Zoomers and Millennials are very much alike. For example, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, and they are on track to becoming the most well-educated ones too.
But in many ways, these digital natives, who have little or no memory of the world that existed before smartphones, are quite special. To the point that sometimes even their closest associates have problems understanding them.
So when Reddit user Dramatic-Anywhere-50 posted a question on the platform, asking: "Millennials, what confuses you about Gen Z?" many of them delivered. Here are some of the most upvoted answers.
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Why do all of you claim to be shy, antisocial, and don't wanna be the center of attention, all while posting every single selfie, dance video, etc of yourself online constantly.
"Wow, you're over 30 and know what videogames are?"
You little s**t brain thinks that videogames fall out of trees? Who do you think is making them, the Fortnite fairy?
Cancel culture. Many Gen Z'ers act like people are completely incapable of learning to be better, and instead only focus on one bad thing someone said a million years ago or something that was taken out of context.
Cancel Culture is erasing what's undesirable to some, (undesirable often with good reasons). But democratic processes need different opinions and open talk about that. Zapping out people doesn't stop their opinion, they just take it underground, feel oppressed and start to hate. Happens in China, happens in Russia. No good. To the commenters who think canceling equals boycotting: I disagree. Boycotting is an action you take for yourself and fully your right. It leaves the other one with a chance to overthink and adjust rather than just being dissolved and publicly erased.
It may sound ignorant, so I apologize, but when I was in HS, we hated being labeled- now it seems people want their labels on display- whether it’s sexuality or learning differences, etc (ace, neurodivergent, etc). I respect it, I just remember not wanting to be boxed into labels.
I expect with the variance of labels people find it easier to find one that doesn't feel so restrictive? A lot of labels are self-identified now, as well, rather than slapped on like a post-it note. Still, there are plenty of people running around preferring to be a vague human blob...
Do none of you realize putting your entire lives on the Internet is going to come back to bite you in the a*s someday?
Why does it seem like they all skipped the awkward phase? It’s like they came out of elementary school knowing how to coordinate outfits and drink Starbucks.
One of my students said, "LMAO" in front of my yesterday and she asked me if I knew what it meant. I had to tell her that those kinds of acronyms are at least 20 years old and my generation popularized them. She was shocked.
They don't drink alcohol.
I went to a college football game recently and I was really surprised by what I saw... Back in the 2000s/2010s you would see what seem liked everyone getting HAMMERED in the AM. I'm talking shots at any bar you went to, doing pulls off liquor bottles on the street, whatever. It was routine to see people passed out places, getting loaded into ambulances, etc.
Obviously none of this is good and I'm not encouraging any of it but in my experience that's just what college football game day is like.
Fast forward to the game I went to recently and my group were the most drunk (number of people and drunk level) I think I saw all weekend. I'm not bragging, just saying it's really strange to go in to a college bar before the game and do a couple of shots while "the kids these days" look at you like you're crazy.
We followed up with some research and apparently all of the stats back it up. With Gen Z it's official - alcohol isn't "cool" anymore - which is a good thing because it is absolutely terrible for a variety of reasons.
Do you actually fact check anything or just read the headlines/memes?
Isn’t that what Millennials/everyone else says that Boomers do?
Millennial style was catered to looking slim - if you look skinnier, it's flattering!
Gen Z's confidence and ability to wear anything is confusing and I admire that.
I had very nice conversation with a young man about high school age a few weeks ago at the gas station. He was wearing an anime t-shirt, immaculate clothes, fit, polite and respectful. He had very nerdy interests but also was raising money for his school team.
I'm a bit taken aback and jealous at how Gen Zs have seemed to blend social groups together in a way that we never could.
I used to be picked on for liking sci-fi, comic books and anime. Now it's cool, I am still not. 🤓
The fashion.
Listen, I'll be the first to admit I'm old, out of touch, probably look like a f*****g dork to young people. I'm fine with not understanding and letting fashion be the domain of the youth. Teens set trends. That's how it's always been. I don't need to try to cling on.
That being said, since we're being honest here,
The baggy pants. The chunky shoes and dad style white sneakers. The mullets. The serial killer glasses. Bucket hats. Crocs.
It's all so...Frumpy. Sexless. I don't get it.
BUT I will say, props to Gen Z though for being cool and forward thinking and giving a s**t about one another and the planet and being so open minded and rejecting old social constructs and binaries around identity. The kids are alright.
You know, I actually prefer this "frumpy and sexless" look to the hyper-sexualized era of fashion that was (and in many cases/circles, is) present some 10-15-20 years ago. This feels like an antithesis of that, and it's refreshing.
I found out the other day that they think gifs are for boomers which shook me. It was the first time I could truly relate to the Abe Simpson line:
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!”
Where are all the Gen Z celebrities? Apart from Tom Holland and Zendaya, I cannot think of a leading man or woman in Hollywood in their 20s. Ryan Gosling is playing Ken in the Barbie movie and he's 41.
