Joe Moody’s Web Adventures

A couple thought-provoking comments to my last column got me thinking where I stand as to the birth years of Generation X.

Some say X begins in 1961, some say 1966.

There’s no better example of a person born during this time than our own President Obama.

Is he Generation X?

Gut reaction: There are as many similarities as differences, so for me the jury is still out.

While he has the technical savvy of Gen X, he has the idealism of a Boomer.

Obama believes that government is the answer to many of the problems in the world, while Xers believe that they change the world by transforming themselves.

However Gen X much more easily identifies with Obama than a true Boomer like Hillary Clinton. Obama knows YouTube, he’s looking for similarities more than differences and he was a kid in the 70s.

Some say Obama is part of a mini-generation between Boomers and Xers called Generation Jones that runs until 1965.

It may take awhile for a consensus to form.

Here’s a brand new online poll where you can see how others are voting on the definitino of Gen X.

This all brings up a larger question: Are generations more defined by time, ie 20-year spans, or by the personality traits of people within them?