Generational Gap?

[Aneka]

I feel like there's some profound difference between current teens and the people who are in their mid to late twenties, while the people who are older by ten or twenty years are quite similar- regarding mindset and identity specifically. But maybe that's my quarter life crisis

 

[Mr. Stevens]

What profound difference?

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Seen this before previously called the generation gap. 60's history.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

There are various studies about generational differences that companies use to facilitate understanding across generations. Baby boomers, gen X, Millenials....

I find that origins make more differences than generations. So rich childs and poor childs of the same generations do have more differences than rich people of different generations.

Thats my perception.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My culture is Dutch did not notice gap much when we were younger. They and had and have a more liberal culture.

 

[VictorR]

I feel like there's some profound difference between current teens and the people who are in their mid to late twenties, while the people who are older by ten or twenty years are quite similar- regarding mindset and identity specifically. But maybe that's my quarter life crisis

It sounds like you're describing the Generation Y (Millennial) / Generation Z gap.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z
For me, one of the noticeable differences is that the latter tends to use a lot more slang, and more or less grew up with smartphones and seem glued to them.

Of course, these are generalizations and as Atrapa Almas noted, socio-economic backgrounds play a significant part of one's experience.

 

[VictorR]

My culture is Dutch did not notice gap much when we were younger. They and had and have a more liberal culture.

In my area, many who grew up in Dutch families who immigrated shortly following WWII experience significant culture shock when visiting the Netherlands today, since like many disapora communities, they tended to keep a "frozen" set of culture and values, which was rather conservative, while the Netherlands itself has evolved into a rather different society since the 1950s.

 

[Forest Cat]

I think there are always generational gaps, but the internet and phones made a gap bigger than usual maybe? Those things changed our society in a big way and it happened fast.

 

[Judge]

Interesting. Can't say that was anything I experienced in my late teens and twenties in the 70s. I recall getting along quite well with those who were about a decade older back then.

 

[Au Naturel]

Every generation has a gap with the previous one. That's why we go about naming generations. Each centers on a few global events and trends. The world each grew up in was different. Plus, even if the world did not change, teens have a built-in drive to differentiate themselves from their parents. If the world moved more slowly it would be different. In 1100 AD you could go for a century and see very little difference between generations.

Your political identity was shaped in the years you were a teenager. If you look at the great events of the day, that gives you an idea of how your political identity could be influenced.

I was a "late Boomer." (Boomers were actually two generations lumped together because the same demographic forces shaped them, the post-WWII baby boom.) The forces that acted on me were Vietnam, the Cold War, plus various movements that flourished - the sexual revolution, environmental movement, civil rights movement, women's liberation, and the gay rights movement. At the same time, I grew up in a community dominated by the Silent Generation that was having a very difficult time adjusting to those forces and reacted badly.

The Silent Generation, in turn, was shaped by WWII, though most of them didn't fight in it. Instead, they fought in Korea. The Greatest Generation lived through both the Great Depression and fought WWII. They had very hard lives. We had easy lives.

It was a strange time when public policies that were both more conservative and more liberal than what we have today. The country felt like it was ready to rip apart from all the revolutionary rhetoric and the reactionary responses. The 60s were an amazing time. Most people feel "the 60s" really lasted until the fall of Vietnam in 1975.

 

[Luca]

I actually have more in common with, and get along better with, people who are either much younger than me or much older than me. I have very little in common with anyone my age (28-29) through like age 30 to 35.
There is a huge generational gap in my groups of irl friends, with my youngest friends being in their very early 20s and still in college, and the oldest being middle-aged.

I am left puzzled by a lot of things about Gen Z though, particularly their sense of humor and their obsession with phones and social media. We didn't even have smartphones or Instagram when I was a teen. We had sidekick phones, and Myspace.
People always think I'm Gen Z though because I apparently look like I'm under 21, and act like it in a lot of ways.

I'm pretty sure I've told this story on here before, but I was kicked out of a bar when I was 22 because they did not believe that my ID was real. They said I looked like I was in high school and they told me to leave.
Being under 5 feet tall doesn't help lol

Anyways... Is there anyone here who can explain Gen Z humor to me? Like I understand straightforward memes, but not the really confusing and random ones, or most of what's in tiktok videos. It seems like what kids that age find entertaining is stuff that doesn't make sense and gets a reaction/shock value, but I don't get it at all.

Some of the Gen Z people I know have zero work ethic and have stated that they don't really ever want to move out of their parents' houses, and some even get an allowance from their parents... (people in their early 20s, not kids.)

A lot of them go to college and waste their parents' money because they're just there to socialize, basically.
I don't know if that's also a generational thing or if it's something else. I find that really bizarre though.
Granted, I grew up with Millenials who were similar, going to college just to fool around, but it seems like it's getting more common with the younger generations for some reason. I hear my younger friends talk about all the parties they went to at college and how they're always drinking and fooling around, and it makes me think "Then why are you even there? There are free social groups where you can do that."
And I'm not saying everyone has to go to college, I've talked a lot on here about how college didn't work for me, but trying it seriously and having it not work out, and going and not trying at all in the first place and wasting everyone's time and education and resources, are two different things.

 

[Angular Chap]

Where I live, I don't feel like the generational gaps are really gaps, just differences from one generation to another. As Atrapa Almas and VictorR mention, it's probably more of a wealth gap than a generational one. The real gaps are more around attitudes to employment, welfare, money and income.

Some of the Gen Z people I know have zero work ethic and have stated that they don't really ever want to move out of their parents' houses, and some even get an allowance from their parents... (people in their early 20s, not kids.)

