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.
Half of us are kids but even the adult half of our generation preferers frumpy clothing.
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You say frumpy and sexless...some people say comfortable. Why should we waste money and time wearing clothes that don't feel good? As far as sexless...clothes should all be unisex. Another point - women have been told for years that dressing a certain way may make an an assault the woman's fault.
I’m Gen Z and I don’t know anyone who wears bucket hats. My dad was shocked that bell bottom jeans are in fashion lol. He said they used to be in fashion or something idk.
That's hilarious. My granddaughter saw a picture of me in the late 60s early 70s, and she really LOVED my "bell bottom" jeans and outfit. She wanted to know how I knew they'd be in fashion today? After I dried my tears from laughing so hard, I informed her that today's "flares" as they call them now, was in fashion LONG before she was born, and brought out all the old photo albums of us in those decades. She was fascinated by it all. Almost everything is "retro" now. There are only so many kinds of fashion, so they will roll around again and again as the generations pass. The only fashion that likely won't reappear is the corset and petticoats of the 18th and 19th centuries, as driving in them would be difficult. LOL!
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cries in chunky shoes, baggy pants, bucket hats, and currently wearing a flowered sweater
Let's bring back some middle ground. Natural Waist - Mid Rise FFS!! Crisp clean lines of the 70's. But honestly I love that nothing is out or taboo. Dress slutty... good for you. Dress comfy.. awesome. The 90/00/10's was Super over sexualized. T&A was being pushed everywhere !! T&A ; tits and a*s.
Maybe check your use of the word "slutty." Especially if the goal is to sound supportive.
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I did not originally wear ripped jeans but over time and living with a cat who finds murder fun rips the jeans apart relatively quickly
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It's pretty typical for fashion to skip a generation then make a comeback. Millennials embraced the 70s look, for example.
From someone who lives in baggy pants, chunky shoes and crocs since they were in the first time around, thank you Gen Z, I'm fashionable without even trying
I love that fashion nowadays is "sexless", I hated how sexualised everything was 15-20 years ago, I was about 13-14 when classmates were wearing thongs sticking out of extremely low waist jeans and I was shamed by them for not dressing like that too and even in clothes shop where I went with my mom they offered me thongs claiming it's fashion and that girls in that age want to be sexy. Disgusting!
I like it. I like that they are refusing to carry the "Sexualize EVERYthing" banner.
Uhm... Does nobody remember the 80's? I don't, actually, because I was born in the 90's, but weren't "frumpy" styles also around them? Think oversized sweaters, bomber jackets, overalls on girls, basketball shoes...? Like, there's often both extremes in style, skimpy and comfy, because no generation is completely regardless of comfort!
See, a lot of zoomies I know actually wear super tight, sexy outfits when they go out for special events, so I think it’s more of a split personality of fashion, where fashion at home is “frumpy” and comfortable, but going out is an event that you wanna dress for to impress others. Especially with Covid and the aftermath I think this is true now.
It's like the 80s came back in style. I'm waiting for teased out hair, chunky bracelets and shirts tied to the side to come back next.
I'm a millennial (39)and all I can say is thank the universe for frumpy and sexless.
I was a teen during the spice girls/paris hilton era… and used to dress like that. Chunky boots were in back then as well and i‘m sure „adults“ must have found the looks strange. it‘s ok, every generation has it‘s styles and they are in an age, where they are trying to find their styles etc. One day they‘ll be like „wow, i used to dress like this“ oh my.
Pull up your d*amned pants. I DO NOT need to know your brand of underwear…much less how big your skid marks are! Do they even know the origin of that style? And the ones who wear their their entire pants below their butts… do you even know how much you look like a toddler who needs to go peepee?
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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Whoever they are, boomer, X, Y, Mil, Z, I lost track, always complain about generations before/after them. It's not about generations, it's about what one chooses to do
Oh no. It's happened. Millennials have reached the stage of life where complaining about younger generations has become a significant part of life. We're old. I guess this weekend I'll go buy a pair of trousers that go up to my nipples, and sit in front of my house while I become incrementally more prejudiced. (I know some of the observations in this post are positive, but there are way too many "shaking fist at cloud" complaints).
