Baby Boomers

InterGen Connect: Bridging the Communication Gap Between Generations in the Workforce

Sociolinguistics

Roksana Kohansedgh, Ryan Kolaini, Melissa Mehrabifar, Shawhin Sahabi

Working in a professional environment, online communication can be challenging, particularly across generations. After exploring Generation Z (1997-2012) and Baby Boomers (1946-1964), we hypothesized that they have undeniably different styles of communication that lead to misunderstandings and inefficiencies in the workforce. Baby Boomers typically prefer email communication and phone calls, while Generation Z highly prefers the use of informal, digital communication through social media and text message. Using our own methods, we analyzed this research by conducting a study at a law office, surveying 20 employees including both genders, aged 18-27 and 60-69. With the use of existing research, a background was introduced to gather data on why exactly these generations prefer a certain style of communication. Delving into the findings of our own research, the results were apparent: Boomers prefer formal language and traditional communication platforms, whereas Generation Z leans towards a relaxed approach, using slang and emojis. This generational difference showed the inefficiency in the ability to communicate effectively with one another in the discussion section. Finally, in order to bridge the gap, implications and cross generational training were introduced in the conclusion to facilitate knowledge in communicating effectively between the two cohorts.

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Introduction

Bounded by the demands of the modern workforce, mutual respect and collaboration is formed through effective communication. The research delves into two distinct groups, 10 Baby Boomers (aged 60-69) and 10 Generation Z (aged 18-27), collaborating in a law office. By analyzing and conducting our own research on their communication styles and patterns, their differences in communication through lexicality and formality are unveiled, and uncovers the misunderstandings of how the two cohorts communicate, ultimately aiming to resolve misunderstandings. This research is driven by its research question: How do communication styles differ among the two generations in the workforce, and what influences these variations within the workforce? By analyzing existing research as well as our own research, we aim to uncover the reasons behind their differences in communicating, as well as propose. This will help create a more inclusive and effective workplace where everyone can communicate smoothly and understand each other better.

Background

In society, Baby Boomers are known to have grown up in an era with limited technology, and therefore relying entirely on traditional communication methods. Viewing it as a sign of professionalism and authority, Baby Boomers value formality and directness when communicating. In an article by Jennifer (M.I) Loh, Jane Strachan and Raechel Johns, it is revealed that Baby Boomers preferred exemplifying a “professional” demeanor when communicating online in professional contexts. 80% of Baby Boomers revealed that they are more thorough with their grammar and overall language when texting their colleagues than when they text or email friends or family. (Loh, Strachan, & Johns p. 1522, 2021). This highlights their belief in holding a position of authority when in the workplace, unwilling to stray away from the traditional manner of communication. Conversely, the informality of communication that may seem unprofessional to the Baby Boomer generation, is seen as “direct” to Generation Z. Since Generation Z essentially grew up around the use of advanced technology, they are entirely comfortable with a plethora of online communication platforms, and prefer a more informal style of communication. In a study done by Bencsik Andrea, Horváth-Csikós Gabriella, and Juhász Tímea, the data depicted in a chart revealed that “The boundaries of work and entertainment overlap” (Bencsik, p. 95, 2016). The data is then further explained when it says that because they grow up around technology, Generation Z feels comfortable in a digital, less formal environment, permeating into their work lives. The abbreviations they use make for more of a direct and quick approach to communicating. (Bencsik, p. 93, 2016). The use of slang, like “lol” “and omg” are used in order to be more efficient and comfortable with their coworkers when communicating.

Methods

In order to effectively explore and investigate communicative differences between these two different generations, a mixed-methods study was conducted, analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data. In terms of qualitative data, we conducted a study with 20 employees from a law office, consisting of 10 Baby Boomers (aged 60-69) and 10 employees from Generation Z (aged 18-27) on a google form survey. Narrowing in our research, we examined each cohort’s communicative styles, online preferences for communication platforms, formality, and use of slang. The survey tested their comfortability with certain online communication platforms through close-ended questions, and asked open-ended questions on how they would personally respond to emails and text messages, monitoring their slang, formality, or lack thereof. Additionally, it is important to note that, to avoid bias, we collected data on age and gender at the end of the survey.

Results and Analysis

In terms of the analysis and results of the data, it revealed a significant difference in generational communication style, contributing to the various difficulties communicating across generations.

