Friday Funny: Millennial MadLibs

The commentary on millennials has reached a critical tipping point, descending into self-parody. That’s the point of a website called Millennial MadLibs, which fills in statements about Millennials with overwrought and patronizing proclamations from sources around the web that should probably know better. A random sample produced quotes from USA Today, The Guardian, Boston.com, and the Los Angeles Times.

The website is the work of Nadja Popovich, a Brooklyn-based journalist, with graphics from the Noun Project.

In another example of pushback on the state of the conversation about the millennials, Kevin Klinkenberg penned an article for Better! Streets &Towns that decries yet another study “that purports to define the generations, and salivate at the feet of the Millennials”—this time by the Pew Research Center.

Here is Klinkenberg’s concern, bluntly stated: “I don't like lazy research and journalism. I especially don't like it when it leads to bad policy and bad decisions relative to cities. And, the continued journalistic narrative about the generations and who they are/what they want is lazy and arbitrary. I fear it's going to lead decision-makers to some very bad choices when it comes to the design and planning of cities.”