Whats this? Millenials complaining about "kids these days"??? "Get off my lawn" can't be far behind :P
Dude, I don’t complain - kids were always stupid, I was stupid, everyone was stupid and everybody gets called “you young whippersnapper” sooner or later - but I don’t want people on my lawn. I’ve been at the “get off my lawn” stage since I had a lawn in my late twenties. Just… don’t be on my lawn, man.
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I think this whole list is kinda stupid. The people described here are not all of us and it's not the best to just generalize all of us. A whole generation doesn't act the same, it's the different people in it. There are absolutely Millennials that are like this.
Why are generations such a big deal these days? Because the rich always needs to have us fight each other instead of fighting against them, and the whole race against race or gender against gender is getting out of style. So now it's generation against generation. It's ridiculous.
I refuse to join in bashing the generation below me. Get the f**k over yourselves, whiners.
A friend of mine said yesterday “new generations keep getting dumber and dumber”. And I think that comment belongs to a closed mind person. I think were a little dumb when we were younger, and I hate that we are creating this gap. Only because we, millennials are older doesn’t mean that we are right and gen z is wrong. I hate that trend of having to complaint about younger generations. That should stop with us.
The generalizations here seem a little unfair. This view of Gen Z seems based on Tiktok culture, which is FAR from all of us. I happen to be a Tumblr user of three years, and the culture there (also mostly Gen Z) is kind of the antithesis of Tiktok culture, at least in some aspects. I don't want to be put in a box, and this zoomer caricature does not represent me.
I'm gen X and I will say one thing I know is worse for the younger generations and that is bullying. The cyber bullying is obnoxious and definitely wasn't something we had to worry about. Yes some or even most of us were bullied or picked on in school but it ended there. We went home to our parent(s) and didn't need to worry until the next school day. These kids can't get away from it when it's at school and then all their social media.
I was born in 94, so tail end of millennials. I learned how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point in 7th grade. And I was in public school. They knew those programs were becoming used in most jobs, even office jobs in a non-IT capacity generally use computers to some extent, so they wanted us to be prepared. But it seems like people younger than me don't know how to use these programs and it baffles me. Why would schools not still be teaching them? Just about every job requires you to use them at some point, what gives?
Yeah - human kind has complained about the younger generation for all of humanity. The ancient Greeks complained about the younger generations, as long as there’s been a written language there’s been angry writing about the “lack of respect” and the “strange habits” of younger people. We just forget, that’s all - when we reach thirty five or so we forget that we were exactly as dumb in exactly the same way, only with different gear.
Just to add to the fun......"I'm old, get off my lawn, you young whipper snapper!! What time is Matlock on? I'm hungry, cold and confused. Where's my vanilla ice cream?"
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” ― Socrates Some things never change - and I'm referring to the ability of people to complain about stupid s**t.
I will say, I'm on the older side of gen-z, my generation is... really something
I feel that every generation is going to complain needlessly about the generation before and/or after them. I'm an Millennial, but I deeply admire Gen-z's activism--I feel like they are the movers and shakers who won't sit still and be complacent.They push for change and growth and I really respect that. Do I think that some Gen-z "aesthetics" are bizarre--hell yeah. However, I have no right to talk since I come from the generation that wore tiny dresses over flared jeans while rocking the world's chunkiest highlights.
Load More Replies... I'm still impressed how some GenZ people take so much for granted and make me feel like i cherish worthless things. Like i had to wait for a specific movie to watch in TV and made big deal of it, while today you simultaneously watch the movie on NetFlix, hear your music on spotify while playing your downloaded game with your friends over internet and look something up on the smartphone while you wait 5 seconds to respawn :)
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... Whoever they are, boomer, X, Y, Mil, Z, I lost track, always complain about generations before/after them. It's not about generations, it's about what one chooses to do
Oh no. It's happened. Millennials have reached the stage of life where complaining about younger generations has become a significant part of life. We're old. I guess this weekend I'll go buy a pair of trousers that go up to my nipples, and sit in front of my house while I become incrementally more prejudiced. (I know some of the observations in this post are positive, but there are way too many "shaking fist at cloud" complaints).
