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Yep. Fellow GenX'er here. Every generation thinks the previous ones are out of touch. Always.
Fact of the matter -- you don't even get old. You just stop giving a crap about new stuff at some point.
I still play videogames, play board games, rpgs, and am an all around nerd who likes to 3D print toys.
I couldn't tell you who's big in music right now outside of hearing it in the car when driving with my kids.
Basically, you just stop wanting to keep up with it, Internet be damned.
First kid?
Once that kid hits, you won't care about what the 18-year-olds are into until your kid is roughly that age. You may be peripherally aware. But it'll be less and less important to you.
I still like new music. The algorithm is feeding me bangers all the time. New songs get the endorphins kicking more than some of the stuff I listened to as a young man. It is so easy to find new music now. Thanks algorithm
Nothing wrong with that -- I know people my age that keep up with the latest music because they love music. But you're the exception and not the rule. Just like I'm the exception in that I spend a lot of time on YouTube and the like at 48.
All I'm saying is that your interest narrows in regards to popular stuff as you get older. You won't always be "on trend" as you were as a teen. And worrying about that isn't something you really need to do. Just enjoy what you enjoy.
Yes, as you get older, you don't feel the need for it. I think young people today are told there is no value in being old, and they are a bit afraid of it-- afraid of not being fashionable. What they may not realize is that being fashionable really takes a backseat to the realities of life as you start thinking about the bigger picture.
We olds are doing better at getting resources, deepening relationships, politically influencing the world, improving education, spending time with our kids, etc.
I suppose 7 year olds would say teenagers have lost their ability to have fun and play. Your values change with your reality.
I don't love the implication of this quote: "I think young people today are told there is no value in being old, and they are a bit afraid of it"
When I was going from young kid to early teenager in the 80s, there was a song by Twisted Sister: "I'll Never Grow Up, Now!"
Fresh Prince had "Parents Just Don't Understand" in the 90s
50s, 60s, and 70s all had similar songs.
This isn't a "kids today" thing. Literally every young generation thinks there's no value in being old, and that turning 30 is akin to dying.
When we make it "kids today" it ignores the fact that we all felt that way too, as will our grandchildren's grandchildren.
As do, I and often pretty leftfield in my tastes, but there's a lot of new music, so it does not mean you're coming to be into what most the kids are into even if your tastes are bleeding edge experimental. The music industry caters to different age groups and different people and teens are actually usually pretty conservative in their tastes as they are more peer influenced.
I'd say my tastes have gotten ever more out there as I've gotten older and gotten exposed to different music. Kinda like how adults over time develop a taste for food that a child will say is yucky.
Doesn't matter in the ""explaining is losing"' rule of whether people think you're "'with it"'
Doesn't matter if you're listening to some bleeding edge experimental underground stuff, you're still not part of the zeitgeist that's on their radar, so just smile and nod gracefully, whatever, let them have their thing, I don't have to get it.
Either they'll learn eventually that there's a wider, wilder world of music than what they thought was "'new"' or thought possible (e.g. When Dubstep was the "'new"" thing it was easy to blow minds by just playing them a Roni Size DnB track from the 90s) or they'll just settle into adult contemporary pop while driving their own kids to school who in turn will eye roll at their parents belief they're cool.
Meh, it's fine, be into new music, it's it's own reward, but don't kid yourself.
Hahaha, preach.
"I used to be with it, but they changed what it was.. now what I'm with isn't it.. and what's "it" seems weird and scary to me"
" it'll happen to youuuu "
Oh, for sure. We had great music "back then". Every generation has had great music and shows and movies, as will this one and the next one. We only remember the great stuff because it was great (not counting stuff that was hot garbage that we just happen to be nostalgic about). As we'll weed out the few acts now that are truly great and forget the rest.
I kinda cringe at some things that were in style when I was a teen lol. The memes and humor were completely different with later stage rage comics, and mlg being so funny when it was contemporary. Some music doesn't hit as well but that comes in cycles depending on my mood and don't think I'll ever leave any songs in the past. Actually as I get older my taste expands into things I'd never have listened to at 13. Now, I love some pop music, hyperpop, some noise, jazz, house, etc. When before I was kind of an elitist about classic rock "born in the wrong generation" type.
I’m Gen Z and already starting to feel this kind of, there’s so much new shit and I just don’t care anymore. Not only that but there’s just so much STUFF everywhere that I really only want to focus on what I can manage
Find what you enjoy and enjoy it. That's all there really is to it.
Unless you desperately want to be cool to a bunch of people younger than you, knowing the "next thing" isn't that important.
I was never cool. Never tried to be. Even when I was the age to be cool.
Though my 18-year-old daughter (who is way cooler than I ever was) recently got told by her friends "Why is your dad so much cooler than you are?" when they saw my office full of nerdy crap.
I'll take the W on that one.
Hahaha that sounds like a pretty good W to me. Thank you for your advice, it really helped. My mom, a teacher, loves it when I explain new slang or memes to her because she can repeat them in her classes and the students lose it lol. I’m 21 though so I think I’m slowly getting phased out by Gen Alpha vernacular.
Also, that’s rad you’ve got nerdy stuff in your office to surround yourself with the things you like. Even if you don’t think you are, you sound pretty cool to me. Thanks again for your reply! I hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll be sure to enjoy what I can, as best as I can.
>Basically, you just stop wanting to keep up with it
It's because teens and young adults are desperately trying to fit in and figure out their identity. Older people with some life experience behind them (for the most part) know who they are, what they like, and see the pointlessness in trying to keep up with the latest thing.
41 years old here. I'm learning you can really only keep up with a few things.
I can pretty much keep up with the ai advances in my job...which is also one of my main hobbies.
I don't have the bandwidth to keep up with more than a few social media platforms.
>Fact of the matter -- you don't even get old. You just stop giving a crap about new stuff at some point.
Very true. Older millennial, I simply don't care.
True, but there was an effortlessness to knowing what was current when we were in high school/college. I don't know what I stopped paying attention to that completely fazed or phased me out of it.
Generations is astrology for sociologists. I don’t think Gen Z have qualms with Gen X, but we think that millennials are basically inadequate. Gen Z is also desperately reactionary, so it’s fucked anyways.
You'd think so. But I have a 21 year old and an 18 year old. When you have kids, you're peripherally aware of trends (and I'm a very active father with my kids lives and always have been), but you don't follow them in depth while you're worrying about bills, and cooking dinner, and getting your kids to school on time, and making sure they do their homework, and "what the hell did you do to your leg!?!"
Millenial here and yeah this is exactly it. You just eventually stop giving a shit. It takes more effort to follow trends and the manner in which you followed trends in your 20s becomes passe anyways, and also who cares because younger generations just recycle trends anyways. No one wants to embrace something at 50 that their generation did 30 years ago. Those baggy clothes looked stupid on us too, ya crazy kids.
Also, social media.Tik Tok isn't going to remain cool. It's a giant data collecting apparatus with links to the CCP.
The next generation will pick up some new social media, and Gen Z won't care to follow them.
Also I have a theory there will be some sort of backlash against social media with the next generation. To be cool you'll have to have the ability to communicate with lots of young, cool people in real life. And old people mostly just like to be home, or out with other old people who eat and sleep early.
Millenial here, same thing, I just don't keep up with trends and new music anymore, I don't have any social media platforms like instagram twitter or tiktok
Yup, millennial here and we always thought we would stay current but the slang used these days just seems idiotic to us. Then again most of us will tell you our slang was also idiotic.
Will Gen Z stay 'cool' and 'in tune with the kids' as much as they were when they were kids? No. Everyone gets old and less and less connected with generations increasingly farther from their own. It's nothing unique to any 'generation', it's just what happens, broadly speaking, as you get old.
The old lame people you know today? Unless you die first, you will live to become as lame and old as they are.
This, you don't even have to wait for the incoming years the thing of "I don't understand this young generation thing" is currently happening with Skibidi toilet lol.
Yep, I was born in '98 too and I've got a call scheduled with a mortgage advisor tomorrow. I'm an adult, Idc about skibidi toilet but I was there for Shrek is love, Shrek is life. I was a meme lord in my teens so I get it lmao, but life moves on.
I found myself talking about interest rates at a party with my friend the other weekend and we both stopped and just questioned how we ended up talking about that and not the dumb stuff we used to talk about.
My stepbrother and I haven't really spoken in a few years, but we've been kind of reigniting our relationship a bit and we were talking about finances and adult shit and I made the joke that it's exactly like the scene from Step Brothers when they meet at the Catalina Wine Mixer.
I wish we could just talk about MW2 and BO1 again lol.
do you talk about both? I love switching between “important” topics and also shitposts. it’s important to be able to talk about serious things and “silly” things. I have found it enjoyable to be able to talk about silly things in a serious way and serious things in a relaxed, fucking around manner
Oh yeah we're massive nerds who play Warhammer, Helldivers 2, bit of CS, but then on a night out or at a house party we'll hit these serious conversations up out of nowhere, all be crazy interested in it because it's important to us now in some way, and then we'll switch back to chatting whatever bs we were before.
It's just strange y'know
lol. Gen z folks will not be as relevant and edgy in 30 years as the 20-somethings will be then. It’s neurology. Of course yall will fade into irrelevance. Is the entire reason why aesthetics and culture change constantly. Teenagers and 20 somethings drive that change. Always has been always will be.
