Generations

''"wtf is a gen?" - chatno users on multiple occasions''

Generations
Generations, usually shortened to "gens," are a system of categorizing members of Chatnotwt based on the time they first joined chat. Although members of Chatnotwt tend to be close with other members who arrived around the same time that they did, particularly in earlier gens, there is no formal hierarchy or division between gens.

Until March 30, 2021, most gens were based around defining events in Chatno's existence, such as milestones in the count and large floods of new users. However, those gens were unevenly spaced and excluded many more recent members of Chatno. On March 30, members of the Chatno Lore Discord came up with a new system of gens, based around changes in Chatno's population and culture. The seven new generations were almost unanimously accepted. On December 31, 2022, two new generations were added, also by consensus of the Chatno Lore Discord.

The previous Generations system can be seen at the Original Generations page.

Gen 1: The Beginning [11.9.2020-11.15.2020]
Gen 1 is a combination of Gen 1 and Gen 2 from the original Gen system.

Individuals and groups of people were occasionally present in Technoblade's offline Twitch chat prior to November 9, 2020, but Gen 1 founded the community that Chatnotwt is built around today.

Gen 1 arrived due to Twitter user Little Kribbit's tweet in which they asked for Technoblade's Twitch channel. At this time, Techneoblade's account had yet to be suspended, and Little Kribbit was one among the 148K people (at the time of their asking) who had followed Techneoblade under the assumption that the account belonged to Technoblade. After finding the real channel, they encouraged others to follow the channel to get his account, which had 39.1K followers at the time, to 100K followers. As a result, people began to chat in his offline chat, and Gen 1 was established.

Gen 2: Philza Raid/Mention [11.16.2020-11.27.2020]
Gen 2 is a combination of Gen 3 and Gen 4 from the original Gen system.

Gen 2 arrived as a result of the first Snitchza Incident, when Philza discussed Chatnotwt's count live on his stream on November 16, 2020. As he had joined the Dream SMP in the middle of a major plot event earlier that day, and Technoblade had just ended his own stream and told his viewers to raid Philza, this resulted in a large influx of new people visiting Chatnotwt.

Gen 3: Techneoblade [11.28.2020-12.12.2020]
Gen 3 is a combination of Gen 5, Gen 6, and Gen 7 from the original Gen system.

Many individuals in early Gen 3 found Chatnotwt after posts and fanart that mentioned Philza getting mod in Techno's chat gained popularity on Twitter.

Techneoblade also streamed a blank screen on random days during this time, claiming they would do a Q&A or an actual stream, yet no stream ever happened and the VODs were never uploaded to the channel.

The biggest influx, however, was on Dec 12th. Technoblade's presence in other streamers' chats during MCC on this day brought many new users to his offline chat. Techneoblade's fake stream on the same day also largely contributed to the influx of new chatters.

Gen 4: The Dream SMP Team [12.13.2020-12.30.2020]
Gen 4 is composed of part of Gen 7 from the original gen system.

When TommyInnit created the Dream SMP Twitch team, he added most influential Dream SMP streamers to it, including Technoblade. Many Gen 4 members found Chatno through the Team page.

Gen 5: The "Filler Episode" [1.1.2021-2.3.2021]
Gen 5 is a combination of part of Gen 7 and part of Gen 8 from the original Gen system.

After the December holidays, many members of Chatnotwt were preoccupied with real-life responsibilities and the chat was less consistently active than it had been during December.

As no major culture shifts or events took place during this period of time, Gen 5 is known as the Filler Episode. Its name originates from the insistence of one of the only people from this gen who was helping create the new gen system.

Gen 6: The Start of Chatboo [2.4.2021-3.31.2021]
Gen 6 is a combination of part of Gen 8 and Gen 9 from the original Gen system.

The decrease in offline chat activity continued through March, with most members busy with their lives and many top counters on official hiatus. It also became increasingly rare for new people to find the chat, because there were no snitches during this time.

However, on 4th Feb 2021, the offline chat of RanbooLive, another Dream SMP twitch streamer, experienced an uptick in activity. "Chatboo," as Ranboo's offline came to be known, was the start of a new wave of active offline chats. The distinction of Gen 6 is based on the culture shift from Chatno seeing itself as an isolated anomaly to being one of many offline chat communities. Still, the unprecedented level of activity and users in Chatboo, including many Chatno members, brought many beloved members to Chatno.

Gen 7: April Fool's [4.1.2021-8.27.2021]
Gen 7 and the Gens following it have no connection to the original Gen system.

The fake April Fool's Day stream on Technoblade's Twitch channel brought a flood of newcomers into the chat. At the time, Technoblade had over 100 thousand Twitch followers, and even the broken notifications didn't stop thousands of viewers from coming in. Many Chatno members on hiatus took the opportunity to come back, and many stream viewers chose to stay and become regulars. The influx of pokes, the return of common counters and a high daily count, and the reminder of Chatnotwt's existence to less active members revived the slow chat and marked the start of Gen 7.

Gen 8: Technosupport/Chatno Twitter [8.27.2021-07.01.2021]
Gen 8 began when Technoblade released his "where i've been" video on August 27, 2021. In this video, he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. This announcement brought a huge influx of pokes to chat to wish Technoblade well.

Around this time, a new Chatnotwt updates Twitter account was created and began gaining popularity. This account spread the word about Chatnotwt to Twitter users who had not heard about it before, marking a shift in Chatnotwt's mindset from complete secrecy about the chat to being more open to essentially snitching on themselves. The combination of new users from both of these sources make up Gen 8.

Gen 9: So Long Nerds [07.01.2021-PRESENT]
On July 1, 2021, Technoblade's dad uploaded the video "so long nerds" to Technoblade's YouTube channel, announcing that Technoblade had passed away from cancer. This announcement once again brought a huge influx of new users to chat to mourn and leave messages in Technoblade's honor. The welcome message of Chatnotwt was adapted at this time to state that the count is now in remembrance of Technoblade. Chatnotwt has been relatively inactive since then, not gaining many users or having many other major events. Therefore, from the announcement video to the present day is marked as Gen 9 of Chatnotwt.

What Gen am I?
If you joined Chatnotwt around any of the above dates, you can identify yourself as part of that gen. It should be noted that many people found chat at random times through methods not listed here, or came in at the intersection of two Gens. Those people can choose to identify themselves with whatever Gen they feel most connected with, or no gen at all.

Most define their Gen as the time they first interacted with Chatno, but some choose it based on when they first discovered the chat, even if they were only lurking at the time. Ultimately it comes down to one's preference and which generation they identify with most.

Whether or not you are part of a Gen, all users are encouraged to commemorate the day they found Chatno by celebrating their monthly anniversary and reminiscing about the old days to annoy everyone else.