I'm only 26 so I guess I'm at the tail end of the millennial range and near the start of Gen Z. I've never understood the desire to copy those TikTok challenge trends.
Truth be told, nothing.
Yeah what they do "confuses" me, but I know I acted in the exact same manner when I was their age, or knew somebody that did. They're still developing and trying to navigate a world where technology is moving fast. They also haven't been knocked around by life enough to get it together.
Why do they go to events like concerts and sports games but watch through their phones as they take video? They're denying themselves the whole experience! Put down the phone and fully enjoy being present
It's not just Gen Z, it seems every generation does this now that we can record with our phones. I have gone to plenty of concerts where it was a 30+ crowd and still all you could see were phones being held up and dimwits staring at them.
Why do y’all vape? Like seriously. We were so close to just completely obliterating smoking and then comes along vaping… and so many of y’all 15 year olds think it doesn’t have negative effects?? when y’all all get cancer at 40, don’t say we didn’t warn you
How incredibly tolerant they are of ads and being tracked constantly.
Every time I see an ad normalising some kind of tracking (recent one for family plans that let you track phones automatically come to mind) I think to myself "Ah. Well that's some poor bastard murdered. Excellent [/s]."
I'm Gen x and I want to know why Gen z wears those hot hoodies in the summer
How much Gen Z reveals about themselves on the internet. I've seen TikToks where kids are showing videos of their street, their house, their school...pretty much everything anyone would ever need to follow you and/or potentially do bad things to you. If you want to document your life online that's fine, but be careful. People can do a whole lot with a little bit of information, and the internet can be a really dangerous place if you're not careful.
Nobody teaches basic internet security nowadays. Half the families went completely lockdown in the early days with all the creepers on virtual worlds and all that stuff and then everyone realised honestly it wasn't /that/ dangerous and decided that meant they should just let the kids run off free range. Just because you don't need a full-body suit doesn't mean you shouldn't wear safety goggles- !
The fact they might think about the 90s the same way i thought about the 80s or 70s when i was a child of the 90s, a long time ago
The hypocrisy. They will go on a shopping spree on Shein every two weeks. Meanwhile, the same people are probably 'worried' about climate change.
If aynone’s NOT worried about climate change by now there’s something seriously wrong. Maybe don’t judge people for not being perfect but rather lead by example? (I also hate the sheins and amazons of this world btw, but by no means lead a perfect, carbon-free life). We are all hypocrites.
Why don’t you ask older people when you don’t know something? I work with a lot of Gen Z and I see a lot of the blind leading the blind for no reason at all. Get some outside opinions.
I’m 24 so what confuses me most is which generation I belong to
Yeah same! I think there is a thing called "Zellenial"? Could be wrong though... We're as old as we feel! I'm feeling more like Millenial because older siblings made me feel older myself.
How do all these young guys get their hair to look that way that's super in right now, are they out getting perms?
Why some of them act like they pioneered the social media/influencer boom or look at me surprised because I have Snapchat, etc, even though many of these came out when millennials like me were in our early 20s and the core demographic
They have a very weird and strange sense of humour... like it's hard articulate what it. is exactly... but it's quite precise?
Is it really weird or just other generations don't get it without context?
Note: this post originally had 41 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I teach first year university students. They are fine and in no way worse than we were at their age. People always criticize the new generation for some reason.
Agree! I'm 36 and had the opportunity to return to university a couple years ago and just graduated with a business degree in May. Almost all of my classmates were in their late teens, early 20's. I had originally attended the same University from 2004 to 2006 and I honestly didn't notice a huge difference between my generation and theirs, if anything, they seemed more open and accepting. I remember having a hard time fitting in and no one really talked to me during that first college experience (admittedly I was, and still can be, a bit shy and awkward). When I returned all of my classmates were so nice, and not just to me, they all seemed to get along, and many of them were brilliant. I think Gen Z is doing just fine.
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Fwiw this is no different than posts of boomers complaining about millennials - looks like millennials are transitioning into the grumpy "kids these days..." phase as easily as every gen before them.
I for one am looking forward to shaking my cane in the air and ranting about "kids these days" and "In my time".
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I teach first year university students. They are fine and in no way worse than we were at their age. People always criticize the new generation for some reason.
Agree! I'm 36 and had the opportunity to return to university a couple years ago and just graduated with a business degree in May. Almost all of my classmates were in their late teens, early 20's. I had originally attended the same University from 2004 to 2006 and I honestly didn't notice a huge difference between my generation and theirs, if anything, they seemed more open and accepting. I remember having a hard time fitting in and no one really talked to me during that first college experience (admittedly I was, and still can be, a bit shy and awkward). When I returned all of my classmates were so nice, and not just to me, they all seemed to get along, and many of them were brilliant. I think Gen Z is doing just fine.
Load More Replies... Fwiw this is no different than posts of boomers complaining about millennials - looks like millennials are transitioning into the grumpy "kids these days..." phase as easily as every gen before them.
I for one am looking forward to shaking my cane in the air and ranting about "kids these days" and "In my time".
Load More Replies...