QUALITATIVE INSIGHTS:

Our qualitative insights revealed that Baby Boomers emphasize formality and proper grammar, viewing it as a sign of professionalism and authority. The apparent Baby Boomer showed a more formal, authoritative approach. As shown in both examples, full sentences, proper punctuation, and directness is used. Within our qualitative insights, we observed distinct differences in the use of language and formality. (See Image one and two)

In Image two, it is shown how Generation Z often uses slang and informal language in a given scenario, favoring brevity and efficiency over traditional formality. In contrast, in image one, the Baby Boomers’ use in formal language asserts their authoritativeness, allowing for a more traditional approach.

QUANTITATIVE INSIGHTS

The data in the chart shows a clear preference for communicative platforms between Generation Z and Baby Boomers. We focused on two different types of platforms of communication: email and instant messaging (like instagram, snapchat, and text message).

Baby Boomers use email for 80% of their professional communications, preferring its formal format. They use instant messaging for only 20%, due to its informal structure and their preference for traditional methods. In contrast, Generation Z uses email for only 30% of their communications, often when required. They prefer instant messaging, which makes up 70% of their workplace communications, valuing its efficiency and quick interactions.

DISCUSSION

Baby Boomers: The Formal Communicators

Baby boomers grew up in times of more face-to-face communication than virtual reality, and formal written communications were very popular. They associate formality with being professional and reliable. It comes; therefore, more naturally to them that they favor emails, formal meetings, and structured ways of communication. Their style of formal, direct lines of communication actually goes to make a point in the Baby Boomers’ favor—that professionalism lies in good punctuation and clear-sighted authority. As Venter (2017) states, “Baby Boomers communicate mostly using face-to-face communication, telephone conversations and e-mail. They will seldom use blogs, wikis, social networking sites and texting or instant messaging in more formal situations, such as in the work context.”

Generation Z: Digital Native

On the other hand, Generation Z was brought up on the internet and the digital means of communication, and therefore, they embrace the style of casual and instant communication. They prefer informal language that is rich in slang, dramatic expressions, and even emojis to express emotions. They prefer digital platforms more: social media and messaging applications for communication. This is mainly a representation of a world that is fast and interconnected, where it is important to be quick and efficient in communication.Taneja, Wu, and Edgerly (2018) highlight that “Generation Z prefers to communicate through more private social media platforms such as Snapchat and Whisper.”

Our study identifies the distinct communication styles of Baby Boomers and Generation Z, highlighting why misunderstandings occur in the workplace. Baby Boomers prefer formal, structured communication, while Generation Z favors informal, rapid styles, leading to potential friction. Subramaniam and Razak (2014) note, “There is also the element of interjection such as ‘la’, ‘ah’ and ‘lah’ in the posts; it shows the informal style of posts.” Understanding these preferences allows organizations to tailor strategies for a more inclusive environment.

CONCLUSION

When focusing on the communication gap between Baby Boomers and Generation Z, it is essential to scope the different aspects of intergenerational interaction in a cohesive and productive work environment. This research project reveals the different communication preferences and patterns of the two generations, and how each generation has many differences. When highlighting these differences, Baby Boomers prefer a more formal touch to their communication, whereas Generation Z drives towards convenience and simplicity through social media and messaging apps. These differences not only reflect the differences between the people born in those particular generations but also reflect how advancements in our society have played out.

Our research proposed implementing specific training protocols to address generational communication challenges, fostering empathy and reducing confusion. Programs like “Global Courseware” and “SkillPath” can create a healthy, transparent work environment with flexible communication. For example, combining email updates with instant messaging for quick follow-ups can help bridge communicative differences. These strategies enhance collaboration and understanding, creating a more inclusive workplace. Our research not only offered solutions to communication barriers but also fostered a healthier workplace, reflecting rapid technological advancements and improving productivity and job satisfaction.

Additionally, we provide links to relevant podcasts and news broadcasts that delve deeper into generational communication differences and strategies for effective workplace communication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VicCUIEwpLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KteUn6scFqE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LD8CZIUeDU

Acknowledgements

We thank the employees of the participating law office for their time and insights, and our academic advisors for their guidance and support in this research project.

By fostering an understanding of generational communication differences, we can create more effective and cohesive workplaces.

