Are you a proud member of Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012? If so, you’ve basically grown up with smartphones, YouTube, and the internet ruling your world.
While that sounds pretty normal to you, it’s a completely different reality compared to what older millennials and Gen Xers experienced in their childhoods.
Gen Zers have a totally unique perspective that can be baffling to previous generations. This list covers 15 quintessentially Gen Z things, memes, and behaviors that will have your parents and grandparents saying “…huh?”
1. Being Chronically Online
For Gen Z, being constantly connected to the internet and social media is just a way of life. Older folks find it crazy how much time Gen Zers spend glued to their screens. But for this generation, the online world IS reality – it’s where they socialize, learn, and entertain themselves nonstop.
2. The Dab
This bizarre dance move took over Gen Z culture for a while, with people dabbing as a silly celebration move or gesture. To anyone older, it just looks like you’re coughing into your arm awkwardly. But for Gen Z, dabbing was an iconic, ubiquitous trend.
3. VSCO Girls
This ultra-trendy lifestyle aesthetic was hugely popular among Gen Z girls a few years ago. With their puka shell necklaces, Hydro Flasks, and ultra-carefully curated casual looks, VSCO girls were inescapable. Millennials could never fully grasp the hype.
4. TikTok Dances
Gen Zers spend hours upon hours mastering intricate dance routines and choreography from viral TikTok videos. To older people, it looks like flailing set to confusing music. But for Gen Z, nailing these wildly popular dance challenges is everything.
5. Using Two Spaces After a Period
Believe it or not, some Gen Zers use two spaces after ending a sentence instead of one. This outdated practice seems unfathomably strange to other generations raised with the one-space standard. Gen Z doesn’t know why – they just do it.
6. Not Knowing About Vines
Gen Z came of age just as the phenomenally popular video app Vine was dying out, so they have no context for all those iconic 6-second video memes. To them, “getting get vined” makes absolutely zero sense.
7. Mumble Rap
While older rap fans complain that mumble rap “isn’t real music,” the rhythmic vocal style and melodic flows are hugely influential in Gen Z circles. To them, it’s the pinnacle of cool – but grandpa will never get it.
8. Using Emojis Constantly
For Gen Z, peppering every message with strings of emojis is just natural written communication. But for older folks, it looks like utter gibberish requiring a decoder. What does ???????????????????? even mean?
9. YouTubers > Movie Stars
While previous generations idolized A-list movie celebrities, Gen Z tends to be way more obsessed with YouTubers and influencers as their biggest icons and crushes. Regular people vlogging seem much more relatable and aspirational.
10. Not Understanding What a Walkman Is
Gen Zers never had the joy (or struggle) of using a portable cassette player like a Walkman. To them, these ancient audio devices their parents reminisce about make zero sense in the age of streaming music.
11. Eating Tide Pods (But Not Really)
Gen Z never actually consumed Tide laundry detergent pods – that was just an old internet meme that took on a life of its own as a symbol of their quirky internet humor that older people can’t compute.
12. Keeping Up with Inexplicable Viral Trends
From making surreal potato salad memes to being obsessed with a small town in Oklahoma called Skiatook for some reason, Gen Z is alllll about getting heavily invested in weird viral trends and in-jokes that have zero actual meaning.
13. Being Accused of “Quiet Quitting”
Gen Z has been labeled as the “quiet quitting” generation who do the bare minimum at work, shunning hustle culture. But to Gen Zers, they’re just setting healthy boundaries at their jobs – a totally reasonable concept that confuses their workaholic parents.
14. Canceling Problematic Behavior
Gen Z is known for swiftly holding people and brands accountable when they act in offensive or unethical ways. Their passion for “canceling” things older folks find trivial can seem baffling or like an overreaction.
15. Treating Mental Health as a Priority
From being open about mental health struggles to advocating for access to therapy and self-care, Gen Z has normalized discussing mental health in a way previous generations never did. To millennials’ parents, it seems like entitlement when Gen Z refuses to just “toughen up.”
Conclusion
Gen Z grew up in a totally different world than any previous generation, so it’s no surprise they have their own unique behaviors and ways of thinking. From being constantly online to treating mental health as a priority, Gen Zers just operate differently.
While their viral trends and humor can seem bizarre to older folks, it’s all totally normal to this generation of digital natives. At the end of the day, every generation has its quirks – Gen Z’s just happen to revolve around the internet and social media.
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