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Generation Y – Millennials and Technology in the 21st Century Workplace

          Figure. 1: Competitive League of Legends during on-stage match. Source

     Through the assistance of new modern technology, new entertainment, online sensations and media’s such as Vine, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube; Millennials are taking over and rewriting existing jobs all around us; but most importantly, they are also discovering new modernistic kinds of employment that were thought as impossible, but is now creating a brand new industry that is hastily growing as one of the largest and most popular industries known today.  

     Technology has always been a huge phenomenon in our world; let alone it being an integral part of our lives today. It continues to grow and it will only continue to surprise and advance through science and humanity’s very own curiosity. A specific generation can often be identified by the technology that defined their lives and careers. Generation X; some people know them as the generation before us, or others refer to them as the Baby Boomers, were astonished by technologies like the electronic calculator and the personal computer. Not only did these inventions provide new entertainment at the time, but they also began to assist in jobs and affect countless occupations around the world. Soon after, through these bench marks of the technology advancement timeline finally came the world renowned internet, then followed by email services, and various other online services. Now, thirty-five to forty years later, Generation Y; or Millennials rather, are expeditiously becoming the next predominant demographic in the labour work force all around the globe through modern technologies such as new advanced computers, laptops, smart phones and applications, or apps for short.  Just like Generation X, new modern technologies and new media never fails to astonish and are continuing to assist and affect different occupations in many ways today. But moreover are they just simply assisting careers, due to science and constant technological advancements; modern technology of the millennials has completely overtaken, changed, and rewritten all kinds of occupations as to what they were known for and how they were carried out. Furthermore, modern technology has not only redefined occupations that already existed throughout Generation X, but are creating completely new occupations and career paths in Generation Y for upcoming Millennials that are gradually overtaking, changing, rewriting, and redefining the world as we know it today.

              Figure. 2: Apple’s new iPhone X. Source 

     Technology; the internet, smartphones, smart devices, computers and laptops; these are all the components to the world of a Millennial. When new technologies and new media first started to boom and really take off in the early 21st century, most parents from all kinds of different ethnicities and cultures automatically presumed that technology in general were nothing but distractions for their children. Throughout Generation X and even through the early years of Generation Y, parents have always tried to limit time between their children and new technologies simply because it was seen as a complication. Rewinding back to the mid-20th century; attending school, studying hard, and achieving acceptance to a post-secondary college or university was believed to be the only way that would lead one’s life down a successful path. Up until this very day, parents are still restricting their children from spending too much time on the computer and their smart devices frankly because they were raised in a fashion where school was always their only priority whether they enjoyed it or not. Having insinuated that, of course nowadays spending the time to go through a good education and studying hard is still, and will always be the incomparable way towards a good, comfortable and accomplished life. Now, on the other hand, close your eyes and hear me out; imagine a young millennial going up to their parents, or even their grandparents and telling them that they can make a living without going to school or post-secondary; but perhaps by playing video games – what comes to your mind first? Most likely a pair of angry parents or, sincerely every kid’s childhood dream. But what if I told you that it is no longer just a dream but a reality? Would you believe me if I told you that something as simple as posting a picture on social media can now earn you some money? What would you do if I told you that creating a video and posting it on the internet can earn you a couple hundred dollars? What if, I were to tell you that posting homemade content online and playing video games can now earn you hundreds, thousands, and millions of dollars as well as fame all over the globe? Take a moment to just embrace such concept and realize how out of the norm this really is. But this in reality is not a concept at all; this is the up and coming world that is defined by the Millennials, and an up and coming world that defines the Millennials.

            Figure. 3: YouTube logo & logotype. Source 

  They are still providing a modernized version of the same types of occupations that already existed through the 20th century within the company, but more importantly, they are discovering new modernistic kinds of employment that appeal more towards young adults today.

     So what exactly is YouTube and how is it creating new modernistic occupations for current and upcoming millennials? YouTube is an American video platform website that was founded on February 14th, 2005 by 3 former PayPal employees; Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim. YouTube allows its users to upload, view, rate, share, favorite, report, and comment on videos, as well as subscribe to other users on the website. This phenomenon offers all kinds of user-generated and corporate video content ranging between random video clips, television show clips, music videos, short films, documentaries, recordings, movie trailers, live streams, educational videos, video blogging or better known as vlogs; it is endless! You name it, and you’ll find it on YouTube. Most teenagers watch YouTube every single day. (Westenberg, 2016). YouTube has become part of their daily routines. (Westenberg, 2016) In November of 2006, Google bought YouTube for US $1.6 billion dollars, and now YouTube operates as a subsidiary of Google. YouTube as a company earns revenue through Google AdSense; a program which is created to target advertisements according to what kind of content is on the website and what kind of audience it attracts. (Carmondy, 2013) So how does YouTube as a millennial new media affect existing occupations and existing companies? Starting in between 2006 – 2007, YouTube began partnering up with big television channels such as NBC, BBC, MGM, CBS, and Disney through marketing and advertising purposes; allowing these television channels to upload full-length films and television series onto YouTube’s website.