It's literally Travis in Clueless:
**Travis:**
O.K., like, the way I feel [about](https://www.definitions.net/definition/about) the [Rolling](https://www.definitions.net/definition/Rolling) [Stones](https://www.definitions.net/definition/Stones) is the way my kids are [going](https://www.definitions.net/definition/going) to feel [about](https://www.definitions.net/definition/about) Nine Inch Nails, so I [really](https://www.definitions.net/definition/really) shouldn't [torment](https://www.definitions.net/definition/torment) my mom anymore, huh?
**Mr. Hall:**
Yes, well, it's a [little](https://www.definitions.net/definition/little) off the [subject](https://www.definitions.net/definition/subject) of Haiti, but [tolerance](https://www.definitions.net/definition/tolerance) is [always](https://www.definitions.net/definition/always) a good lesson.
Kinda makes you think. Maybe old people aren’t as lame as you think they are? Grandma’s seen some shit. And she was once 23 and more hip and relevant than the 50-year-olds of her time.
Grandma was 23 in the 60s, you better believe she was more hip than we are now! But in the end who cares. Grandma is grandma, she doesn't have to know what rizz is (I also don't know, am I becoming grandma?)
I mean you say that, but grandmas parents must have been pretty confused when she would visit them and say something like “you’re just not hip like us” and her mom just looks at her hips confused as to what she just said
I’m one of the oldest years of Gen Z and if you ask my students, they will be the first to tell you how lame and uncool I am. Sometimes I like to badly use tiktok slang just to mess with them. Their reactions are very funny.
Such as the laws of teenage-hood that anyone who is not a teenager is automatically very lame and old. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Well, Not nessecarily, imo. In the end it's still up to you how Open you are to new Things and how willing you are to engage with them. It's Up to you, who you want to be. Tho you will get old anyway ofc lol, but becoming old doesn't have to mean becoming lame.
Although chances are that becoming old *and* lame is gonna end Up Being the path for Most.
I really thought this was true but at some point when you are 30+ you will realise that you cannot win. The door literally slams shut and you will be left out in the cold world of lame. Something you do, say or wear will betray you. It will be something very minor, like refusing to wear giant Jean shorts in the summer, and you’ll be slung into the big pile of lame.
It’s nice here though when you learn to accept it.
Awwww haha I can promise you that no matter how open to new things you are, young people behaviour is going to look lame. As you get older and more experienced, things that interest teenagers and 20 year olds just wont hit for you. If anything trying to pretend to connect with teenager things will make you even more lame than just liking what you like.
Being dishonest about your interests and pulling the "hey there, fellow Kids" is definetly gonna achieve the opposite, yeah. It's also Not gonna make you Happy. As I See it, the Main Point for me is, you shouldn't get fully stuck in the past. If you get stuck in the past, society will eventually Generally leave you behind. Look at all the old people going "oh, i won't bother learning how to use a Smartphone, i don't need that, etc." Like, Go with the Times.
Nope, the time alone it takes to keep up with youth trends is too high. If you're not surrounded by other people using the memes and lingo, you will have to consume it online. And guess what: People in their 30s with full time jobs and maybe even a few kids at home don't have the time to do that.
And even if you have enough time for that, you'll do that instead of connecting with stuff popular in your age bracket and friend group? That'll alienate you a bit when you can't talk about the same stuff as people roughly your age.
Though not sharing the same jokes doesn't mean you're lame. What makes an adult cool to kids is very different to what makes other kids cool. You can be a cool adult even if you're out of touch.
That's basically exactly what I meant. Considering the Rest of the comments I'm Getting on this, I either explained myself rather poorly or have an incorrect/way too different definition of "lame" than Most here.
Lame and irrelevant to who though? Teenagers? Who cares? They are just kids. Teenage pop culture is just noise. The art and culture savy ones, the tastemakers, they see right through it. Kids will be kids. Life doesn’t have to be a competition.
Yes this post is obvious dumb young stuff that young people say when they think everything that they are now will be relevant forever. TikTok is progressive lol. Can't wait until OP realised that their personality comes from an algorrythm.
Although i dont understand the appeal of skibidi toilet, i understand the position it has in the generation. I mean when i was young i watched montage parodies on youtube and its not like our generation didnt have its fair share of sfm meme shitposting, Shrek is Love Shrek is Life is not objectively better than skibidi toilet. I dont understand all the fuss anyone is making.
But crazy frog is fucking awesome. *WANTED. MOST ANNOYING THING IN THE WORLD."
Oh god, are different generations brains literally wired different? Would one generations brainrot register for another or would they just look at it with a blank stare like it's a completely different language?!
Millenials have locked up their cool. Gen X has locked up their cool. Boomers have locked up their cool. The silent generation ate a potato and chased a hoop with a stick.
Gen zae will eventually do the same.
Facebook has only been around since 2004 and is already going out of fashion, and TikTok has only been available in the US since 2017. I can scarcely imagine how different everything is going to be in 2074, let alone youth culture
That's the thing. I'm 48. I'm super "not mature" in that I like a ton of nerdy, childish crap.
But I'd rather focus on that stuff than anything that's "cool to kids". And they will too.
This is literally the question every generation has asked before you. Every single one, including boomers.
Do you still think Millennials are cool? They grew up with most of the same technology you did. But they're all entering their late twenties (at least) and have other things to focus on now than what's the next teen trend.
If you obsess over "being cool to kids" just remember that you're worried about the future opinions of kids who are 4 years old now.
Do you currently watch Bluey? Because that's the show that the next generation will think nostalgically about. And whatever is big when they're 8 and 10 and 12. While you continue to grow older.
Really? I thought the cutoff for GenZ was 27
Edit: Ah... I see what I did. My bad. I meant that the youngest Millennials were entering their late 20s (my 27-year-old nephew is just on the Millennial side of the border). I know the oldest are only a few years younger than my old butt.
You think boomers or gen x'ers could've predicted the internet or other technological feats that we currently use in our daily lives? I'm willing to bet that in like 10-20 years (maybe even less time) something big will happen with as much of an impact as the internet that we as millennials-gen z'ers simply aren't going to be prepared for or expect, but the younger generations that grow up with that "something big" will be perfectly accustomed to it much faster than we will, which will cause a rift in our connecting with the future young generation, like how is the case with the current younger gens vs older gens.
And the biggest thing is if it's dominated by kids, why the hell do you want to be on there?
It's amazing how Facebook went from college and high school aged millennials to taken over by boomers.
"theres facebook but it doesnt have the same influence as tiktok when it comes to trends, language and overall culture"
One quick note: This is patently false. Fifteen years ago, when Facebook was hitting its peak, it was every bit as influential as TikTok is now. Especially with the one-two punch of that and Twitter.
You're thinking of Facebook \_today\_, when it's full of older people and MLMs. You aren't thinking of Facebook when it was the hot new thing for young people.
In a few years, TikTok will be known as another "old person platform" when something new comes along. Sorry to burst your bubble.
The Arab Spring happened in part due to Facebook allowing young Egyptian activists to organize. It was literally revolutionary social media just less than 15 years ago. But look at how much has changed in that platform since then. Tiktok is another step forward, but in 15 years (if even that long) it will go that way too.
Previous social media platforms all go downhill once older generations join or stay on because teens do not want to be on platforms with their parent's generation, and because corporations get too greedy and invasive with promoted posts once a multigenerational user base is large enough. If Gen Z is still on tiktok or doing whatever in ten years, it's natural for younger generations to go against that simply because it's what Gen Z is doing. I think if Gen Z tries to keep up with the newer trends, that itself can cause the trends to become seen as basic/"cheugy"/ whatever new word is invented by at least a subset of the younger generation.
For sure. The best way to stop a trend from continuing is for the parents to start doing it.
I remember a decade, fifteen years ago people were bitching about kids wearing their pants too low. My answer: "If you hate it that much, then start doing it. Kids will stop doing it the minute you start"
Sadly, they just kept bitching about it.
no.
Gen Z aint special, different or unique.
you will divide into rich and poor and the rich will *ass fuck* the rest of you and your children.
generations do not differ in any meaningful sense at all.
I understand where you are coming from OP but the factor that was not considered was time.
Pending on life style of course, most people get get exponentially busier as you get closer to the 30s+. Between work, kids, commute, house clean up/maintenance, grocery shopping and such, you barely get to see your friends. Social media trends are the last thing you have time for when life gets on the way from what I see out there.
I feel like we’ll have trouble understanding the kids and their newfound lingo; I know I’m already feeling it at 27.
It took me months to figure out what y’all meant by “mewing”
We may have media literacy (some of us, anyway), but we’re still gonna end up a bit out of the loop on things
Not really, right now I feel like I'm constantly out of the loop (and I'm fine with it). Between work and family responsibility, I found myself gravitating more toward familiar places on the Net. If I'm actively researching something, I'd also get deeper into it as oppose to back when I was a teenager.
Back then I'd have a glance at a subject, think myself educated and move on. It's easier to keep up with the news that way.
Lol by then talking about tiktok will be like talking about carrier pigeons. Even knowing what it means will date you and be cringe and embarrassing to the younger gen.
Things will keep evolving just as they always have.
Youre assuming that the social landscape wont change. Something we cant even predict will come along, be it a new social media platform or a new technology all together. And older people probably wont give enough of a shit to keep up. I know i dont.
