What is Gen Alpha: Kids born after Apple launched its first iPhone and impact of tech in their lives

Boomers, baby boomers, millennials and so on – there is a specific word for people born in certain years. The latest generation is

Generation Alpha

, which is defined as a demographic cohort that are born in the early 2010s. What makes this generation different is that it is said to be the first generation to grow up with technology as an integral part of their lives.
Navigating life with Siri chirping your lunch date reminders and

TikTok

trends dictating sock choices – that's

Gen Alpha

for you. These tech-toting toddlers are ready to code the future with one viral hashtag at a time.
Last year, a report by Wired dubbed this generation “iPad kids” because the oldest members were born the year the iPad debuted. Incidentally, they were born about two years after

Apple

launched its first

iPhone

in India.
Always connected, always consuming

Unlike Gen Z's Facebook walls, Gen Alpha prefers platforms like TikTok, a report by Axios said. They have Siri and Alexa whispering helpful cues in their ears, and ChatGPT weaving personalised learning experiences in school. They are said to be the most

tech-savvy consumers

. Millennial parents hand over smartphones to their kids at age 9 and they are well-versed with payment apps to virtual reality experiences.
Covid-19 push

The report said that the

Covid-19 pandemic

was a defining event for this generation as it accelerated their online immersion. How?

Virtual classrooms

became their reality, with the consequences now evident in declining test scores and social anxieties, it added.

Their social behaviour also took a hit, Tori Cordiano, a child and adolescent psychologist, was quoted as saying.
“Many of them were not in school at all in person, and many of them took much longer to come back consistently. We're now seeing the holdover effects. They just haven't had as much practice making friends and being exposed to new environments," she said.
Climate warriors
They are born into a world grappling with climate change and the bombardment of information leads to heightened anxiety about social issues.
For Gen Alpha, technology is their cradle, their playground and their battleground. They are digital pioneers,

social justice warriors

and savvy consumers.