The newest generation is Generation Z, which has a disputed beginning, either starting in 1996 or 2000, and thus I fall right on the cusp between Generation Y— or the Millennials— and Generation Z— or the Boomlets. Born in 1999, I consider myself part of Gen Z, mostly because of its defining characteristic: access to technology.
The first iPhone was released in 2007, when I was just 8 years old. Therefore, there’s never been a time in my memory when smart phones weren’t around, although they weren’t always so popular and widespread.
Because of our comfort with and knowledge of technology, the older generations struggle to understand my generation. As a whole, we are more accepting of diversity and we abide by a long list of unspoken rules dictated by social media. We consume news in different ways and we are paying more for college— even when taking into account inflation— than any prior generation. We are confusing and young, but through this column, I will try to make us understandable.
The most pressing question every Gen Xer going through his mid-life crisis wants answered is, Are those Gen Z kids addicted to their phones? And while humans as a species are highly susceptible to smart phones’ addictive qualities, I see just as many adults glued to their screens, albeit with their glasses slid down on their noses.
However, it’s true that most any teenager can be seen on her phone texting, snapping photos, or posting, but it is not an addiction. It has become in many ways a culture. If I eat delicious food, it would be crazy not to share on Snapchat (a social-media application that allows users to send and share photographs for limited amounts of time). If I take a group photo with friends, it’s only natural to post on Instagram (a social-media application similar to Facebook, but only photographs are posted). And this is because, despite America’s love of privacy, Gen Z is intimately familiar with social media and easy-to-access technology.
So no, Gen Z is not addicted to phones.
But, with these phones does come a confusing concept for older generations: the unspoken rules of social media. It is obvious to anyone from Gen Z that one can only post so many selfies (photographs of oneself taken with the front-facing camera on a cell phone) before being viewed as either vain or insecure. Every Boomlet knows that excessively posting quotations is a sign of an unhealthy mental state while a page with only memes (a photograph or drawing with text on top that is usually funny, or at least trying to be funny) is probably a sign of antisocial tendencies. These and other stereotypes are simply a part of our understanding of social media, and while obvious to Boomlets, are confusing to all other generations.
On top of that, those of us in Gen Z read into the hashtags to gauge more about a person. (A hashtag is the pound symbol followed by a word or phrase that helps other people find the post. For example, #cats on an adorable photo of little Socks will place that picture with all others labeled #cats, which makes finding cat photos much easier.) Tons of tags? Definitely self-promoting. No tags? Either doesn’t care or trying really hard not to care. Emoji tags? Cute. Writing entire sentences in hashtags? Annoying.
A huge part of social media is creating an image. However, the goal among those in Gen Z is to form a clear image for oneself while making it look effortless. If I can have my social media page be “aesthetic,” or visually appealing based on a certain theme or color scheme, without calling attention to the work I put into it, then I am successful. If it’s obvious that my social-media image is important, it’s acknowledging the hours I spent considering the exact caption and the perfect camera filter, thereby relegating me to the bottom of the social ladder.
And all of this is unspoken. A guide book was never passed out explaining the specifics on how to construct the perfect online image. Instead, it is mutually understood among us in Gen Z. We simply know.