           “Teenagers watch more YouTube than TV. TV is used less and in some cases only for watching football and family shows on Friday night, like The Voice of Holland. Also, when asked if they are bigger fans of YouTubers or traditional celebrities, almost everyone responded to be more fond of YouTubers. Nowadays most teenagers grow up with YouTubers and know more YouTubers than other Dutch celebrities” (Westenberg, 2016)

            Figure. 4: Smosh. Source

     Also, Influenced by Google’s AdSense program, YouTube debuted their Partner Program in May of 2007. This simply allows the uploader of the video to share the revenue produced by advertising sources and companies on the site (Carmondy, 2013); and therefore behold the new millennial occupation, the YouTuber. A YouTuber as you may assume is basically a user on YouTube who uploads frequent content with a large amount of followers known as subscribers. As of right now, there are over a million members apart of the YouTube Partner Program. Nowadays, the channels on YouTube and their corresponding YouTuber with the most subscribers are no different from world class celebrities; they are recognized and have large fan bases all over the globe. Different channels on YouTube all have their own style and genre of content ranging from sports, news, video games, comedy and more. Some of the most famous YouTubers known today are Dude Perfect with 16.2 million subscribers, Jenna Marbles with 16.9 million subscribers, NigaHiga with 19.3 million subscribers, and Smosh with 22.6 million subscribers along with an estimated 2016 year-round salary of US$7 million dollars. (Business Insider, 2017) Believe it or not, all these channels started with a simple home-made video uploaded onto the internet.

     Being a YouTuber definitely has its benefits; you are literally your own boss, hence YouTube’s slogan, “Broadcast yourself”. You don’t have to be on time for work, and essentially you can do whatever you want. You create your own content and you design your own schedule; sounds like everyone’s dream but make no mistake, being a successful YouTuber is no walk in the park. YouTube’s top channel for the past several years is a young adult who has dedicated the last 7 years of his life to create content on YouTube at least twice a day, every single day. This channel is none other than PewDiePie, with an outstanding lead of 54.5 million subscribers and growing along with an outrageous estimated 2016 salary of US$15 million dollars (Business Insider, 2017). Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg is a Swedish goofy online video game personality also known as “PewDiePie”. Back in 2010 when Felix was still a student at Chalmers University of Technology, he registered for an account on YouTube under the name of PewDiePie. In 2011 he became disinterested in his field of study and ended up dropping out of his program after failing an apprenticeship program, and decided to pursue and focus on creating content on YouTube as a YouTuber. PewDiePie is one out of thousands of examples of YouTubers who were once young millennials who then decided to pursue this new occupation known as the YouTuber. Of course, just like Hollywood celebrities, being famous all around the globe comes with controversies and PewDiePie has most definitely suffered through his share of negative media articles and reviews from Wall Street Journals. (Kastrenakes, 2017)  

          Figure. 5: Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg or “PewDiePie”, at PAX 2015 interview.            Source

     Doing YouTube as a full-time career; all the top YouTubers creating their own content today mentioned above are only a mere scratch of this new millennial fast-growing industry. Top YouTubers have not only already made billions as a whole from just creating content on YouTube, but moreover, because they gain so much fame as well; YouTubers like PewDiePie, Dude Perfect, Smosh and yet to mention: Wong Fu Productions and Just Kidding Channels have all became individual branded companies. They have online websites, branded merchandise, sponsorships, partnerships and personal headquarters just like large corporate companies. From here on, they are able to provide employment to others whether it is behind the scene filming content, content editing, or even being featured in videos or short films depending on the theme and genre of the YouTube channel.

          Figure. 6: Dude Perfect branding. Source

     YouTube has grown from a small community of young ambitious millennials, to a fast growing industry solidifying their spot in this generation’s entertainment scene. For example, YouTube started off with their Partner Program creating the career path of a YouTuber; and through that, endless talents and people have been given the chance to advertise themselves to the world. Many musicians, actors, and comedians that are known today have all either started as a YouTuber or has been featured by a YouTuber before turning into a real celebrity. Musicians such as Christina Grimmie started off on YouTube creating music content long before she was featured on NBC’s The Voice, then followed up by a debut solo tour. Fellow The Maze Runner, and sequel The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials star; Ki Hong Lee, was often featured in short films created by the well-known YouTube channel Wong Fu Productions long before he made it into Hollywood films. YouTube has not only created a new occupation with unlimited employment, but has also been a bridge for other ambitions to reach their goals.

          Figure. 7: Wong Fu Productions. Source

          Figure. 8: Ki Hong Lee in “The Maze Runner”  2014. Source

     Riding at the top of already mentioned YouTube channel genres, gamers and gaming are coming up huge as well in terms of worldwide recognition not only on YouTube, or as an official occupation, but as a traditional sport that receives the same benefits from the government. On top of that, gamers are now beginning to be recognized as official athletes as well. Sitting in front of a computer and playing video games is not the image that comes to mind when a person thinks of an athlete (Kane, Spradley, 2017) Video games like Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, and world favorite League of Legends are all now considered professional sports known as Electronic Sports or eSports, where organizations are worth millions and players are worth thousands. Much like YouTube and YouTubers, eSports is a new and fast-growing industry that is also quickly solidifying its place in the world; but in sports rather than solely just entertainment like media’s such as YouTube. It’s a brand new industry that attracts young talents with true passion for specific video games as well as ambition to compete towards being the best. An image of someone who may not be physically fit and lacks athletic abilities is usually the stereotype that is associated (Kane, Spradley, 2017) with the label of “gamer”. 