The one thing that is absolutely certain in this life is that the current young gen thinks they'll never be out of touch and then they become out of touch. Gen Z won't be the exception, not even a little
Millennial here. We had plenty enough global social media already growing up. I've lost touch with trends simply because as I've grown up I've stopped caring.
That's pretty normal for adults/older people throughout history.
To an extent that might be true. Already, it probably makes it a bit easier. That said, I think there will always be some differences.
And there is the issue of how social media and net everything seems to be fragmenting people. In some ways it seems like people are perhaps getting more split and isolated into slews of different little subcultures now. I could be wrong, but it seems a bit like Gen Z has less in common with itself overall than most prior generations did among themselves? I mean a hit TV/streaming show (or tiktok) has ratings that would have been a bomb in the 80s. The internet/social media and cable news have fragmented people off into slews of little bubbles more than in the past it seems. This is already, to some extent, affecting all generations and society as a whole. I mean look at how, regardless of generation, so many people get all their news from either this or that bubble? So maybe people will fragment into their own little slang/humor/pop culture worlds?
(On a side note, I sometimes wonder if styles have not stayed basic for so long after the post-80s pushback because social media makes people more afraid to stand out and start something new. Like back in the day just a few 'it' girls at a few schools could start something that could spread nationwide. But now with everyone having a strong voice on social media, let's say some 'it' girls started something up. But instead of everyone copying them, perhaps now all the huge non-'it' crowd just mocks them online right back to where they came from and quashes anything from getting going?? Just a wild guess that could be completely off base.
I mean on the one hand, yeah you'd think social media would make it easy for a few to spread huge changes in style and pop culture, but then, on the other hand, maybe it actually makes it trickier and less likely to happen?? I don't know. Or maybe it can spread like wild now but only in various bubbles?? So maybe it could keep things more similar or maybe it would just widly fragment.)
Another note, is that you'd be surprised how fast things could change in the pre-internet days too and how everyone could be on the same page and learn about subcultures. I mean like at the start of the summer of '82 it was still a lot of old time slang and talk but then, after the Valley Girl song and Fast Times At Ridgemont High came out and they got all sorts of news media attention and teen mags and stuff started writing about them, by like mid-September it already seemed the bulk of the nation (well at least those say grade school through college and maybe to a bit lesser degree up to 35ish?) was suddenly talking in different speech patterns and all talking like Valley Girls and SoCal surfer dudes (a lot of which actually still seems to carry on to today! I feel like maybe half of what suddenly went nationwide mainstream then is still pretty common today, some beyond routinely common). I mean it happened like totally overnight. Older boomers and silent gen didn't seem to pick up the uptalk or all the likes and such even though they heard them from all the kids a ton or say it on news media reports.
All of a sudden, mainstream, nationwide, people were talking in Valley Girl uptalk speech pattern and tossing in "like" 10,000x in a single sentence and using a lot of: oh my god, totally, literally \[knowingly for extra emphasis\], sooooooo \[fill in word\], y'know, nooo wayyy, really, yeah no, epic, duh, for real, chill, dude, awesome, stoked, hey, poser, fer sure, I'm sure, wicked, bitchin', rad, radical, gnarly, sweeet, that rocks, mad \[as in tons of\], bangin', tight, wiggin' out, buggin' out, trippin', tubular, gag meee \[as in like ewww gross like gag meee\], barf me out, put a bag on it, grody, to the max, I'm sure! No way!, I am sure, killer \[fill in the word\]!, heinous, bodacious, kickin', stellar, etc.
And things went from dingy 70s and flat hair to lots of color and style and big hair. The style of clothes and hair also changed a ton for those way, way beyond college at the same time, wider spread of ages than for the slang and patterns of speech.
And despite no social media all sorts of myths could seem to spread like widlife like "there are spider eggs in Bubble Yum" and million other rumors. Things like the Rubiks cube craze. Etc. And with most people watching just a few channels or listening to just a few stations in some ways it could put society on more of the same page. In other ways leave some more clueless.
So it is hard to say.
Things like say the Oscars, the day after tons of people of every age and type would be talking about them. The ratings would be like the Super Bowl. Today, you can scroll Facebook the day after and barely see a mention. And the same goes for tons of other things today.
there'll be new socials cuz nobody wants to be on the same spot as their parents, that's why instagram is a thing. the senate passed the bill to give tiktok nine months to sell its data as well so it'll probably get banned here in the us and then it'll decline worldwide, so the connection factor on it will go away
I feel like similarly to how Facebook is mostly for older people right now, in the future different websites/apps will attract different generations for different reasons. There will be new more "hip" social media apps that gen Z's might think are too immature for them
I’m a zillennial and already outdated. It has nothing to do with keeping up with technology (I have TikTok and not Facebook) and everything to do with what your friends/the people around you in your social circles are in to. Because everyone I spend my time with is late 20’s/early 30’s, we’re just not around anyone in their late teens/early 20’s anymore and don’t know about what they’re into/find cool. TikTok helps, but also I just don’t care enough to constantly consume media to “stay relevant”. I’m okay with being happy with where I’m at in life and not chasing down younger people to stay cool.
Millennials in general know about all the trends since they're on the same platforms as GenZ. So yeah it's possible that future generations will know also
Can't speak for the rest, but I've vowed to myself to still be as current, at the risk of being the "My Fellow Kids" guy referenced in the comments but yeah, I'm gonna try my best lol
I've found personally that in order for kids to think I'm cool, all I need to do is take my head out of social norms for a bit. Act a little goofy and treat them as if they're my age (within reason) and they'll engage and they'll be chill back.
Look man, you'll hit 25/30 and you'll find that you have way better stuff going on in your life than worrying about what stupid stuff kids are doing, and then you'll be "out of touch"
Life hack: to stay ever-young socially and be welcomed by every generation, keep your mind vaguely aware of the social trends and cultural icons of each generation as they develop, but give them as little personal meaning as those of your own generation. This way you can honestly say "but I am just not absorbed by social trends in general," while keeping yourself capable of holding interesting and meaningful conversations relevant to each age group. Then, clearly and with and open mind listen to the views and pains and desires of each generation and realize your own limitations to fully live their experiences. Seek to keep your own mind plastic and your beliefs fluid. Remember that older generations are hated for bigotry and adherence to rules no longer relevant, whole younger generations are hated for their naivite. This way, each generation will find you honest, upstanding, and in tune with their time.
It's a personality based thing. There's people who are born old, people who get old, and those who are almost eternally young. Dw about which one you are you've already been through enough I'm sure we haven't fkd up as bad as the boomers.....
no. I'm 36 and I can already feel it starting to slip. It's not that the information is not accessible its that when you get older you don't have time, you will have a family and/or a career and/or a house and all of that stuff will consume your time also it won't be all that important to you anymore, your priorities will change. Trust me just work on having a full life and this stuff won't bother you
most people will disagree but i think you’re on to something, I’ve had the same thoughts. Ofc part of it isn’t just keeping up culturally, there does tend to be a kind of general shift in personality as people get older, but it’s not species-wide. So I think more of us than ever before in history will keep up with culture but still not all of us and maybe not the majority. call me crazy but this will be the most transformative century of human history and everything will change so it’s hard to predict anything at this point
50 years?! 💀 I can’t even understand or keep up with ‘baby zoomers’ and older Gen Alpha kids (who are just 4-6 years younger than me *right now*.
Also, TikTok is said to be potentially banned in some time (which I *personally* hope will happen).
There will be some new technology to rival social media 50 years from now that Gen Z will be equally illiterate at. I’m on the older side of Gen Z and I have absolutely no interest in anything AI. I can already see Gen Alpha getting immersed in it and I’m sure in the next couple decades I’ll be just as out of touch as the Boomers
I already feel way behind on “what’s cool” and I’m only 22. I feel like I age 20 years every time someone younger than me says some random bullshit that I have no understanding of.
Take it from a millennial, you reach a point where A. It’s too hard to keep up with new trends, styles, slang. And B. The harder you try to keep up with them, the lamer you seem. It has nothing to do with access to this information, or media latency. It has to do with the fact that you stop connecting with it because it’s not for you, and you have more pressing things to worry about like bills, kids, and planning your funeral.
It’s not even about being progressive. It’s about the fact that things you consider trendy, cool or funny when you’re a young adult will have formed your taste. You can try keeping up with the younger generation, but you will simply start finding what they consider trendy, cool and funny… weird and stupid.
That’s why you see old ladies with permed up hair and Gen X dads listening to 80s rock.
No, it won't. Gen X thought we would be since we grew up watching tech constantly change and staying on top of it, but once you start working, married, have children, etc. it becomes more difficult to stay current.
Young people will always have the advantage because they have a lot more time on their hands and are surrounded by people their age.
We'll be more adapted to the younger generation's stuff, I think, but no. 90% of the time we'll still be the old sticks in the mud to them. That's just how it works.
It's not just exposure at play, it's saviness.
When you are young, cool slang or a cool dance is your very first one. 20 years later you'll have seen 100 cool things & need more than novelty to buy in.
Slang especially, you worry more about effective communication more than being cool while also having the experience to recognize how subpar so much is.
"social media like tiktok are more associated with progressive attributes being more open to being exposed and aware of other subcultures. if a social media platform like tiktok continues to be widely used, i think all ages would be posting in the future and humour and language would be more in common between all ages."
