10 “New Age” Trends That Confuse Most Parents and Grandparents
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Gen Z, the latest generation of adults, often leaves millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers feeling a bit out of touch. It’s only when younger individuals come into the picture that you realize you might be a tad more old-fashioned than you thought. Generational differences are just that—differences. They aren’t and shouldn’t be a reason for being mean or hateful.
In an online community, there was a discussion about the peculiar trends and behaviors of Gen Z, and all millennials and Baby Boomers were united in the confusion.
1. Documenting Crimes
There was a time when crimes were committed under the cover of darkness, and people arranged to have alibis in case they were caught.
The Gen-Z doesn’t care so much for anonymity, as one online user noted. They document their criminal activities and then post them online for millions of strangers to see.
Someone adds, “… it just seems obviously stupid to me as a millennial to document your crimes and broadcast them. Although I’m paranoid about surveillance and s***always.”
2. Filming Everything
There’s no privacy nowadays, as Gen-Zs are bent on telling the world the most mundane aspects of their lives, from the moment they wake up ‘like this’ to the minute they show you their bedtime routine.
One older conversation contributor says, ” … Also, 84, I can’t stand that people always think they need to film everything. I’ve done so many awesome things nobody will ever see and met awesome people nobody will ever know about, but I was there, and I remember it.
3. Their Lack of Reservedness
Many online contributors admitted to having suffered under Gen-Z’s lack of boundaries and reservedness, especially when it comes to posting private matters online.
One user shares, “This has been a big generational differentiator that I have noticed in my own experience – the tendency toward reservedness (or at least checking to make sure everyone is on the same page) regarding social media posts. It’s become an even bigger consideration now that myself and many of my friend group have kids.”
4. Romanticization of Mental Illness
Mental health is a serious subject that has been embraced in the recent past, and that’s a good thing. However, Gen-Z has made a career out of making mental illness look glamorous, even self-diagnosing and filming themselves having mental breakdowns.
One contributor says, “As a Gen Z myself, I find trying to diagnose ourselves with a mental disorder pretty weird. I’ve never done it, and I would never do it, but I know some people who do it just for attention and stuff. [It’s] pretty annoying for people who are actually suffering, in my opinion.”
5. Strange Hair Cuts
Fashion will not always make sense across generations, and the Gen-Zers are still baffling people with the kind of haircuts they seem to prefer.
One user says they’re baffled by Gen-Zs, “Broccoli haircut.” In his opinion, it will definitely age like milk.
A user adds, “Ahh the “Meet me at McDonald’s haircut”, no seriously that’s it name, you can google it.”
To be fair, every generation had a haircut for the season, and the older generations hated it.
6. The Deep Desire To Be Noticed
It seems like most Gen-Z have one desire: to go viral. This may explain the reason behind the rampant filming and posting of everything.
A user says, “One of my greatest fears is being involved in a viral video in any capacity, but for so many zoomers, that’s their number 1 goal.”
However, someone else thinks it’s a natural desire for the youth to want to be noticed and to stand out.
7. Their Dislike For Capital Letters
Punctuation seems to evolve with the younger generations, and Gen-Z is slowly making capital letters extinct.
Someone asks, “Finally, I can ask this. Why do a large amount of Gen Z’s not use capital letters? Is capitalization going the way of cursive writing?”
8. Inability To Be Alone Without a Gadget
If you want a Gen-Z to be bored to death, require them to be alone with their thoughts or a book. Many have confessed that they can’t stand not occupying their minds with things on the internet.
One admits, “I’m a millennial, and I am unfortunately like this as well. I don’t know why, and I can’t help it. Rn [right now]I’m in the dentist’s chair waiting for the doctor to come in, and I’m on Reddit because I can’t be alone with my thoughts… I find it incredibly boring.”
9. Too Much Pranking
Pranking has taken over many homemade videos, and most of them are just people being mean to others, sometimes strangers.
A contributor says they find it weird that Gen-Zers are, “Acting like a d*** to strangers, filming it, then saying it’s a “prank” when people get pi**ed. That’s not what a prank is.”
10. They Care A Lot, And That’s Good
The younger generation may have modernity quirks about them, but one older generation person notes that Gen-Zs are very caring and emotionally sensitive, unlike the generations before them.
He narrates, “I’m proud of Gen Z. Truly. They have already had so much cruelty laid on them by their elders and the Global Climate Apocalypse is just beginning. Even in the sense of their submission to corporate control, it’s like they know that they’re powerless to save the world, so they’re going to save each other instead. When the storm is at its worst, they cling to each other because it’s all they have. It’s sad and beautiful and I love them for it and I hate us because of it.”
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