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Do the different generations understand each other? There are some differences.
In this case, Millennials, what confuses you the most about Gen Z? Members of a popular online forum chime in to answer that question about what bemuses them the most.
1. We Live In The Public Eye
One individual sounded frustrated and concerned about Gen Z’s tendency to overshare digitally. A Millennial agreed and said that when they thought of all the things they willingly shared with the world on several apps back to Friendster, they were appalled. It made them think twice about oversharing in the future.
This person took the concrete step of returning to all his social media accounts, combing through them, and deleting anything that he felt could compromise his reputation after he got his first big job. He felt much more secure afterward and recommends it as a good strategy for others.
2. NO WAY?
Gen Z has forgotten that social media’s rise started when Millenials were young. This fact leads to more exasperation from the forum’s Millenials. It is possible that Gen Z doesn’t realize that the age of social media began while the Millenial generation was young.
They think of themselves as the generation of social media and don’t look back past the latest decade for historical context. They weren’t the only ones who experienced this. You can imagine this user shaking their head.
A second person watched a Gen Z-er claim that his generation invented Internet acronyms like AFK (away from keyboard). The Millennial responded with exasperation and told the young whippersnapper, WE INVENTED AFK!
3. Where Has The Time Gone?
It is hard for some Millenials to face facts and think of how long it has been since they were teenagers. While answering the question, one user lamented the passage of time, noting that the younger generation probably looks at their time in the same way this person looks at the 1970s or the 1980s. Another user noted, “If Smashing Pumpkin’s song 1979 came out today, it would be called 2005.”
To give everyone a much-needed perspective, someone did the math and devised these sobering equations. First, 2022-1990=32, and second, 1990-32=1958, which proves that no matter what decade you are talking about, the past isn’t as far away as you think.
4. I Don’t Get It
Another topic of mystification is what Gen Z thinks is funny. Millennials need help understanding what makes them laugh. A perplexed individual articulated, “They have a peculiar and strange sense of humor. It’s complex to communicate what it is exactly. But it’s pretty precise.”
However, this forum member rode to the rescue with a pretty solid theory: Gen-Z humor seems like it is a lot like the Dadaist, surrealist, and absurdist art movements after World War Two. It’s something to think about.
5. They’ve Gone Missing
The concern is about the big-name actors in the business. A mystified millennial asked if anyone knew where the big celebrity names of this generation have gone. They noted that other than Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet, the kind of big names and personalities that previous generations have had don’t seem to be around.
One example that was given is that Ryan Gosling is starring in the Barbie adaptation, and he is in his early forties, which seems a little older than the rest of the cast. Where are the younger actors with a big enough name to star in these kinds of studio films?
Forum members agreed that it seemed like the stars, especially the male stars of the previous generations, seem to remain the leading and bankable actors even during the beginning of a new generation.
6. Lost In Tech
Yet another bewildered person asked about the tech-savvy or lack thereof of Gen Z. It seems that Gen Z members have a lot of trouble handling the basic tasks that go along with desktop or laptop computers’ operating systems and other forms of tech.
Simple tasks like doing a Google search and then navigating the results, being resistant to disinformation on the Internet, and having the skills to troubleshoot problems with Internet connectivity seem to elude them.
It is something that concerns the other generations and is mystifying since Gen Z has been immersed in tech all of their lives.
7. Lack Of Attention Span Theater
TikTok is a social media platform specializing in short-form content. It is tremendously popular with Gen Z. This puzzles a Millenial who talked about how it was easy for them to watch long-form videos and how they were much more entertained and immersed in films with a standard length or longer.
Everything is new again, and one person had an answer that harkened back to the days of flipping through television channels, searching for a mysterious prize that never materialized. They said, “It’s new-age channel surfing IMO. It’s also easy to consume and mindlessly scroll through, which keeps the brain happy with plenty of novelty.”
8. Help, I’m Gen Z
Speaking of people being puzzled, at least one Gen Z member admitted they were confused too and confided, “I’m gen z, and I’m confused. Mom, look, I’m famous!” Helpfully, others agreed that Gen Z had a lot to be confused about in a confusing world. They admitted to being somewhat confused about Gen Z themselves.
Wittily, an observer of the conversation replied, “As a Generation X-er, get off my lawn.”
9. No Booze
A certain Gen X-er seemed impressed, taken aback by this next issue, and stated that he had no idea that Gen Z didn’t seem as enthralled with alcohol as he and other generations had been. He told tales of his friends getting hammered every weekend and falling victim to alcohol poisoning.
He regaled everyone with stories of people drinking from open containers in the street and being loaded into ambulances when they passed out as something routine.
Others agreed that Gen Z didn’t seem as willing to drink and didn’t pressure others to do so as previous generations. They found it a refreshing turn of events.
10. Broccoli Cuts For Everyone!
Humorously, an astounded Millennial couldn’t understand how many Gen Z’s had similar haircuts and asked about the Broccoli cut. He was amazed that people chose to get that haircut that seemingly required a perm to maintain it. This imagery makes you imagine a row of Gen Z kids running around with broccoli crowns on their heads.
The answer was quick, and in the affirmative, another user stated, “Perms are popular right now. A recent haircut visit and chatting with the hairdresser confirmed this.”
This thread inspired this post.
This article originally appeared on Financially Well Off.