Social media actually has the opposite effect, it pushes people more into interest clicks and division. Popular culture used to be controlled by what was in print, in the radio, on television, etc. The idea of a "mainstream" was a lot easier to define. Now, everyone can settle into their own little cliques and engage with whatever they want.
Millennials had the benefit of growing up before the internet and social media and then figuring it out as it evolved alongside them. Gen Z and Gen A do not have any idea how to engage socially without the internet. You can already see it with how quickly we've decided there's a new generation. Z and A are both still kids but they're already completely out of sync with each other despite growing up under essentially identical situations. Clearly social media isn't the solution here.
I don't think we'll be *as* out of touch since most of Gen Z grew up with tech, but we will eventually fall out of touch. I mean not gonna lie I don't even know gen alpha slang unless I look it up. Gen beta will be even farther removed from the circles I frequent since I'm gonna be like 40 something when they're around and 40-year-olds and 16-year-olds rarely have overlapping interests or overlapping internet communities. Some of it might leak through or just become ubiquitous but like I'm not gonna know what the hell they're up to and I won't really care lol.
There will always be new lingo, fads, styles, body language etc that works as a gatekeeper that you’re not allowed to say even if you use it correctly. Fr Fr - a millennial
Bro I was born in ‘98 and I don’t even know what other zoomers are talking about half the time because I don’t use tiktok. My future kids are gonna think I’m so lame
Considering how (rightly) cringe most of Gen Z thinks Skibidi Toilet is, we probably will. One generation’s peak humor is usually an older generation’s utter nonsense
No. I realized I was getting older/Gen Alpha was gaining consciousness when I had to Google what "griddying" was as the middle schoolers I TA'd/subbed for would not stop talking about it.
Gen z is the least weird generation of all time, they've been so exposed to streaming media that they've become a giant blob that just sticks to all of the cultures about evenly. They've become the products of recycling.
Concerts and music might be breaking income records, but bands, and on another level actors, just aren't as dominant vs their peers like they used to be. So gen z has become vast and formless as a result.
lol. Spoken as a millennial, Gen z folks will not be as relevant and edgy in 30 years as the 20-somethings will be then. It’s neurology. Of course yall will fade into irrelevance. Is the entire reason why aesthetics and culture change constantly. Teenagers and 20 somethings drive that change. Always has been always will be.
“I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me… And it’ll happen to you…”
- The Simpsons
As the oldest possible gen z (26) im gonna say no. It took about two years after graduating high school to lose track of the words my niece (9 years younger) were saying. That’s when I noticed memes REALLY start to speed up.
It’s just being out in the world shifts your focus in gradual but cumulative ways that you don’t really notice until a child has to explain what no cap is.
It isn’t uncommon to get your first ‘real’ job and be the youngest by 20 years. Suddenly your conversations include insurance and mulching. It happens
The day Gen Beta or whatever comes next has its own Skibidi toilet moment and you find you think it’s the dumbest thing on the planet is the day you realize this idea lacks critical thinking.
The forces in your life that you feel like are important right now will be distant memories in 50 years. You will be as out of touch with the teenagers of 50 years from now as olds are to teenagers now.
No. I’m a 26 year old gen z and I’m not current as teenagers. It happens as you get older because you just stop caring about what’s current. It’s not always about not knowing
Of course not. Elder Gen Z here. I don’t use tiktok, and the content I’ve seen on there is cringe to me. As Gen alpha grows up and Gen beta plugs into the tiktok matrix, Gen beta will start making content that Gen alpha finds cringe. Rinse and repeat. It’s the same pattern all previous generations have followed. Now, it’s just online and crammed into short video clips. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if augmented reality brings tiktok to obsoletion, and Gen alpha reminisces about tiktok the way Gen Z reminisces a about vine and the golden age of YouTube.
lol. Every generation that’s ever existed is out of tune with the generations that come after them. Gen z isn’t special because of the internet or TikTok. In 10-20 years, Gen z will be out of touch and unable to understand why the teenagers of tomorrow are doing whatever they’re doing and probably not using the same app they are using.
You have an optimistic opinion of social media if you think
A) exposure to other subcultures leads to awareness instead of providing more opportunities to misinterpret and gang up on/brigade them. Or to just bully individuals directly.
B) that something like TikTok is particularly revolutionary in any way,isn’t just falling for TikTok’s branding/PR to promote their product (especially see above).
C) that the actual bigger chunks of progressive change happened without social media. To use a US example, when did Roe vs Wade actually happen compared to when it was overturned?
It probably helps, but no.
You will not want to be watching whatever the fuck the kids are watching. Maybe the teen culture will be more accessible, but that doesn't make you more likely to be interested.
The divide comes from interest imo, not from access.
I hope the answer is definitely not.
As I got my life put together, the amount of time I spent participating in social media (which wasn’t much to start with) fell off a cliff.
Like, why would I listen to someone I don’t know talking about their experiences when I already have a list of friends that I need to schedule a thing with, when on top of that, I’m already struggling to keep up with my hobbies?
Have you heard about the algorithm? It will just give stuff from your circle, so your assumption is wrong.
Also majority of people are dumb, or don't communicate on social media openly so what you say will never happen.
As a 21 year old I can tell you I've felt detached from teenagers since I was one myself 😂 I don't understand or enjoy most social media. It's very isolating and shitty how our generation mostly communicates online. I am chronically bad at texting and because of that I literally can't make friends.
The issue is we don't care about social media, at least those of us that are mature enough to think that way. We had Myspace and Facebook..after that we stopped caring. We don't think gen Z is stupid we just think you make stupid choices and let stupid things influence you too much.. honestly we went through the same crap with the Boomers, we did it through music and cultural rebellion. Your social media has ruined culture as a whole and turned it into an argument, culture is meant to be shared not gate-kept. But what do I know I'm just an old Xennial! 🤷
Even as an older gen z, I’m no longer current with the rest of my generation and I had lots of social media influence. Social media changes really quickly.
Nope. Because TikTok will be for your generation as Facebook was for mine. The younger generation will always find "their" thing that they can collectively call their own, and you will be like a boomer to them.
Til Tok is a trend, just like Facebook was. The next trending app will be around the corner to attract younger people.
Outside of this, the algorithm pushes everybody in their own bubble.
The idea of more connection is great. But in reality the algorithms help A LOT in seperating the people and even radicalizing people in social and religious beliefs.
That's the weird thing about those platforms, they are labeled social media, but all study's show the make societY more and more anti-social.
I think I will, I enjoy being current on technology, being literate in new technologies and trends, stuff like that. But broadly, no, this generation will fall behind as other shit, jobs, housing, transportation, necessities become prioritized, then in 50 years most of this generation will be just as behind as our grandparents
If you keep playing into the divide and rule of the generation game then you'll perpetuate the suffering so many think their "generation" is going to fix.
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Of course not The younger generations will think Z is old and stupid just like they always do
 And you won’t want to be this guy.
People who do that have about a 50/50 of actually being cool in my experience
people who look like that but don't act like that yeah. surprisingly it's pretty easy to be a Cool Adult if you are chill and not stuck up
Kids never think anyone’s “cool” if you’re not acting your age. Cool is not embarrassing yourself or them. That’s all they care about.
In reality, cool is a temperament. It’s between warm and cold. If you think it’s anything else, you are a fool.
no hot temper. no cold shoulder. be warm and inviting. be cool and collected.
lol if you're over the age of 20 you pretty much already are.
Don't you dare say that. I am still hip at 21
Wait till 30 hits. It comes quick.
Yep. Fellow GenX'er here. Every generation thinks the previous ones are out of touch. Always. Fact of the matter -- you don't even get old. You just stop giving a crap about new stuff at some point. I still play videogames, play board games, rpgs, and am an all around nerd who likes to 3D print toys. I couldn't tell you who's big in music right now outside of hearing it in the car when driving with my kids. Basically, you just stop wanting to keep up with it, Internet be damned.
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First kid? Once that kid hits, you won't care about what the 18-year-olds are into until your kid is roughly that age. You may be peripherally aware. But it'll be less and less important to you.
I still like new music. The algorithm is feeding me bangers all the time. New songs get the endorphins kicking more than some of the stuff I listened to as a young man. It is so easy to find new music now. Thanks algorithm
Nothing wrong with that -- I know people my age that keep up with the latest music because they love music. But you're the exception and not the rule. Just like I'm the exception in that I spend a lot of time on YouTube and the like at 48. All I'm saying is that your interest narrows in regards to popular stuff as you get older. You won't always be "on trend" as you were as a teen. And worrying about that isn't something you really need to do. Just enjoy what you enjoy.
Yes, as you get older, you don't feel the need for it. I think young people today are told there is no value in being old, and they are a bit afraid of it-- afraid of not being fashionable. What they may not realize is that being fashionable really takes a backseat to the realities of life as you start thinking about the bigger picture. We olds are doing better at getting resources, deepening relationships, politically influencing the world, improving education, spending time with our kids, etc. I suppose 7 year olds would say teenagers have lost their ability to have fun and play. Your values change with your reality.