I sometimes think the same thing. With the amount of work I've had to put in, how patient I've had to be and the sacrifices I've made to have my own income, that does annoy me a bit.

On the other hand, I really can't blame them for refusing to put up with bad employment practices anymore. Why should they put up with working a job where they get poorly treated, forced to work long hours, maybe unsafe and unhealthy, for a low income when they can opt out?

And talking about college, I saw a quote about this that stuck with me:
"Grocery stores used to be full of workers wishing they had gone to college. Now they are full of workers who wish they hadn't"

Anyways... Is there anyone here who can explain Gen Z humor to me?

I'll try! Some of it is platform specific, or influencer specific. You have to watch and follow specific people on specific platforms to understand the lingo, references, in-jokes and memes. You get the platform specific memes, the influencer specific memes, then you get the combined memes, it can be alienating at times.

And a final note about ageism: I feel like ageism is a bit too normal right now. Too jovial. If I made the same jokes and remarks about any other group of people, I would quite rightly be thought of as bigoted, it would probably even be illegal. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it because I work with people in their 70s and 80s a lot, but it just seems like ageism isn't really taken seriously enough.

 

[mysterionz]

I’m Gen Z myself.

 

[Princess Viola]

I was born in 1996, which means I was born right in the cusp between millennials and Gen Z (although I consider myself a millennial) and I genuinely do not understand most current teenage trends, memes, jokes, etc. (I also don't understand the studies indicating that younger folks might be less computer literate than you'd think, but I guess that's the consequence of many people exclusively using their smartphones as their primary computing device and those tend to deliberate obfuscate the nitty-gritty of the OS, whether you use iOS or Android)

The one thing I can understand though is that so much modern teenage 'surreal' humor is virtually indistinguishable from the 'lol so randum rawr xD' humor that was popular when I was a teenager lol.

 

[Tom]

Every generation has a gap with the previous one. That's why we go about naming generations. Each centers on a few global events and trends. The world each grew up in was different. Plus, even if the world did not change, teens have a built-in drive to differentiate themselves from their parents. If the world moved more slowly it would be different. In 1100 AD you could go for a century and see very little difference between generations.

Your political identity was shaped in the years you were a teenager. If you look at the great events of the day, that gives you an idea of how your political identity could be influenced.

I was a "late Boomer." (Boomers were actually two generations lumped together because the same demographic forces shaped them, the post-WWII baby boom.) The forces that acted on me were Vietnam, the Cold War, plus various movements that flourished - the sexual revolution, environmental movement, civil rights movement, women's liberation, and the gay rights movement. At the same time, I grew up in a community dominated by the Silent Generation that was having a very difficult time adjusting to those forces and reacted badly.

The Silent Generation, in turn, was shaped by WWII, though most of them didn't fight in it. Instead, they fought in Korea. The Greatest Generation lived through both the Great Depression and fought WWII. They had very hard lives. We had easy lives.

It was a strange time when public policies that were both more conservative and more liberal than what we have today. The country felt like it was ready to rip apart from all the revolutionary rhetoric and the reactionary responses. The 60s were an amazing time. Most people feel "the 60s" really lasted until the fall of Vietnam in 1975.

I am from the same generation. Technically a late boomer, but at the time they called us the 'Me Generation'.

When people mention how messed up things are today and they wonder what will happen (in USA) I sometimes describe how messed up things were in the 60's, early 70's. I can't tell them what will happen, but can say we have been in equally (or worse) distressing situations before (cough, cough, civil war). This is just your distressing situstion.

 

[Angular Chap]

The one thing I can understand though is that so much modern teenage 'surreal' humor is virtually indistinguishable from the 'lol so randum rawr xD' humor that was popular when I was a teenager lol.

xD *holds up spork* r u firing ur lazor? xD rofl

Oh wow, did I really just write that?!

 

[MildredHubble]

For a long time I was comfortably within the demarcation point to be classed as a Gen Xer. This made sense to me as I identified with the culture, eg music/fashion, I was big into grunge music and Nirvana at the time they made an impact. I was one of the youngest in my school year. Most of the people I was in the same year with are considered Gen X. So as far as I'm concerned I'm at the tail end of Gen X because I feel being only a few months younger than my peers makes no difference in terms of the culture I was immersed in etc.

I have no idea why fairly recently they changed the boundaries for Gen X and Millennials.

It is quite odd when I meet people only a year or two younger than myself and find we are very wide apart in terms of the things we see as personally culturally significant.

I also find that slightly younger millennials see me as being of a different generation too. In some technical jobs I've had, they often assume I won't understand new technology for example. I find it a little strange, like, sure, I remember what the world was like before the internet, but that doesn't mean it's a mystery to me

 

[foliodoe]

I was raised by my grandparents, so I have always been out of step with my peers.

 

[Au Naturel]

I actually have more in common with, and get along better with, people who are either much younger than me or much older than me. I have very little in common with anyone my age (28-29) through like age 30 to 35.

When you get my age you lose the older segment. All you have left are younger people who think you're a dinosaur.

 

[Au Naturel]

I am from the same generation. Technically a late boomer, but at the time they called us the 'Me Generation'.

When people mention how messed up things are today and they wonder what will happen (in USA) I sometimes describe how messed up things were in the 60's, early 70's. I can't tell them what will happen, but can say we have been in equally (or worse) distressing situations before (cough, cough, civil war). This is just your distressing situstion.

Yup! Every generation has its "distressing situation." Some are more distressing than others. It shapes who they are for the rest of their lives. This is probably the last US presidency that will be held by an early Boomer. (Unless Trump wins again... That would be really distressing.) It will be late Boomers (born 1956 to 1966) for a while and then GenX will have its turn.