN’T COMMUNICATE: WE’RE BURIED IN OUR PHONES, CONSUMED BY SOCIAL MEDIA, UNABLE TO INTERACT “IRL.” BUT COMMUNICATING IS SOMETHING MILLENIALS DO ALL THE TIME. MOREOVER, WHAT MILLENIALS HAVE LEARNED THAT GENERATIONS BEFORE HAVE NOT IS HOW TO BRAND, ADAPT AND EXPERIMENT. DIFFERENT SOCIAL PLATFORMS REFLECT DIFFERENT FACADES OF THE SAME PERSON; JUST AS YOU COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY IN A BAR THAN YOU WOULD IN AN INTERVIEW, YOU PRESENT YOURSELF DIFFERENTLY ON TWITTER THAN YOU WOULD ON LINKEDIN. BOTH REPRESENT PARTS OF THE SAME PERSON. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA AND FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTIONS IS THAT WE DOCUMENT THESE DIFFERENT PERSONAS FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. IN DOING SO, YOU CAN WATCH HOW WE TRY ON NEW FACES, EXPERIENCE NEW CULTURES AND SUBCULTURES AND DECIDE WHAT’S RIGHT FOR THE TIME, THE SPACE AND THE PERSON. IN SPEAKING WITH MILLENIALS, TAKING THEIR PHOTOS AND LEARNING A BIT ABOUT THEIR ONLINE PRESENCE I LEARNED OTHERS AGREED: SOCIAL NETWORKS SERVE AS AN EXTENSION OF THE SELF, NOT A SUBSTITUTION FOR IT. ONE INTERVIEWEE, MADISON, SAID THIS ABILITY TO SHARE ALL OF US ONLINE — THE PROFESSIONAL, THE KOOKY, THE ARTIST AND THE OPINIONATED — WE LEARN MORE ABOUT OTHERS AS WELL AS OURSELVES. “I think that now that we’re more aware of how accessible we are online, we tend to be more true to ourselves...” “More people are posting real things, like struggles too. And I think that’s really brave.” THE FOLLOWING ESSAY AIMS TO CAPTURE HOW MILLENIALS PRESENT THEMSELVES ONLINE. AS YOU SEE EACH PORTRAIT AND READ EACH STATEMENT, I HOPE SEE THE WAYS WE CHANGE ONLINE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THE MANY WAYS THAT WE DON’T. — ERICA, 21
TESSA, 22 Tessa sees her instagram as a space to share with the world and document the things she loves. she posts both original content and, and as an art history student, work she finds. “I think especially with portraiture, when you can find a specific and personal connection to a work that is totally unrelated to your actual being is very exciting. the flexibility of an online brand is that you can create this collection of things that relate to you in a very personal way but at the same time can be completely appropriated from other things that you appreciate and enjoy. I think my approach is very nonserious. I think it’s actually very honest and personal, but especially my Twitter is very like somewhat silly.�
kara, 21 kara started her own Youtube series called “The big mama show,” in which she interviews friends and family as a way to forget about homework and other obligations. She said she’s “always wanted to interview people and be like Ellen.” Her show is a place to have fun and hopefully entertain others. she’s sarcastic and often says whatever is on her mind, even if that sometimes gets her in trouble. though she sometimes holds back from this tendency online, she said her social media often reflects that: “my tweets I just say whatever. My Instagram posts are whatever. Sometimes I’m only in my bra and spandex. Sometimes I’m wearing a Tupac shirt.”
BRIAN, 18 “On twiter, I just do the dumbest stuff. I’m just really goofy because I love the way that no one really has to care about it. I like to be funny; I like to be goofy. I think social media is the place for mostly goofiness and a little bit of enjoyment. I hate it when people are super cynical and negative all the time, like seriously, because it’s just a bummer to open it up. Why even use it then? I just think it’s a fun outlet for stupid stuff.”
emily, 22 Emily, a fine arts student, described herself as a bit of a mess but always ends up looking put togeter. SHe said this is reflected both in her art and on social media. “The post I picked is what I most recently finished. It is a very organized metrics of collected garbage, which I feel represents me in quite an accurate manor. I think it looks pretty clean and organized, sort of patterny and intentional even if it didn’t begin that way. I unintentionally buy into the sort of unspoken rules of each platform. My Facebook is really sparse I guess, which has become the Facebook thing to just show really important things. Twitter is snark. Instagram is my artsy bullshit. Tumblr is just what you don’t talk about.
kalley, 21 Kalley graduated in may and is now pursuing her master’s. Because she places a high value on education, she said this has been a huge accomplishment. she keeps her social media professional and primarily posts photos of herself with friends or family: “I try to keep things very light and make sure that if a boss sees me in the future that nothing could be taken in any other context than what it is.” “I also use to be a camp counselor, so I try to keep things very PG because I have a lot of little campers who still follow me.”