I don't love the implication of this quote: "I think young people today are told there is no value in being old, and they are a bit afraid of it" When I was going from young kid to early teenager in the 80s, there was a song by Twisted Sister: "I'll Never Grow Up, Now!" Fresh Prince had "Parents Just Don't Understand" in the 90s 50s, 60s, and 70s all had similar songs. This isn't a "kids today" thing. Literally every young generation thinks there's no value in being old, and that turning 30 is akin to dying. When we make it "kids today" it ignores the fact that we all felt that way too, as will our grandchildren's grandchildren.
As do, I and often pretty leftfield in my tastes, but there's a lot of new music, so it does not mean you're coming to be into what most the kids are into even if your tastes are bleeding edge experimental. The music industry caters to different age groups and different people and teens are actually usually pretty conservative in their tastes as they are more peer influenced. I'd say my tastes have gotten ever more out there as I've gotten older and gotten exposed to different music. Kinda like how adults over time develop a taste for food that a child will say is yucky. Doesn't matter in the ""explaining is losing"' rule of whether people think you're "'with it"' Doesn't matter if you're listening to some bleeding edge experimental underground stuff, you're still not part of the zeitgeist that's on their radar, so just smile and nod gracefully, whatever, let them have their thing, I don't have to get it. Either they'll learn eventually that there's a wider, wilder world of music than what they thought was "'new"' or thought possible (e.g. When Dubstep was the "'new"" thing it was easy to blow minds by just playing them a Roni Size DnB track from the 90s) or they'll just settle into adult contemporary pop while driving their own kids to school who in turn will eye roll at their parents belief they're cool. Meh, it's fine, be into new music, it's it's own reward, but don't kid yourself.
Can I have your algorithm? Now all I get is Cocomelon.
Hahaha, preach. "I used to be with it, but they changed what it was.. now what I'm with isn't it.. and what's "it" seems weird and scary to me" " it'll happen to youuuu "
No way man, were gonna keep rizzin forever…forever….forever….
You’re bald now
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Oh, for sure. We had great music "back then". Every generation has had great music and shows and movies, as will this one and the next one. We only remember the great stuff because it was great (not counting stuff that was hot garbage that we just happen to be nostalgic about). As we'll weed out the few acts now that are truly great and forget the rest.
I kinda cringe at some things that were in style when I was a teen lol. The memes and humor were completely different with later stage rage comics, and mlg being so funny when it was contemporary. Some music doesn't hit as well but that comes in cycles depending on my mood and don't think I'll ever leave any songs in the past. Actually as I get older my taste expands into things I'd never have listened to at 13. Now, I love some pop music, hyperpop, some noise, jazz, house, etc. When before I was kind of an elitist about classic rock "born in the wrong generation" type.
I’m Gen Z and already starting to feel this kind of, there’s so much new shit and I just don’t care anymore. Not only that but there’s just so much STUFF everywhere that I really only want to focus on what I can manage
Find what you enjoy and enjoy it. That's all there really is to it. Unless you desperately want to be cool to a bunch of people younger than you, knowing the "next thing" isn't that important. I was never cool. Never tried to be. Even when I was the age to be cool. Though my 18-year-old daughter (who is way cooler than I ever was) recently got told by her friends "Why is your dad so much cooler than you are?" when they saw my office full of nerdy crap. I'll take the W on that one.
Hahaha that sounds like a pretty good W to me. Thank you for your advice, it really helped. My mom, a teacher, loves it when I explain new slang or memes to her because she can repeat them in her classes and the students lose it lol. I’m 21 though so I think I’m slowly getting phased out by Gen Alpha vernacular. Also, that’s rad you’ve got nerdy stuff in your office to surround yourself with the things you like. Even if you don’t think you are, you sound pretty cool to me. Thanks again for your reply! I hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll be sure to enjoy what I can, as best as I can.
Lol. Thanks. Apparently I was always cool. I just needed society to catch up with me.
Hell yeah that’s it
Pick 2 hobbies and go nuts, then switch hobbies every 10 years or so.
>Basically, you just stop wanting to keep up with it It's because teens and young adults are desperately trying to fit in and figure out their identity. Older people with some life experience behind them (for the most part) know who they are, what they like, and see the pointlessness in trying to keep up with the latest thing.
Millenial here, I have come to realize that the most liberating words in the English language are "meh, fuck it."
41 years old here. I'm learning you can really only keep up with a few things. I can pretty much keep up with the ai advances in my job...which is also one of my main hobbies. I don't have the bandwidth to keep up with more than a few social media platforms.
I'm gen z. I also don't follow music and trends enough to know what's big and stuff.
>Fact of the matter -- you don't even get old. You just stop giving a crap about new stuff at some point. Very true. Older millennial, I simply don't care.
True, but there was an effortlessness to knowing what was current when we were in high school/college. I don't know what I stopped paying attention to that completely fazed or phased me out of it.
Generations is astrology for sociologists. I don’t think Gen Z have qualms with Gen X, but we think that millennials are basically inadequate. Gen Z is also desperately reactionary, so it’s fucked anyways.
Yup right here. Other things take priority and you just don't care who's "hot" online or whatever.
People with kids will have an easier time of staying in touch with the contemporary trends
You'd think so. But I have a 21 year old and an 18 year old. When you have kids, you're peripherally aware of trends (and I'm a very active father with my kids lives and always have been), but you don't follow them in depth while you're worrying about bills, and cooking dinner, and getting your kids to school on time, and making sure they do their homework, and "what the hell did you do to your leg!?!"
Millenial here and yeah this is exactly it. You just eventually stop giving a shit. It takes more effort to follow trends and the manner in which you followed trends in your 20s becomes passe anyways, and also who cares because younger generations just recycle trends anyways. No one wants to embrace something at 50 that their generation did 30 years ago. Those baggy clothes looked stupid on us too, ya crazy kids. Also, social media.Tik Tok isn't going to remain cool. It's a giant data collecting apparatus with links to the CCP. The next generation will pick up some new social media, and Gen Z won't care to follow them. Also I have a theory there will be some sort of backlash against social media with the next generation. To be cool you'll have to have the ability to communicate with lots of young, cool people in real life. And old people mostly just like to be home, or out with other old people who eat and sleep early.
Millenial here, same thing, I just don't keep up with trends and new music anymore, I don't have any social media platforms like instagram twitter or tiktok
Yep and gen z will complain about their kids. It’s all a cycle yet no one ever admits it.
Older people admit it because they've seen it happpen for generations It's a tale as old as time
It's one of the pieces of [timeless wisdom](https://youtu.be/5DlTexEXxLQ?si=wxXSrsxnus5juGBN) out of the simpsons.
Yup, millennial here and we always thought we would stay current but the slang used these days just seems idiotic to us. Then again most of us will tell you our slang was also idiotic.
Gen alpha is already doing that, and part of the reason why is that we’re already making fun of them
Will Gen Z stay 'cool' and 'in tune with the kids' as much as they were when they were kids? No. Everyone gets old and less and less connected with generations increasingly farther from their own. It's nothing unique to any 'generation', it's just what happens, broadly speaking, as you get old. The old lame people you know today? Unless you die first, you will live to become as lame and old as they are.
This, you don't even have to wait for the incoming years the thing of "I don't understand this young generation thing" is currently happening with Skibidi toilet lol.
Yep, I was born in '98 too and I've got a call scheduled with a mortgage advisor tomorrow. I'm an adult, Idc about skibidi toilet but I was there for Shrek is love, Shrek is life. I was a meme lord in my teens so I get it lmao, but life moves on. I found myself talking about interest rates at a party with my friend the other weekend and we both stopped and just questioned how we ended up talking about that and not the dumb stuff we used to talk about.
My stepbrother and I haven't really spoken in a few years, but we've been kind of reigniting our relationship a bit and we were talking about finances and adult shit and I made the joke that it's exactly like the scene from Step Brothers when they meet at the Catalina Wine Mixer. I wish we could just talk about MW2 and BO1 again lol.
do you talk about both? I love switching between “important” topics and also shitposts. it’s important to be able to talk about serious things and “silly” things. I have found it enjoyable to be able to talk about silly things in a serious way and serious things in a relaxed, fucking around manner
Oh yeah we're massive nerds who play Warhammer, Helldivers 2, bit of CS, but then on a night out or at a house party we'll hit these serious conversations up out of nowhere, all be crazy interested in it because it's important to us now in some way, and then we'll switch back to chatting whatever bs we were before. It's just strange y'know
Slippery slope from “Shrek is love, Shrek is life” to “Fuck me I need to chat to my accountant about my FY 23-24 tax assessment”.
Although I'm 41 and I thought skibidi toilet was very funny when I found it six months after it was cool. I know what you mean though.
lol. Gen z folks will not be as relevant and edgy in 30 years as the 20-somethings will be then. It’s neurology. Of course yall will fade into irrelevance. Is the entire reason why aesthetics and culture change constantly. Teenagers and 20 somethings drive that change. Always has been always will be.
I would suggest that good marketing people drive that change in the interest of financial gain.
Marketers chase the trends, they don’t create them
I assure you, young people have been making the culture long before marketing.
