With every new generation comes new trends, ideas, characteristics, and, of course, stereotypes. These days, the attention is on Gen Z. (And as a millennial myself, it feels relieving to be out of the spotlight. 😅)
Naturally, there are some things that older generations just don’t understand about today’s youth. So redditor u/Dramatic-Anywhere-50 asked, “Millennials, what confuses you about Gen Z?” Here’s what people said.
1.
“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.”
3.
“One of my students said, ‘LMAO,’ in front of me yesterday and 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.”
4.
“The way they think we don’t play video games. Do they think that video games fall out of trees? Who do they think is making them, the Fortnite fairy?”
—u/stringdom
5.
“How do all these young guys get their hair to look that specific way that’s super in right now? Are they out getting perms?”
6.
“The hypocrisy. They will go on a shopping spree on Shein every two weeks. Meanwhile, the same people are probably ‘worried’ about climate change.”
7.
“What is the way they send emails? I was working with a few Gen Z’ers to get something done, and instead of sending one email with the necessary information I got many separate emails full of piecemeal information and zero context. I had to remind them that email is not text message, and you should have all your ducks in a row before hitting send, for the love of god.”
8.
“Why does it seem like they all skipped the awkward phase? It’s like all Gen Z’ers came out of elementary school knowing how to coordinate outfits and drink Starbucks.”
9.
“When Gen Z’ers are playing a song and I’ll start singing along and they get all surprised even though the song came out 20–30 years ago or it’s a song that blew up when I was in high school. A lot of old Drake songs, for example. That guy blew up when I was in high school. I know a lot of his old music, but they don’t understand.”
11.
“I am surprised at how many Gen Z’ers use Snapchat for normal communication. Seriously, the actual messaging functionality seems completely terrible.”
12.
“Why do all of you claim to be shy, socially anxious, and that you don’t want to be the center of attention, but all the while you’re posting every single selfie and dance video of yourself online constantly?”
13.
“I’m only 26 so I guess that puts me at the tail end of the millennial range and toward the start of Gen Z, but I’ve never understood the desire to copy all those TikTok challenge trends.”
14.
“Do none of you realize putting your entire lives on the internet is going to come back to bite you in the ass someday?”
15.
“They have a very weird and strange sense of humor. lt’s hard for me to articulate what it is exactly…but it’s quite precise?”
17.
“Why some of them act like they pioneered the social media/influencer boom. And why they are surprised that I have Snapchat, etc., even though many of these came out when millennials like me were in our early 20s and the core demographic of these social media platforms.”
18.
“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.”
19.
“Their desire to be labeled. It may sound ignorant, but when I was in high school people hated being labeled. Now it seems that Gen Z’ers want their labels on display, whether it’s sexuality, learning differences, etc. I respect it; it’s just different from the perspective of someone who remembers actively not wanting to be boxed into categories or labeled.”
20.
“My niece (now 21) doesn’t know how to properly type using a keyboard. She’s written all of her school papers on her phone. 🫠”
21.
“Millennial style was catered to looking slim (aka looking skinnier was more flattering). Gen Z’s confidence and ability to wear anything is confusing, and I admire that.”
22.
“Why are mom jeans trending? Please Gen Z, don’t you dare bring back bell bottom jeans.”
23.
“Why so many of them don’t know how to properly google something. You’d think people that grew up with Google would know the basics.”
24.
“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.”
25.
“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.”
What’s something that confuses you (either negatively or positively) about another generation? Sound off in the comments!