OLIVER, 19 After managing a pretty active twitter account for awhile, oliver decided it wasn’t for him: “I noticed there was a lot of hate and bad jokes on Twitter. I thought it was very negative. I started not Tweeting as much, and then I just deleted it all together.” Oliver is now only active on instagram because of it’s highly personal nature and it’s tendency to stay fairly positive and opinion-free.
anna, 21 “I’m an art major, so I feel like that sort of just takes precedence on my online profile. I’m typically always posting either my own work or stuff that inspires me. Or just stuff I find interesting that appeals to that art major in me that always needs to express myself.” “My Instagram, for example, is always like pictures of my hair because it’s super colorful and I do wacky things with it or it’s like artwork or cool scenic photographs that capture the essence of me.”
CYDNEY, 22 “I’m a personal fan of the kind of absurdist online movement. Like I’m pretty into memes if you’d say. So I feel like my social media kind of reflects that where it’s just kind of absurd stuff but it’s not just me being really off the cuff, it’s like a kind of kooky take on my life. I’m not one of those people who has a status that’s like, ‘Everybody: Big announcement.’ I’m not into that. I’m just more private or not as serious. I think me not posting a bunch on Facebook is a signal of that.”
august, 21 “I sensor myself online. I say far less radical things because I don’t want that to follow me. On twitter I can be a bit more radical it seems. But Facebook, I have too many grandparents, uncles, godparents and family.”
andrew, AGE
andrew, 20 “I picked the photo because it reminds me of a time when I was on top of the world (I had at least 30 boxes of girl scout cookies.) I think it says that I try to present myself as a fun, ridiculous person online — at least on Instagram. I think it shows that when I love something I’m going to go overboard. I try to represent myself as a fun person on social media — especially nstagram and Facebook. I try to be funny and make people laugh while they’re scrolling down their feed. Sometimes I do post things I’m proud of because i like to show off a little bit (who doesn’t)”
JOE, 24 joe said his personal brand is constantly changing, and by looking back on his social media, you can see the ways he’s grown and changed throughout life. “I think my personal brand, or what I want it to be, is like hip, kind of a little bit artsy, homey, crafty.” his social media is a space where he projects not only what he wants others to see but also how he wants to see himself: “In this image I think I’m selling like a sophisticated guy who sits and sips tea and reads The New Yorker.”
madison, 21 madi is active on the odyssey, an online publishing network, and uses her social media to showcase her writing, both for coursework and personal blogging. other than her writing, she said there’s no inbetween — it’s either “cute puppy videos” or serious articles she thinks are important to share. “I don’t think I change myself too much other than I don’t post a lot of negative things ... I don’t think we change, I think we just post the best versions of ourselves”
arianna, 21 Arianna, a sports management student, shares content she’s interested in but always with intent to present her social media as a professional output. she often shares posts from the athletic organizations she works with. She said she’s constantly aware of future employer’s potential to see her profile. instagram, however, is where she likes to be more personal: “theres still things about what I want to do and that side of me, but its more about my life.” “I try to be really positive on social media. I’m a pretty happy, bubbly person anyways. So I try to pull that through into my social media and make that represent myself.”
allison, 23 Since starting her own creative agency, Allison’s social media use has changed. though she said she use to post sparingly, she now feels pressure to share what she’s creating online as a way to build a network of designers, creators and potential clientele. “the things that important to me are just enjoying people and doing things that I want to do and not caring about who sees that I’m doing it. But now that I’ve started my own company there’s this pressure to be like, “Hey I’m working on this. I’m doing this.” So that people see that you’re doing things. But that’s also a lot of work and takes away from actually living your life.”