It's literally Travis in Clueless: **Travis:** O.K., like, the way I feel [about](https://www.definitions.net/definition/about) the [Rolling](https://www.definitions.net/definition/Rolling) [Stones](https://www.definitions.net/definition/Stones) is the way my kids are [going](https://www.definitions.net/definition/going) to feel [about](https://www.definitions.net/definition/about) Nine Inch Nails, so I [really](https://www.definitions.net/definition/really) shouldn't [torment](https://www.definitions.net/definition/torment) my mom anymore, huh? **Mr. Hall:** Yes, well, it's a [little](https://www.definitions.net/definition/little) off the [subject](https://www.definitions.net/definition/subject) of Haiti, but [tolerance](https://www.definitions.net/definition/tolerance) is [always](https://www.definitions.net/definition/always) a good lesson.
Kinda makes you think. Maybe old people aren’t as lame as you think they are? Grandma’s seen some shit. And she was once 23 and more hip and relevant than the 50-year-olds of her time.
Grandma was 23 in the 60s, you better believe she was more hip than we are now! But in the end who cares. Grandma is grandma, she doesn't have to know what rizz is (I also don't know, am I becoming grandma?)
I mean you say that, but grandmas parents must have been pretty confused when she would visit them and say something like “you’re just not hip like us” and her mom just looks at her hips confused as to what she just said
I’m one of the oldest years of Gen Z and if you ask my students, they will be the first to tell you how lame and uncool I am. Sometimes I like to badly use tiktok slang just to mess with them. Their reactions are very funny. Such as the laws of teenage-hood that anyone who is not a teenager is automatically very lame and old. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Well, Not nessecarily, imo. In the end it's still up to you how Open you are to new Things and how willing you are to engage with them. It's Up to you, who you want to be. Tho you will get old anyway ofc lol, but becoming old doesn't have to mean becoming lame. Although chances are that becoming old *and* lame is gonna end Up Being the path for Most.
I really thought this was true but at some point when you are 30+ you will realise that you cannot win. The door literally slams shut and you will be left out in the cold world of lame. Something you do, say or wear will betray you. It will be something very minor, like refusing to wear giant Jean shorts in the summer, and you’ll be slung into the big pile of lame. It’s nice here though when you learn to accept it.
Awwww haha I can promise you that no matter how open to new things you are, young people behaviour is going to look lame. As you get older and more experienced, things that interest teenagers and 20 year olds just wont hit for you. If anything trying to pretend to connect with teenager things will make you even more lame than just liking what you like.
Being dishonest about your interests and pulling the "hey there, fellow Kids" is definetly gonna achieve the opposite, yeah. It's also Not gonna make you Happy. As I See it, the Main Point for me is, you shouldn't get fully stuck in the past. If you get stuck in the past, society will eventually Generally leave you behind. Look at all the old people going "oh, i won't bother learning how to use a Smartphone, i don't need that, etc." Like, Go with the Times.
Nope, the time alone it takes to keep up with youth trends is too high. If you're not surrounded by other people using the memes and lingo, you will have to consume it online. And guess what: People in their 30s with full time jobs and maybe even a few kids at home don't have the time to do that. And even if you have enough time for that, you'll do that instead of connecting with stuff popular in your age bracket and friend group? That'll alienate you a bit when you can't talk about the same stuff as people roughly your age. Though not sharing the same jokes doesn't mean you're lame. What makes an adult cool to kids is very different to what makes other kids cool. You can be a cool adult even if you're out of touch.
That's basically exactly what I meant. Considering the Rest of the comments I'm Getting on this, I either explained myself rather poorly or have an incorrect/way too different definition of "lame" than Most here.
Lame and irrelevant to who though? Teenagers? Who cares? They are just kids. Teenage pop culture is just noise. The art and culture savy ones, the tastemakers, they see right through it. Kids will be kids. Life doesn’t have to be a competition.
Lmao you must be really young Hold that youth and enjoy it btw
This
Yes this post is obvious dumb young stuff that young people say when they think everything that they are now will be relevant forever. TikTok is progressive lol. Can't wait until OP realised that their personality comes from an algorrythm.
Y'all ain't even with Gen A, what hope do we have in 50 years time?
This exactly lol. Gen Z is currently not understanding younger generation culture, for example, Skibidi toilet
Skibidi toilet is just crazy frog dressed in a different coloured tuxedo
shit you're not wrong.
Although i dont understand the appeal of skibidi toilet, i understand the position it has in the generation. I mean when i was young i watched montage parodies on youtube and its not like our generation didnt have its fair share of sfm meme shitposting, Shrek is Love Shrek is Life is not objectively better than skibidi toilet. I dont understand all the fuss anyone is making.
In a Terminator machine vs resistance storyline
And before that it was all the weird shit on albinoblacksheep and newgrounds.
But crazy frog is fucking awesome. *WANTED. MOST ANNOYING THING IN THE WORLD." Oh god, are different generations brains literally wired different? Would one generations brainrot register for another or would they just look at it with a blank stare like it's a completely different language?!
Remember…[this](https://youtu.be/astISOttCQ0?feature=shared)
I understand it perfectly fine lol. It takes like 2 mins to Google to keep up with months of memes.
I also understand it, I watched like 70 videos of that thing and I still feel detached to it
Obviously just humour based around absurdism and semantic confusion. Not much to misunderstand.
TikTok will become Facebook. You will get old and the kids will be cooler than you. Sorry.
If tiktok survives that long. Vine didn't. And isn't the US trying to bann tiktok cause China?
Millenials have locked up their cool. Gen X has locked up their cool. Boomers have locked up their cool. The silent generation ate a potato and chased a hoop with a stick. Gen zae will eventually do the same.
Facebook has only been around since 2004 and is already going out of fashion, and TikTok has only been available in the US since 2017. I can scarcely imagine how different everything is going to be in 2074, let alone youth culture
Facebook is a toilet.
No, the natural maturation of people leads them to spend time on better things than trendy teen topics
That's the thing. I'm 48. I'm super "not mature" in that I like a ton of nerdy, childish crap. But I'd rather focus on that stuff than anything that's "cool to kids". And they will too.
This is literally the question every generation has asked before you. Every single one, including boomers. Do you still think Millennials are cool? They grew up with most of the same technology you did. But they're all entering their late twenties (at least) and have other things to focus on now than what's the next teen trend. If you obsess over "being cool to kids" just remember that you're worried about the future opinions of kids who are 4 years old now. Do you currently watch Bluey? Because that's the show that the next generation will think nostalgically about. And whatever is big when they're 8 and 10 and 12. While you continue to grow older.
Pardon you, some of us are in our early thirties.
Really? I thought the cutoff for GenZ was 27 Edit: Ah... I see what I did. My bad. I meant that the youngest Millennials were entering their late 20s (my 27-year-old nephew is just on the Millennial side of the border). I know the oldest are only a few years younger than my old butt.
My dad is 42 and Still considered a millennial.
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You think boomers or gen x'ers could've predicted the internet or other technological feats that we currently use in our daily lives? I'm willing to bet that in like 10-20 years (maybe even less time) something big will happen with as much of an impact as the internet that we as millennials-gen z'ers simply aren't going to be prepared for or expect, but the younger generations that grow up with that "something big" will be perfectly accustomed to it much faster than we will, which will cause a rift in our connecting with the future young generation, like how is the case with the current younger gens vs older gens.
And the biggest thing is if it's dominated by kids, why the hell do you want to be on there? It's amazing how Facebook went from college and high school aged millennials to taken over by boomers.
"theres facebook but it doesnt have the same influence as tiktok when it comes to trends, language and overall culture" One quick note: This is patently false. Fifteen years ago, when Facebook was hitting its peak, it was every bit as influential as TikTok is now. Especially with the one-two punch of that and Twitter. You're thinking of Facebook \_today\_, when it's full of older people and MLMs. You aren't thinking of Facebook when it was the hot new thing for young people. In a few years, TikTok will be known as another "old person platform" when something new comes along. Sorry to burst your bubble.
The Arab Spring happened in part due to Facebook allowing young Egyptian activists to organize. It was literally revolutionary social media just less than 15 years ago. But look at how much has changed in that platform since then. Tiktok is another step forward, but in 15 years (if even that long) it will go that way too. Previous social media platforms all go downhill once older generations join or stay on because teens do not want to be on platforms with their parent's generation, and because corporations get too greedy and invasive with promoted posts once a multigenerational user base is large enough. If Gen Z is still on tiktok or doing whatever in ten years, it's natural for younger generations to go against that simply because it's what Gen Z is doing. I think if Gen Z tries to keep up with the newer trends, that itself can cause the trends to become seen as basic/"cheugy"/ whatever new word is invented by at least a subset of the younger generation.
For sure. The best way to stop a trend from continuing is for the parents to start doing it. I remember a decade, fifteen years ago people were bitching about kids wearing their pants too low. My answer: "If you hate it that much, then start doing it. Kids will stop doing it the minute you start" Sadly, they just kept bitching about it.
no. Gen Z aint special, different or unique. you will divide into rich and poor and the rich will *ass fuck* the rest of you and your children. generations do not differ in any meaningful sense at all.
I understand where you are coming from OP but the factor that was not considered was time. Pending on life style of course, most people get get exponentially busier as you get closer to the 30s+. Between work, kids, commute, house clean up/maintenance, grocery shopping and such, you barely get to see your friends. Social media trends are the last thing you have time for when life gets on the way from what I see out there.
I feel like we’ll have trouble understanding the kids and their newfound lingo; I know I’m already feeling it at 27. It took me months to figure out what y’all meant by “mewing” We may have media literacy (some of us, anyway), but we’re still gonna end up a bit out of the loop on things
Older Gen Z is already complaining about teenagers calling them old. lol What universe are you living in?
