I read this while wearing ankle socks and felt very seen. (Gen Z is firmly crew socks only.) If you are a millennial, like me (just), you will be sure to identify with several things we are now being called out on. And yes, you will cringe. It is disconcerting to realize we have moved from “OK Boomer” to millennial bashing, but this is still a fascinating look into generational trends. Who decides what socks we should wear anyway?
A proclivity for socks hidden within low-top trainers is just one reason why millennials – anyone born between 1981-1996 – are now considered achingly uncool by the generation that came next: gen Z, AKA the zoomers, or zillennials. According to countless TikTok videos, other sources of derision for the generation that first popularised social media, millennial pink, and pumpkin-spice lattes are their choice of jeans (skinny and mom jeans are out; baggy hipsters are in); an obsession with avocado on toast (gen Z’s green grub of choice is matcha); their excessive use of the crying laughing face emoji (for a zoomer, the skull emoji indicates humour, representing phrases such as “I’m dying with laughter”); and the “millennial pause”, a brief moment of silence at the start of a millennial’s video or voice note, thought to be because – and this really does make them sound ancient – they like to check the device they’re using is actually recording. Millennials, typically self-deprecating, tend to join in, poking fun at themselves under the hashtags like #millennialsoftiktok.
More picks on generations
The Doom Spenders
“Faced with an uncertain future, young Canadians are racking up more debt than ever before. Portrait of a generation on the instalment plan.”
Why Gen Z Will Never Leave Home
“Thanks to soaring housing costs, a generation of twentysomethings are still in their childhood bedrooms. A portrait of family life with no empty nest.”
The Delicate Art of Turning Your Parents Into Content
“Gen Z creators are learning the lessons of Scorsese and Akerman: putting mom and dad in your work brings pathos, complexity, and a certain frisson.”
Multigenerational Living Often Makes Sense. That Doesn’t Make It Easy
“Living with my mother, we get free child care and help with expenses. But all those perks come at a cost.”
Growing Old Online
“Millennials, the first generation to be online as kids, are starting to feel like we’ve aged out. Is there a way to age gracefully on the internet?”
When You’re a ‘Digital Nomad,’ the World Is Your Office
On life at a Miami digital-nomad compound, which one resident describes as “a hybrid between a summer camp for adults and a reality-TV show without the cameras.”
