Born Zillennial is a private Facebook group that currently has over 200k followers and was created by Matt Duffy. The ‘about’ section says that Zillennials were shaped in the early 2000’s and are a little bit of a Millennial but they also kind of relate to Gen Z.
It continues, “We bridge the gap between the non-digital and digital-first... basically, we get the Best of Both Worlds. If you’ve ever felt alone being stuck between two rigidly defined generations, welcome home. Now get in loser, we're unlocking memories you forgot you had.”
#2 So We All Had The Same Teachers In School?? Some People Still Do This Now, And I Cannot Take It
We got in touch with the founder and he told us that everything actually started from a project assignment: “I started Born Zillennial as an assignment for one of my University of Florida College of Journalism & Communications (UF CJC) Online graduate courses. The class was Social Media Community Management and the assignment was to create an online community in the form of a Facebook Group.”
He revealed how he got the idea to focus on Zillennials to RooTV. “I was actually scrolling on Facebook and saw the Urban Dictionary definition of a Zillennial and I felt like I fit right in. I think it gave the years 1993-1998, but it basically said, you’re a little bit of both. I think I always felt that and I had heard the term. Then I started searching for it, saw it in some other places and I was like, alright, I can get behind this and I have nothing else for this assignment.”
If you are curious about how the project was seen by the professor, Matt let us know that they really liked his project and was excited with its success, “After going viral after a series of viral TikTok videos, he was instrumental in the early success of the community by ensuring I was providing a safe, active, and engaged online community. I received an A in the course after presenting my final report on Facebook Live in the group to ~10k viewers.”
To enter this group, one must answer three questions: 1. How did you find out about Born Zillennial? 2. What was your first phone? 3. What do you hope to gain by becoming a member?
The creator of the group commented that the word about it got far and new members heard about the group through various sources. Their motivations to join the community most often are to feel a sense of belonging, to be part of a community, to unlock childhood memories or to enjoy the nostalgia and find their people.
#6 Y'all Remember Back In The Early Days Of Youtube Where If We Didn't Want The Video To Buffer Every Five Minute, We Would Wait For The White Line To Go All The Way To The End Of Video? Or Did I Just Have Really Bad Internet Connection?
Even though generations are defined by the year one is born and there is a general understanding that age is what separates people because they have different values and goals in life, Matt told us, “While we believe there may be different life experiences & cultural moments that shape—and separate—generations, there is no perfect answer to the generational divide. We believe in the Born Zillennial Mindset: if you can relate to feeling stuck or being lost between two rigidly defined generations, welcome home. We do not gatekeep age range, and believe anyone who would gain value from the content & community we share deserves to join us in our mission to unlock the past, embrace the present, and brighten the future.”
Because of this mindset, Matt says that they don’t “allow negative discourse between Millennials and Gen Z” as the Facebook group is meant to connect people and not divide them.
It is really fun to read through the posts and remember the TV shows we watched as kids or toys we played with or see that other people had similar experiences while growing up, so we also wanted to know what the creator of the group enjoys the most about his project. For him, the most important part is the members: “Born Zillennial (BZ) would be nothing without our members joining, contributing, and reminiscing with one another each and every day. They submit a majority of the content.”
He goes into detail about the posts that he likes seeing the most, “My favorite posts vary across the three pillars of our mission: to unlock the past, embrace the present, and brighten the future. Posts shared by members that unlock the past or 'unlock memories' that we had collectively forgotten about are some of my favorites, from TV shows, toys, electronics, and internet history.”
#12 For Sure I Had These, And Left My Lights On All Day While At School So They Would Get ‘Super Charged’ (I’m Sure My Parents Loved Me For That…)
Nostalgia is a very powerful and overwhelming feeling, so remembering the good old days does something with our hearts. But there are also things that Zillennials are experiencing now that they want to share and Matt doesn’t deny that he likes those posts as well. “Though, I equally enjoy when members embrace the present. This can look like networking threads to help with resumes or the job hunt, how to navigate post-grad life during a pandemic, and feeling alone or behind in life compared to others.”
It seems that Matt just really loves this group and everything people are sharing, however, he confesses that he has his favorites: “My all-time favorite posts are the BZFF (Born Zillennial Friend Forever) where we encourage members to make connections—we've even seen posts shared from members who have connected IRL - or found a pen pal from across the globe—because of these posts.”
Let’s not forget the fact that Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah Montana, who is mentioned in the posts quite often, is a member of this community. Matt should be very proud of this achievement and he says “Miley Cyrus joining our community, sharing a post, and even responding to a trivia question about herself is a highlight of the group.”
There is no denying that the community is huge, and who would have thought that a college assignment could grow so big and have such an impact on Matt’s life? He said that it actually changed his life. “Mainly, I no longer felt alone in feeling stuck between two rigidly defined generations. In fact, I realized I was never alone, but it wasn't until this community gathered that I had this realization. I now have a community of like-minded individuals I can lean on during the good and the bad times that are inherent to being a 20-something.”
The creation of the group resulted in Matt finding really good friends that he met through the Born Zillennial community. “I foresee staying close with several teammates for the rest of my life!”
Another really positive change that the creation of the group brought was that it “also helped him realize his passion for connecting people and building community,” which encouraged him to apply to and secure his current job at Meta.
It is actually really amazing what Matt accomplished and that it all started with just an idea for an assignment for a class in college. So many people finally feel that they found people who really understand them, their jokes and what they are going through or went through.
Do you feel like you would belong to this group? What do you think of the posts? If you would like to join, here is a link to the Facebook group. You can also take a look at Born Zillennial Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Don’t forget to upvote the posts you liked the most and let us know your reactions in the comments.