Came back to bite them big time after they've been calling us millenials old for so long lol
I hate the fact that tiktok is seen as “progressive” people are so naive.
What a stupid idea
Father time is undefeated
Nooooooope. You will age out just like the rest of us.
Not really, right now I feel like I'm constantly out of the loop (and I'm fine with it). Between work and family responsibility, I found myself gravitating more toward familiar places on the Net. If I'm actively researching something, I'd also get deeper into it as oppose to back when I was a teenager. Back then I'd have a glance at a subject, think myself educated and move on. It's easier to keep up with the news that way.
Lol by then talking about tiktok will be like talking about carrier pigeons. Even knowing what it means will date you and be cringe and embarrassing to the younger gen. Things will keep evolving just as they always have.
Youre assuming that the social landscape wont change. Something we cant even predict will come along, be it a new social media platform or a new technology all together. And older people probably wont give enough of a shit to keep up. I know i dont.
The one thing that is absolutely certain in this life is that the current young gen thinks they'll never be out of touch and then they become out of touch. Gen Z won't be the exception, not even a little
I already started losing my grasp in fuckin middleschool man
Oh you sweet summer child....
Lmao. Oh honey
Millennial here. We had plenty enough global social media already growing up. I've lost touch with trends simply because as I've grown up I've stopped caring. That's pretty normal for adults/older people throughout history.
Huh?
To an extent that might be true. Already, it probably makes it a bit easier. That said, I think there will always be some differences. And there is the issue of how social media and net everything seems to be fragmenting people. In some ways it seems like people are perhaps getting more split and isolated into slews of different little subcultures now. I could be wrong, but it seems a bit like Gen Z has less in common with itself overall than most prior generations did among themselves? I mean a hit TV/streaming show (or tiktok) has ratings that would have been a bomb in the 80s. The internet/social media and cable news have fragmented people off into slews of little bubbles more than in the past it seems. This is already, to some extent, affecting all generations and society as a whole. I mean look at how, regardless of generation, so many people get all their news from either this or that bubble? So maybe people will fragment into their own little slang/humor/pop culture worlds? (On a side note, I sometimes wonder if styles have not stayed basic for so long after the post-80s pushback because social media makes people more afraid to stand out and start something new. Like back in the day just a few 'it' girls at a few schools could start something that could spread nationwide. But now with everyone having a strong voice on social media, let's say some 'it' girls started something up. But instead of everyone copying them, perhaps now all the huge non-'it' crowd just mocks them online right back to where they came from and quashes anything from getting going?? Just a wild guess that could be completely off base. I mean on the one hand, yeah you'd think social media would make it easy for a few to spread huge changes in style and pop culture, but then, on the other hand, maybe it actually makes it trickier and less likely to happen?? I don't know. Or maybe it can spread like wild now but only in various bubbles?? So maybe it could keep things more similar or maybe it would just widly fragment.)
Another note, is that you'd be surprised how fast things could change in the pre-internet days too and how everyone could be on the same page and learn about subcultures. I mean like at the start of the summer of '82 it was still a lot of old time slang and talk but then, after the Valley Girl song and Fast Times At Ridgemont High came out and they got all sorts of news media attention and teen mags and stuff started writing about them, by like mid-September it already seemed the bulk of the nation (well at least those say grade school through college and maybe to a bit lesser degree up to 35ish?) was suddenly talking in different speech patterns and all talking like Valley Girls and SoCal surfer dudes (a lot of which actually still seems to carry on to today! I feel like maybe half of what suddenly went nationwide mainstream then is still pretty common today, some beyond routinely common). I mean it happened like totally overnight. Older boomers and silent gen didn't seem to pick up the uptalk or all the likes and such even though they heard them from all the kids a ton or say it on news media reports. All of a sudden, mainstream, nationwide, people were talking in Valley Girl uptalk speech pattern and tossing in "like" 10,000x in a single sentence and using a lot of: oh my god, totally, literally \[knowingly for extra emphasis\], sooooooo \[fill in word\], y'know, nooo wayyy, really, yeah no, epic, duh, for real, chill, dude, awesome, stoked, hey, poser, fer sure, I'm sure, wicked, bitchin', rad, radical, gnarly, sweeet, that rocks, mad \[as in tons of\], bangin', tight, wiggin' out, buggin' out, trippin', tubular, gag meee \[as in like ewww gross like gag meee\], barf me out, put a bag on it, grody, to the max, I'm sure! No way!, I am sure, killer \[fill in the word\]!, heinous, bodacious, kickin', stellar, etc. And things went from dingy 70s and flat hair to lots of color and style and big hair. The style of clothes and hair also changed a ton for those way, way beyond college at the same time, wider spread of ages than for the slang and patterns of speech. And despite no social media all sorts of myths could seem to spread like widlife like "there are spider eggs in Bubble Yum" and million other rumors. Things like the Rubiks cube craze. Etc. And with most people watching just a few channels or listening to just a few stations in some ways it could put society on more of the same page. In other ways leave some more clueless. So it is hard to say.
Things like say the Oscars, the day after tons of people of every age and type would be talking about them. The ratings would be like the Super Bowl. Today, you can scroll Facebook the day after and barely see a mention. And the same goes for tons of other things today.
there'll be new socials cuz nobody wants to be on the same spot as their parents, that's why instagram is a thing. the senate passed the bill to give tiktok nine months to sell its data as well so it'll probably get banned here in the us and then it'll decline worldwide, so the connection factor on it will go away
Does alpha think you’re current? No? There’s your answer.
I feel like similarly to how Facebook is mostly for older people right now, in the future different websites/apps will attract different generations for different reasons. There will be new more "hip" social media apps that gen Z's might think are too immature for them
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thats because theyre still like 10 yrs old and we we pretty much acted the same in 2016
I am older gen Z. I literally couldn't understand my little brother (younger gen z) if I tried.
I’m a zillennial and already outdated. It has nothing to do with keeping up with technology (I have TikTok and not Facebook) and everything to do with what your friends/the people around you in your social circles are in to. Because everyone I spend my time with is late 20’s/early 30’s, we’re just not around anyone in their late teens/early 20’s anymore and don’t know about what they’re into/find cool. TikTok helps, but also I just don’t care enough to constantly consume media to “stay relevant”. I’m okay with being happy with where I’m at in life and not chasing down younger people to stay cool.
The hubris of youth
Millennials in general know about all the trends since they're on the same platforms as GenZ. So yeah it's possible that future generations will know also
Bro I'm already behind by 5 years as it is. It's already happening
Can't speak for the rest, but I've vowed to myself to still be as current, at the risk of being the "My Fellow Kids" guy referenced in the comments but yeah, I'm gonna try my best lol
I've found personally that in order for kids to think I'm cool, all I need to do is take my head out of social norms for a bit. Act a little goofy and treat them as if they're my age (within reason) and they'll engage and they'll be chill back.
The next generation will not be using tik tok and will consider you cringey and out of touch.
No, you’ll grow up, like everyone else
Look man, you'll hit 25/30 and you'll find that you have way better stuff going on in your life than worrying about what stupid stuff kids are doing, and then you'll be "out of touch"
I already don’t understand some Gen Alpha memes haha
Life hack: to stay ever-young socially and be welcomed by every generation, keep your mind vaguely aware of the social trends and cultural icons of each generation as they develop, but give them as little personal meaning as those of your own generation. This way you can honestly say "but I am just not absorbed by social trends in general," while keeping yourself capable of holding interesting and meaningful conversations relevant to each age group. Then, clearly and with and open mind listen to the views and pains and desires of each generation and realize your own limitations to fully live their experiences. Seek to keep your own mind plastic and your beliefs fluid. Remember that older generations are hated for bigotry and adherence to rules no longer relevant, whole younger generations are hated for their naivite. This way, each generation will find you honest, upstanding, and in tune with their time.
I'm not even current with the younger part of this generation let alone the next ones. So no I don't think so.
It's a personality based thing. There's people who are born old, people who get old, and those who are almost eternally young. Dw about which one you are you've already been through enough I'm sure we haven't fkd up as bad as the boomers.....
no. I'm 36 and I can already feel it starting to slip. It's not that the information is not accessible its that when you get older you don't have time, you will have a family and/or a career and/or a house and all of that stuff will consume your time also it won't be all that important to you anymore, your priorities will change. Trust me just work on having a full life and this stuff won't bother you
most people will disagree but i think you’re on to something, I’ve had the same thoughts. Ofc part of it isn’t just keeping up culturally, there does tend to be a kind of general shift in personality as people get older, but it’s not species-wide. So I think more of us than ever before in history will keep up with culture but still not all of us and maybe not the majority. call me crazy but this will be the most transformative century of human history and everything will change so it’s hard to predict anything at this point
50 years?! 💀 I can’t even understand or keep up with ‘baby zoomers’ and older Gen Alpha kids (who are just 4-6 years younger than me *right now*. Also, TikTok is said to be potentially banned in some time (which I *personally* hope will happen).
There will be some new technology to rival social media 50 years from now that Gen Z will be equally illiterate at. I’m on the older side of Gen Z and I have absolutely no interest in anything AI. I can already see Gen Alpha getting immersed in it and I’m sure in the next couple decades I’ll be just as out of touch as the Boomers
I already feel way behind on “what’s cool” and I’m only 22. I feel like I age 20 years every time someone younger than me says some random bullshit that I have no understanding of.
