It seems to have gained popularity among younger people as an insult against anyone perceived as older. I'm 39 and have been called a boomer by a teen of about 14 or 15 yo. I guess it morphed into an insult for anyone older than 30 nowadays.
Its a mix of 4chan and reddit memes, plus deliberate attempts by bad actors to provoke intra-cultural conflict to shape consensus and rally people to respective voting blocks.
There are strains of truth there -- life ain't grand for the millennial crowd -- but it's more of a meme than anything, IMO.
Also rather incongruous on HN, since there is a much stronger mid-career / older crowd on HN, aka the Slashdot refugees.
I don't remember Slashdot being quite this salty, but it's been long time. All I said was "Boomer" and suddenly everyone's acting like they just saw the fnords.
