7 Gen Z Trends Millennials Can't Get Behind
Gen Z vs. Millennials: How the younger generation sees things different.
It’s hard to believe, but there are more than a few adult Gen Zers out there. Gen Z birth years span from about 1997 to 2012, so the oldest Gen Zers are in their mid-twenties. And they’ve got more than a few things to say about what’s hot and what’s not. Different generations never see eye to eye.
That’s a big part of what moves culture forward, or at least keeps the consumer engine purring. Thing is, there’s more Millennials than Zs (72 million vs. 68 million) and they’re not stepping aside any time soon. Keep reading to learn about 7 Gen Z trends that Millennials just can’t get behind.
1. Turning Everything Into an Aesthetic
If there’s one thing Gen Z can’t get enough of, it’s thinking of their life in terms of a mood board. Lucky for them, they’ve got an aesthetic for everything: fairycore and goblincore, cottagecore, royalcore, normcore and light academia are Z’s response to the Millennial obsession with Harry Potter (although true to form, there are at least as many Zoomers who still embrace dark academia). Young as they are, Gen Zers are experts at creating a mood. As for Millennials, they say there’s a lot more to being a lawyer than snapping a pic in front of a courthouse while holding a briefcase.
2. Tiktok
TikTok is the ideal platform for Gen Z. There are no tutorials on how to set up an account. Digital-native Zoomers don’t need one. They get straight to sharing their favorite music and silly dances. They also love how democratic TikTok’s algorithms are. It’s way easier to go viral on TikTok than on other platforms. While Millennials are tech-savvy and love social media too, TikTok rubs them the wrong way. Is it because Zoomers are constantly making fun of them on the platform? Hard to say, but Millennials aren’t alone: half of America is down on the Tok.
3. Basic Food
Millennials worked hard to curate their hipster nibbles and they’re never surrendering their poké bowls or Himalayan pink salt. Meanwhile, Gen Z looks askance at the massive amount of debt Millennials have accumulated. Z’s attitude is that regular salt works just fine. (Unless it’s the big kosher crystals on a soft pretzel. Those are okay.) Oh, and the whole Tide Pod Challenge thing that Gen Z keeps doing? Also not the Millennials’ fault. Tech-savvy Zoomers should know better than to blindly follow an online trend. Plus Millennials would never choose soap over avocado toast.
4. Middle Parts
It’s easy to blame TikTok for proliferating the trend of sharing what you look like with different parts. But side parts have been a Millennial staple for literally decades, so it was almost a given that Gen Z would have to take an opposite stance on how to do their ‘do. Millennials are totally fine with Gen Z sporting their flat hair, untamed cowlicks, and fussy middle part (side parts offer way more leeway). Ditto for balayage rather than the candy-colored wigs the Gen Zers favor. Millennials are sticking with hues found in nature, TYVM. Oh, and the man bun Gen Z gives the side-eye to? Gen Y is keeping that too.
5. Mom Jeans
Millennials can only watch with consternation at the whole coastal grandmother aesthetic that is all the rage with Gen Zers, including and especially the mom jeans. Gen Z shoots back that they’re just jealous, and uncomfortable in their skinny jeans.
6. Only Posting, Like, 2 Pix on Instagram
As tech-obsessed as Zoomers are, they are way more wary of posting every detail of their lives online, and they carefully curate their social media presence. Millennials are much bigger on sharing. Their attitude is, Why have an IG account if you’re not going to use it?
7. Drinking Tea
Another thing Millennials are never going to do is give up their coffee, so don’t even ask. Not only does Gen Y need it to get through endless days doing work they don’t like to pay off their massive student loans, their venti iced skinny hazelnut macchiato with an extra shot and no whip is the perfect liquid expression of who they truly are.
Meanwhile Gen Z is all about the tea: boba, kombucha, matcha, Nitro, you name it, Zoomers love it. Okay, so it’s really just an excuse to consume shocking amounts of sugar, but it makes them happy. Meanwhile, Millennials say, Pass the Turbo G&T (aka: a gin and tonic spiked with cold-brew coffee). It’s been a rough decade.
All that said, there are a few things that Gen Z and Millennials do agree upon. They’re both big on communication, personal health, and they’re passionate about sustainability and saving the planet. With all that common ground and on such important issues, there is good reason to be optimistic about the future.
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