Whats this? Millenials complaining about "kids these days"??? "Get off my lawn" can't be far behind :P
Dude, I don’t complain - kids were always stupid, I was stupid, everyone was stupid and everybody gets called “you young whippersnapper” sooner or later - but I don’t want people on my lawn. I’ve been at the “get off my lawn” stage since I had a lawn in my late twenties. Just… don’t be on my lawn, man.
Load More Replies... I think this whole list is kinda stupid. The people described here are not all of us and it's not the best to just generalize all of us. A whole generation doesn't act the same, it's the different people in it. There are absolutely Millennials that are like this.
Why are generations such a big deal these days? Because the rich always needs to have us fight each other instead of fighting against them, and the whole race against race or gender against gender is getting out of style. So now it's generation against generation. It's ridiculous.
I refuse to join in bashing the generation below me. Get the f**k over yourselves, whiners.
A friend of mine said yesterday “new generations keep getting dumber and dumber”. And I think that comment belongs to a closed mind person. I think were a little dumb when we were younger, and I hate that we are creating this gap. Only because we, millennials are older doesn’t mean that we are right and gen z is wrong. I hate that trend of having to complaint about younger generations. That should stop with us.
The generalizations here seem a little unfair. This view of Gen Z seems based on Tiktok culture, which is FAR from all of us. I happen to be a Tumblr user of three years, and the culture there (also mostly Gen Z) is kind of the antithesis of Tiktok culture, at least in some aspects. I don't want to be put in a box, and this zoomer caricature does not represent me.
I'm gen X and I will say one thing I know is worse for the younger generations and that is bullying. The cyber bullying is obnoxious and definitely wasn't something we had to worry about. Yes some or even most of us were bullied or picked on in school but it ended there. We went home to our parent(s) and didn't need to worry until the next school day. These kids can't get away from it when it's at school and then all their social media.
I was born in 94, so tail end of millennials. I learned how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point in 7th grade. And I was in public school. They knew those programs were becoming used in most jobs, even office jobs in a non-IT capacity generally use computers to some extent, so they wanted us to be prepared. But it seems like people younger than me don't know how to use these programs and it baffles me. Why would schools not still be teaching them? Just about every job requires you to use them at some point, what gives?
Yeah - human kind has complained about the younger generation for all of humanity. The ancient Greeks complained about the younger generations, as long as there’s been a written language there’s been angry writing about the “lack of respect” and the “strange habits” of younger people. We just forget, that’s all - when we reach thirty five or so we forget that we were exactly as dumb in exactly the same way, only with different gear.
Just to add to the fun......"I'm old, get off my lawn, you young whipper snapper!! What time is Matlock on? I'm hungry, cold and confused. Where's my vanilla ice cream?"
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” ― Socrates Some things never change - and I'm referring to the ability of people to complain about stupid s**t.
I will say, I'm on the older side of gen-z, my generation is... really something
I feel that every generation is going to complain needlessly about the generation before and/or after them. I'm an Millennial, but I deeply admire Gen-z's activism--I feel like they are the movers and shakers who won't sit still and be complacent.They push for change and growth and I really respect that. Do I think that some Gen-z "aesthetics" are bizarre--hell yeah. However, I have no right to talk since I come from the generation that wore tiny dresses over flared jeans while rocking the world's chunkiest highlights.
Load More Replies... I'm still impressed how some GenZ people take so much for granted and make me feel like i cherish worthless things. Like i had to wait for a specific movie to watch in TV and made big deal of it, while today you simultaneously watch the movie on NetFlix, hear your music on spotify while playing your downloaded game with your friends over internet and look something up on the smartphone while you wait 5 seconds to respawn :)
