Generally, I consider this to be the generation who was born in the 1980's. I wouldn't call it the Millennium generation, as that would probably be considered a later generation, the one being born now as the children of Generation X. Generation Y are the siblings of Gen Xer's. They too are the children of the baby boomers, although some were born to Generation X as well, especially those born in the 1960's.
Marketing firms like to target the 18-35 year old demographic, for that's most profitable. Today there are over 78 million Gen Yer's, including yours truly, who was born in 1982. Therefore today's pop culture is by and large defined by Gen Y. Since our generation was born in the 80s, we're seeing lots of 1980's retro everywhere today. Marketers and retailers believe that promoting products that bring back memories of a dominant demographics childhood are a slam dunk. And usually its true. The big glasses, the bad music, it's all coming back! Just like a couple of years ago, when everything '60's was retro when the baby boomers were the dominant demographic.
Gen Y, especially the younger cohort, is really connected to the internet and high technology. Some have called it the MySpace generation, but for all intents and purposes, I'll call it the RateItAll generation! Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are becoming very popular. Information management is the key word for our generation--we can of age when the internet became a form of communication, with instant messaging, cellphones, and music downloads becoming very popular. But this can also lead to information overload, which can cause us to spread ourselves a bit too thin at times. More students than ever are attending college, but nowadays an undergrad education is just an extension of high school. Going to graduate or professional school can help you more in getting through the door.
Socially, we're generally liberal. Many of us date outside our race, and attitudes about homosexuality are changing as well. Healthwise, obesity is a problem, probably because of increased prosperity and more sugary food coming into the market. Some of us have drug problems, especially with over-prescribed drugs like Ritalin which doctors gave to kids with supposed behavior problems.
Post-Modernism is a major aspect of this generation--the idea that our society is a social construction built on perceptions rooted in the media and other forms of mass communication, rather than logic or reason. Objective thought is becoming increasingly passé, an ironic aftereffect of cultural pluralism. Post-modernism allows that everyone's view has some validity, hence the popular media moniker "fair and balanced". But truth is not found in balance, but in objective fact. Post-modernism rejects linear thinking and analytical thought in favor of sloganeering and reductionism. This side says this, and other side says that, you decide. You have conservative and liberal media outlets constructing their own truths and presenting it as truth. Editorial opinion is becoming fact. What appears to be the democratization of discourse is actually a hindrance, as it presents alternative realities rather than what is. It is intellectual dogmatism at its best, one which will lead to less critical society, especially when it comes to authority.
