Table 3.2 Generation as Co-culture
Generation	Year Born	Characteristics Affecting Communication
Matures	Before 1946	Born before the end of the Second World War, these are the generations that lived through the Great Depression and the war. They are largely conformist, with strong civic instincts.
Baby Boomers	1946–1964	The largest generation, products of an increase in births that began after the Second World War and ended with the introduction of the birth control pill. In their youths, they were antiestablishment and optimistic about the future, but recent surveys show they are more pessimistic today than any other age group.
Generation X	1965–1980	Savvy, entrepreneurial, and independent, this generation witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of home computing.
Millennials	1981–2000	The first generation of the new millennium, this includes people under thirty; the first group to fully integrate computers into their everyday communication.