References

Bencsik, A., Juhász, T., & Horváth-Csikós, G. (2016). Y and Z Generations at Workplaces. Journal of Competitiveness, 6(3), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2016.03.06

Loh, J. (M. I., Strachan, J., & Johns, R. (2021). How rude is rude: an exploratory study among Australian Millennials, Generation “X” and Baby Boomers mobile phone users. Behaviour & Information Technology, 40(14), 1516–1527. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2020.1764106

Subramaniam, V., & Razak, N. A. (2014). Examining language usage and patterns in online conversation: Communication gap among Generation Y and Baby Boomers. Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 118, 468–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.064

Taneja, H., Wu, A. X., & Edgerly, S. (2018). Rethinking the generational gap in online news use: An infrastructural perspective. New Media & Society, 20(5), 1792–1812. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817707348

Venter, E. (2017). Bridging the communication gap between generation Y and the baby boomer generation. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 22(4), 497-507. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2016.1267022

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Gen Z, Slang, and Stuff

Sociolinguistics

Anonymous author, Daniela Vega, Giselle Chan,  Yuxiao Li

This study provides an analysis on the use of general extenders within Generation Z (Gen Z) online discourse. Utilizing qualitative analysis methods on social media dialogue (e.g. Youtube comments, Tweets, Spotify playlists, etc.) allows us to demonstrate how Gen Z members have created a new general extender (i.e. “and idk”). Where previous research studies on general extenders were narrowed to in-person discourse and interactions, this study examines the language pattern in the larger context of the internet across different social media discourse facilitators. It was a new context we were interested in providing research for because Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with the mass media culture, brought to them by the aforementioned social media outlets. Aptly so, Gen Z has created this new form of general extenders to expand their lexical inventory and engage in online discourse, as a pragmatic tool to index their emotions and stances. The interesting sociolinguistics findings on Gen Z and the use of general extenders are reflected on how this particular generation is constantly creating new slang terms (e.g. and idk), which builds intragenerational unity (with mutuals) but also causes intergenerational confusion (with the baby boomer generation referred to as the boomers); nonetheless, nuanced research is complicated with the lack of a corpus focusing on online discourse.

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Introduction

Slang fosters in-group relationships and creates a recognizable framework of social discourse structure to identify fellow group members with. Slang is known to change regularly, generation to generation, and trend to trend. Currently, technological advances have played a huge role in the development of new stylistics in language and the creation of new lexical items. It is a language phenomenon that has been studied to showcase sociolinguistics impacts. Here we are also looking for the sociolinguistic impact, but on the focus of general extenders found in the Generation Z (Gen Z) every-day internet discourse stylistics. The speaking style of our target population, Gen Z, employs Internet slang in computer-mediated discourse, especially through videos on social media websites like YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok. We are looking to examine how they utilize it with intergenerational and intragenerational group members. We are hoping to understand if it is used to separate themselves from other groups or if there is a new development in general extenders with the same functions as previous research has defined. 

Background Information

There is previous research on the text messaging stylistics of Gen Z. There is also research on previous generations creating new slang. We will be following up these research focuses with the use of a specific linguistic event, the general extender (GE). GEs are phrases added to the end of a sentence indicating the previous word is part of a set, extending its meaning. For example, when being asked, “What did you find at the tide pools?”, one could respond by saying, “I found starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones, and stuff.” The “and stuff” is the GE, signifying the previous items were part of a larger set, in this case, of sea creatures. Researchers Tagliamonte and Denis analyzed these types of phrases and verified them to have important functions in spoken language. Those functions include referring to a set of the previous word, creating vagueness, sending a signal of unsureness, or creating solidarity between speakers. GEs can also be used to mark the end of a speaker’s turn or indicate that the previous word could become a topic of the conversation.

Common GEs used by previous generations include “and stuff” and “and things.” The oldest uses of general extenders date back to the 14th century with the GE, “and such” (Tagliamonte/Denis). GE use and types further develop with new additions appearing in 1957 with “and shit”. This includes general extender particles like “and that kind of thing” (see Figure 1).  We saw no other data on recent GEs in the late twentieth century or the current twenty first century. We are interested to find any new GEs and if possible, how they are coined and popularized by Gen Z. If there is a continuance in use of GEs from a previous generation, we will be documenting occurrences. When referring to Gen Z, we refer to individuals who are currently between 4 and 24 years old, born between 1995 and 2015. Gen Z constitutes an estimated 70 million of the population of the United States as of 2019. In looking at their screen time behavior, Gen Z watch about 68 videos per day across 5 social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. This social behavior is new because of the invention of technology but does relate to multiple age groups. Gen Z, millennials (ages 18-34), and Generation Xers (ages 35-54) use social media more than baby boomers (ages 55 or more) (see Figure 2.). However, social media use is the highest in Gen Z than in other generations. This gives them the highest opportunity to host dialogue between themselves on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Figure 1

