According to social researcher Mark McCrindle in his book 'The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations' (www.mccrindle.com.au), this is what we can expect the next generation to be called. Given the fact that the generational span has contracted significantly from 20-25 years to 15 years, he also predicts that the next generation is due to begin in
2010.
So, why 'Beta'? With generational analysis having moved from a stage of foundation to consolidation, a more predictable labelling system is being formed. There being consensus on the alphabetised theme of Generations X, Y and Z, it is most likely that the next generation will be Generation Alpha (the first letter of the Greek
alphabet). This nomenclature of moving to the Greek
alphabet after exhausting the Latin
one (A, B, C, D etc), has a long
history with meteorologists. In fact, scientists of all disciplines use the Greek
alphabet as a labelling sequence and so it looks likely that the sociologists will follow this trend with the generations too.