Research by scientists have found that playing video games competitively exerts just as much physical energy as traditional sports if not more. They found multiple links that link physical sport exertion and video games together such as the behaviour of an individual’s basal metabolic rate (MET), as well as their basal blood pressure rates also tend to rise when competing professionally in a video game. The second part that scientists analyzed found that not only one, but countless skills need to be trained and obtained for someone to become a professional video gamer. In gaming, the player who is more competitive and is more skilled dominate people who only play for fun. There is always a clear win – loss record between those who are professionals and those who are not.

 (Kane, Spradley, 2017)

     But how does eSports and professional gaming correlate as a new up and coming occupation through new technologies and new media?

          Figure. 9: League of Legends World Championships 2015. Source

     Let’s analyze the world favorite game; League of Legends for example. Looking for its proud place in the world of traditional sports representing a part of eSports, League of Legends is exactly like a traditional sport. There are major leagues in different regions of the world where teams compete in large scale studios through regular seasons to qualify for play-offs, then finals to ultimately win the season. There is also an annual World Championship where the best teams from all regions around the world qualify through regular season points and seeding to compete for the title. Furthermore like the NHL, NBA, NFL, and FIFA, teams are owned by large branded gaming organizations who have big name sponsorships like HyperX, Logitech, and players are signed through contracts. Currently, the most successful League of Legends’ players are all from Korea in terms of worldwide success; from pure tournament winnings and organization salaries, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang Hyeok is sitting at the top of the world with 3 World Championship titles and a total of US$897,181.98 dollars (Redbull, 2017) in earnings under the organization known as SK Telecom T1 based in Korea.

          Figure. 10: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok of SK Telecom T1. Source

     On the down side, corresponding with being a YouTuber, becoming a professional gamer is not easy as well. Just like traditional sports, an immense amount of training is required every single day. It is quite simple yet insanely draining; no matter what game it is, professional gamers are required to practice almost every single day for at least 12 hours to maintain their skills and understanding of the game. Not only that, but being a pro definitely comes with a lot of fame as well and as you may have guessed – fame comes with endless criticism through different forms of social media from fans of both your team and the opposing teams. On the contrary, similarly to how YouTube’s Partner Program and YouTubers work, on the side of competing; gamers often spend their rare free time live streaming themselves playing League of Legends or a specific game to an audience through YouTube actually, or a similar online video-based website known as Twitch.tv. Live streaming is a “sub-career” of a professional gamer who basically broadcasts themselves live online to thousands and millions of viewers watching them play video games. And just like YouTube, the more viewers and followers they get on their stream, the more money they earn. On the other hand, as League of Legends eSports take another step towards being officially recognized as a sport, the major leagues such as North America are now offering franchising to the top teams in their region as well as being broadcasted live on sport channels such as ESPN, and other channels on television all around the world.  Famous NBA organizations such as the Golden Gate Warriors are buying up spots within the NA LCS League of Legends League to own a team in eSports.

     The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has also expanded into the eSports scene creating more opportunities not only for men, but female athletes to compete. (Kane, Spradley, 2016) As eSports is well into taking a shape much like traditional sports and occupations around the world of millennials today, video game athletes are now even able to obtain P-1 Visas, which are only given to official athletes who are recognized by the government. (Kane, Spradley, 2016)

          Figure.11: North American League of Legends Championship Series,                  Team Solomid vs. Counter Logic Gaming 2017 Summer Split. Source

     YouTubers, Streamers, and professional gamers; these were all the last careers that Generation X would have thought possible, but yet here they are as top recognized occupations marking the uprising of Generation Y; or the Millennials. As new media’s and technology continue to emerge, existing occupations will continue to change, and new kinds of careers never thought possible will continue becoming a reality.  

References:

Academy, U. S. (2017, April 03). Recognizing ESports as a Sport. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://thesportjournal.org/article/recognizing-esports-as-a-sport/

Higgins, C., & Packard, J. (2016, February). The 10 highest earners in League of Legends. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/league-of-legends-10-highest-earners

McAlone, N. (2017, March 07). These are the 18 most popular YouTube stars in the world - and some are making millions. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-youtuber-stars-salaries-2017/#no-16-jacksepticeye-148-million-subscribers-3

Westenberg, W. (2017). Http://ljournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/a-2017-023.pdf. The Influence of YouTubers on teenagers. doi:10.18411/a-2017-023

Carmody, T. (2013, March 04). It's not TV, it's the Web: YouTube partners complain about Google ads, revenue sharing. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/4062810/youtube-partners-complain-revenue-sharing-google-ads

Kastrenakes, J. (2017, February 16). PewDiePie says The Wall Street Journal is out to get him in apology for Nazi jokes. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/16/14637934/pewdiepie-apology-nazi-jokes-blames-media