Yes, indeed, times are changing and it’s pretty much all thanks to technology. Millennials are all grown up and are helping to shape a culture in which everyone is – and expected to be – connected 24/7. This might be with friends, family, co-workers and even protest groups (wink wink). It also opens Millennials up to a lot more criticism and debate, as well as affirmation, on their actions and opinions.

Now for the first time, Millennials are hitting parenthood. Having been raised to count individuality and self-expression as the highest of values, the way that families are being run are an adaptation to this lifestyle. Mini-democracies and spouse approval and consent is even more popular when it comes to making decisions within the family realm. Instead of the over-scheduled days like back then, Millennials are preferring a more responsive, less directorial approach to activities – as well as teaching their kids to just be themselves and try new things.

But the question is: how will this impact the generation to follow?

For one, comparison. While people share their children’s growth, other parents are like, what’s up with my kid? Many of Millennials are posting an impossibly pristine, accomplished version of their family lives on the web.

The pressure among millennials to be great parents is fierce. In February, parenting site BabyCenter released its annual report on modern moms. It surveyed 2,700 U.S. mothers ages 18 to 44 and found that nearly 80% of millennial moms said it’s important to be “the perfect mom,” compared with about 70% of moms in Generation X; 64% of moms across age groups said they believe parenting is more competitive today than it used to be.

And the social media sharing begins with the womb.

Counterintuitive as it may seem to some, Jones-Jackson thinks social media is leading the children of millennials to form stronger social bonds than previous generations, because they’re in contact with one another more outside of school. “They talk all the time,” she says. “They have more to say.” And when they’re having class discussions, the kids are more savvy about what’s going on in the world—perhaps another virtue of the connected life.

Read Time’s full cover story here, where they chat about responsibility, the mini-democracies and how being connected is helping transform opinions and ideas.

[source: time]