New magazine devoted to Gen Y launched

Article by: Shoshana Akins

Generation Y. Millennial Generation. Echo Boomers. This demographic can’t even pin down a name for itself, so how can anyone be expected to understand them?

Encompassed in this name-shifting group are those following Generation X, or those approximately 15-35 years old. Fresh, changing, and different than all its predecessors, Gen Y continues to be elusive to all its outsiders. Advertisers, manufacturers, and cultural commentators just want to understand what exactly is going on with them and how this budding generation can be reached. What do they eat? What are they attracted to? What kind of lifestyle do they lead? All of these questions are difficult for baby boomers and Generation X’s to answer due to the extreme changes in culture, entertainment, and society.

Enter The Next Great Generation. No, this is not yet another name for this demographic, but a new blog that is seeking to patch together the breadth of knowledge about Gen Y. Started by Boston-based advertising company, Mullen, The Next Great Generation (TNGG) is an honest and telling amalgamation of articles on topics pertaining to this generation, including opinions and observations on food, life, brands, and, most recently, sex. But the hook of this new medium is that all the staff is between the ages of 18 and 25. The writers, the staff, the editors, the managers. Everyone.

With this age requirement, TNGG hopes to create “an opportunity for Millennial Generation writers to develop a voice and gather a following,” says their website. “This blog is where we do the talking, about how we live, what we think, stuff we like.”

Last week, the Pour House, in Back Bay, was invaded by writers, editors and enthusiasts of TNGG. Gathered together to have a rousing night of socializing, networking, tweeting, and trivia, the group of twenty-somethings stepped away from their computers and into the real world to talk about what is important: themselves.

On a clipboard that came with multi-colored gel pens attached, the revelers wrote what they “Won’t be / be doing in 20 years.” They introduced themselves with their first names while their name tags read their Twitter handles, and they talked about which articles they had written on the site.

The party at the Pour House was in honor of kicking off Sex Week, TNGG’s 22-article, seven-day spread about “Gen Y perspectives on birth control, bisexuality, same-sex relationships, sex portrayed in media, and much more,” which the party attendees had all participated in in some way, even if it was just reading a couple of the articles.

Conversations throughout the room were wide-ranging as trivia got underway and ended and more people began to arrive, but most were a free flow of stories, jokes, and reminiscings of various how-I-lost-my-virginity tales and other exploits.

After a few months of being launched and still in the beta stage, TNGG has already gotten on the radar and accomplishing its goals.

“Together as a team, as a group of people, as a community, we have actually created something that is pretty cool and that people are paying attention to,” said Edward Boches, Chief Creative Officer at Mullen, Editor-in-Chief of TNGG, and honorary member of the Millennials. “I have no doubt that if we keep at it… this might be something that helps everyone’s careers, makes us all collectively famous, and tells the world that [Generation Y] has something meaningful to say and they ought to be listened to.”

This quick rise to cyber-space visibility makes perfect sense to 25-year-old managing editor, Stuart Foster.

“There is a hole in the market that needed to be filled and no one out there is doing it well,” Foster. “With our original content focus, we’re tackling this void head on.”

According to Foster, the website is set up in the format of a blog with articles posted two to three times a day.  However, unlike other bloggers’ entries, the articles on TNGG are held to a journalistic standard and are “driven off of a content platform.” With 15,000 visits a month and a growing population of writers spanning from Paris to the Caribbean to Boston, TNGG hopes to soon bloom to its full potential as the ultimate resource for all things Gen Y.

Wrapped up in the excitement and development of this new project is Suffolk senior, Jason Potteiger. While interning at Mullen, Potteiger was approached by Boches, to join the staff of TNGG because of previous work he had done and, of course, his age.

“He had liked some of my posts about social media on my personal blog,” said Potteiger. “He began to round up all the young people in Mullen and asked that I come to the meeting for The Next Great Generation and help in its planning.”

Several months later, Potteiger is an Associate Editor at TNGG, has posted numerous articles ranging from culture to pornography, and is invested in the success of this venture’s ideals of generational unity.

“I think it can come off like we’re just asking people to write for us, but a big part of us is that we’re a community of writers,” said Potteiger. “It’s a big group effort rather than a top-down form; we all write for the blog… and we all write to forward it.”

Christine Peterson, Community Manager and recent graduate, got into TNGG right from the moment the idea was hatched, excited by the possibilities and potential for such a program. Boches began speaking about the idea and trying to decide where to go with it.

“While he was talking about it and asked if anyone wanted to do it, I piped up and said I wanted in and I had ideas,” said Peterson. “He just turned to me and said ‘You got it, kid’. And here I am.”

With enough support, TNGG hopes to become a magazine (online or in print) that can be a legitimate source of information for all things Millennial. Check out their newest interviews, articles, and exposé at thenextgreatgeneration.com.