 

Figure 2

Methodology

Using the qualitative method, Conversational Analysis (CA) for this study, we observe how Gen Z uses slang and GEs in their online conversations. Applied frequently in Sociology and Sociolinguistics to study social interactions, CA allowed us to analyze, compare, and document instances of GEs. The data used in our transcribed CAs were collected mostly from YouTube and Twitter, which have the highest Gen Z activity. Twitter caused difficulties because without category subjects to search for to find GE use, we were forced to scroll and read many tweets, hoping for an occurrence of a GE. We were able to search for the keywords of GEs like “and stuff”, which led to some results. We watched the most viewed YouTube videos from the popular Gen Z YouTube personalities (YouTubers) like James Charles and Kylie Jenner to begin a lexical choice analysis. When identifying the new GE, we returned to both Twitter and YouTube to search the phrase to find more instances and examples that supported our evaluation.

Results

We continuously saw a continued use of GEs including “and shit”, “and stuff, “and things”, and “or whatever”. These are continued in use from even the early 1600s. We did not witness an “and so forth” from the 1500s in a Tweet, YouTube video, YouTube comment, or TikTok made by a Gen Z community member or influential personality. We conclude because online discourse is not formal, the use of a Shakespearean aged GE would not be expected.  These previously identified GEs are not used to separate themselves from a generation but as a normal stylistic feature all generations use. We found no unique change in use for already established and identified GEs.

Through our CA data collection efforts we have successfully identified a new GE, “and idk”. This new GE is a fascinating finding sociolinguistically because it is a hybrid of already established linguistic phenomena and recently developed Internet-related acronyms. In looking at the function of “and idk,” we see it follows the same patterns of previous GEs. It continues to successfully indicate that words in the clause are part of larger set.

However, “and idk” deviates in the sense that it encodes pragmatic meaning. It contributes sentiments of vulnerability, insecurity and disconnect (see Figure 3.) In this example of “and idk”, we see it is identifying the users’ response to her lack of Twitter followers to interact with. Overall, our results serve as an expansion on previous research for GE, and we ultimately want more linguists to join in on this conversation of navigating the sociolinguistic landscape of the Internet to gain a more nuanced understanding of Gen Z-related discourse.

Figure 3. Screenshots of one of our tweets.

Discussion & Conclusion

We found GE uses allows any generation to be identified as the current younger generation because they are more typically found in informal speech. Social media discourse has allowed for changes in communication to facilitate the speed of communication speed online. While the use of the same tone you would have with friends and your in-group is also preferred because of the opportunity of anonymity and profile curation online. The research on general extenders does not include the increase, decrease, or appearance of usage at certain ages. However, we speculate if there should be research done on this, there could be identified a transition period between ages where GE use appears. We expect the GEs we identified to be added to a timeline representing its introduction, like the one we included in our research. We would hope there could be a timeline more specific for each GE within every time period, such as our focus here on Gen Z and social media. We would be interested in seeing the peaks and heights of use within the generation and the time periods where the GEs manifest. Thanks to archiving efforts for internet dialogue such as the Library of Congress Twitter Archive, the availability of data has increased. This type of data collection will allow for even further detailed research and we expect further sociolinguistic analysis.

 

References

A.O., Abusa’Aleek. (2015). Internet Linguistics: A Linguistic Analysis of Electronic Discourse as a New Variety of Language. International Journal of English Linguistics. 5.10.5539/ijel.v5n1p135.

Cheshire, J. (2007, April 17). Discourse variation, grammaticalisation and stuff like that. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00317.x.

Cox, Toby. (2019, July 2). How Different Generations Use Social Media. from The State of Tech. Retrieved from https://themanifest.com/social-media/how-different-generations-use-social-media

D.W. Maurer. (2013, August 16). Slang. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved from https://www.britann ica.com/topic/slang

Levey, & Stephen. (2012, March 1). General Extenders and Grammaticalization: Insights from London Preadolescents. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/applij/article/33/3/257/220662.

Sue. (1970, January 1). Young people’s language and stuff like that. Retrieved from http://linguistics-research-digest.blogspot.com/2011/10/young-peoples-language-and-stuff-like.html.

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