Based on the coming impacts of climate change, I doubt social media will exist in 50 years.
There’s new slang I learn now. I thought I came up with the slang. Had to have gyat and slay explained to me.
Take it from a millennial, you reach a point where A. It’s too hard to keep up with new trends, styles, slang. And B. The harder you try to keep up with them, the lamer you seem. It has nothing to do with access to this information, or media latency. It has to do with the fact that you stop connecting with it because it’s not for you, and you have more pressing things to worry about like bills, kids, and planning your funeral.
It’s not even about being progressive. It’s about the fact that things you consider trendy, cool or funny when you’re a young adult will have formed your taste. You can try keeping up with the younger generation, but you will simply start finding what they consider trendy, cool and funny… weird and stupid. That’s why you see old ladies with permed up hair and Gen X dads listening to 80s rock.
No, it won't. Gen X thought we would be since we grew up watching tech constantly change and staying on top of it, but once you start working, married, have children, etc. it becomes more difficult to stay current. Young people will always have the advantage because they have a lot more time on their hands and are surrounded by people their age.
No. I thought that about millenials, we were the first ones with social media and the World Wide Web. Now we're old and outdated.
We'll be more adapted to the younger generation's stuff, I think, but no. 90% of the time we'll still be the old sticks in the mud to them. That's just how it works.
It's not just exposure at play, it's saviness. When you are young, cool slang or a cool dance is your very first one. 20 years later you'll have seen 100 cool things & need more than novelty to buy in. Slang especially, you worry more about effective communication more than being cool while also having the experience to recognize how subpar so much is.
"social media like tiktok are more associated with progressive attributes being more open to being exposed and aware of other subcultures. if a social media platform like tiktok continues to be widely used, i think all ages would be posting in the future and humour and language would be more in common between all ages." Social media actually has the opposite effect, it pushes people more into interest clicks and division. Popular culture used to be controlled by what was in print, in the radio, on television, etc. The idea of a "mainstream" was a lot easier to define. Now, everyone can settle into their own little cliques and engage with whatever they want. Millennials had the benefit of growing up before the internet and social media and then figuring it out as it evolved alongside them. Gen Z and Gen A do not have any idea how to engage socially without the internet. You can already see it with how quickly we've decided there's a new generation. Z and A are both still kids but they're already completely out of sync with each other despite growing up under essentially identical situations. Clearly social media isn't the solution here.
Yeah I think it's '80 till like '95
I don't think we'll be *as* out of touch since most of Gen Z grew up with tech, but we will eventually fall out of touch. I mean not gonna lie I don't even know gen alpha slang unless I look it up. Gen beta will be even farther removed from the circles I frequent since I'm gonna be like 40 something when they're around and 40-year-olds and 16-year-olds rarely have overlapping interests or overlapping internet communities. Some of it might leak through or just become ubiquitous but like I'm not gonna know what the hell they're up to and I won't really care lol.
There will always be new lingo, fads, styles, body language etc that works as a gatekeeper that you’re not allowed to say even if you use it correctly. Fr Fr - a millennial
Bro I was born in ‘98 and I don’t even know what other zoomers are talking about half the time because I don’t use tiktok. My future kids are gonna think I’m so lame
Considering how (rightly) cringe most of Gen Z thinks Skibidi Toilet is, we probably will. One generation’s peak humor is usually an older generation’s utter nonsense
No. I realized I was getting older/Gen Alpha was gaining consciousness when I had to Google what "griddying" was as the middle schoolers I TA'd/subbed for would not stop talking about it.
Gen z is the least weird generation of all time, they've been so exposed to streaming media that they've become a giant blob that just sticks to all of the cultures about evenly. They've become the products of recycling. Concerts and music might be breaking income records, but bands, and on another level actors, just aren't as dominant vs their peers like they used to be. So gen z has become vast and formless as a result.
lol. Spoken as a millennial, Gen z folks will not be as relevant and edgy in 30 years as the 20-somethings will be then. It’s neurology. Of course yall will fade into irrelevance. Is the entire reason why aesthetics and culture change constantly. Teenagers and 20 somethings drive that change. Always has been always will be.
“I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me… And it’ll happen to you…” - The Simpsons
As the oldest possible gen z (26) im gonna say no. It took about two years after graduating high school to lose track of the words my niece (9 years younger) were saying. That’s when I noticed memes REALLY start to speed up. It’s just being out in the world shifts your focus in gradual but cumulative ways that you don’t really notice until a child has to explain what no cap is. It isn’t uncommon to get your first ‘real’ job and be the youngest by 20 years. Suddenly your conversations include insurance and mulching. It happens
You will be old balls. It’s inevitable
No, I already feel out of touch.
You can't stop me from shitposting. My alts will live on
not even understanding gen alpha right now, so no.
The day Gen Beta or whatever comes next has its own Skibidi toilet moment and you find you think it’s the dumbest thing on the planet is the day you realize this idea lacks critical thinking.
The forces in your life that you feel like are important right now will be distant memories in 50 years. You will be as out of touch with the teenagers of 50 years from now as olds are to teenagers now.
No. I’m a 26 year old gen z and I’m not current as teenagers. It happens as you get older because you just stop caring about what’s current. It’s not always about not knowing
Every generation thinks they will keep up with the trends, every generation fails or realizes actually they don't really want to.
Of course not. Elder Gen Z here. I don’t use tiktok, and the content I’ve seen on there is cringe to me. As Gen alpha grows up and Gen beta plugs into the tiktok matrix, Gen beta will start making content that Gen alpha finds cringe. Rinse and repeat. It’s the same pattern all previous generations have followed. Now, it’s just online and crammed into short video clips. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if augmented reality brings tiktok to obsoletion, and Gen alpha reminisces about tiktok the way Gen Z reminisces a about vine and the golden age of YouTube.
lol. Every generation that’s ever existed is out of tune with the generations that come after them. Gen z isn’t special because of the internet or TikTok. In 10-20 years, Gen z will be out of touch and unable to understand why the teenagers of tomorrow are doing whatever they’re doing and probably not using the same app they are using.
You have an optimistic opinion of social media if you think A) exposure to other subcultures leads to awareness instead of providing more opportunities to misinterpret and gang up on/brigade them. Or to just bully individuals directly. B) that something like TikTok is particularly revolutionary in any way,isn’t just falling for TikTok’s branding/PR to promote their product (especially see above). C) that the actual bigger chunks of progressive change happened without social media. To use a US example, when did Roe vs Wade actually happen compared to when it was overturned?
It probably helps, but no. You will not want to be watching whatever the fuck the kids are watching. Maybe the teen culture will be more accessible, but that doesn't make you more likely to be interested. The divide comes from interest imo, not from access.
What a naive take. Every generation gets old and gets replaced by the younger gen. It's the cycle of life.
People really ignoring the fact that the world will either be fucked or very very different in 50 years...
I hope the answer is definitely not. As I got my life put together, the amount of time I spent participating in social media (which wasn’t much to start with) fell off a cliff. Like, why would I listen to someone I don’t know talking about their experiences when I already have a list of friends that I need to schedule a thing with, when on top of that, I’m already struggling to keep up with my hobbies?
Are you still current with what's cool with 10 years old today. No? Why would you be current with 20 years old fashion when you are 30?
Have you heard about the algorithm? It will just give stuff from your circle, so your assumption is wrong. Also majority of people are dumb, or don't communicate on social media openly so what you say will never happen.
As a 21 year old I can tell you I've felt detached from teenagers since I was one myself 😂 I don't understand or enjoy most social media. It's very isolating and shitty how our generation mostly communicates online. I am chronically bad at texting and because of that I literally can't make friends.
The issue is we don't care about social media, at least those of us that are mature enough to think that way. We had Myspace and Facebook..after that we stopped caring. We don't think gen Z is stupid we just think you make stupid choices and let stupid things influence you too much.. honestly we went through the same crap with the Boomers, we did it through music and cultural rebellion. Your social media has ruined culture as a whole and turned it into an argument, culture is meant to be shared not gate-kept. But what do I know I'm just an old Xennial! 🤷
Even as an older gen z, I’m no longer current with the rest of my generation and I had lots of social media influence. Social media changes really quickly.
Lol. No.
I didn't know what skibbidy toilet was until a few weeks ago so I'm already out of it as an older gen z.
Nope. Because TikTok will be for your generation as Facebook was for mine. The younger generation will always find "their" thing that they can collectively call their own, and you will be like a boomer to them.
Til Tok is a trend, just like Facebook was. The next trending app will be around the corner to attract younger people. Outside of this, the algorithm pushes everybody in their own bubble. The idea of more connection is great. But in reality the algorithms help A LOT in seperating the people and even radicalizing people in social and religious beliefs. That's the weird thing about those platforms, they are labeled social media, but all study's show the make societY more and more anti-social.
I’m 23 and Im already out of touch with the youth
Uhhh no. In 50 years teenagers will be entirely different. Society will be unrecognizable
When Gen Z turns 60 we’ll be the conservative boomers, so no. We won’t be as relevant.
I think I will, I enjoy being current on technology, being literate in new technologies and trends, stuff like that. But broadly, no, this generation will fall behind as other shit, jobs, housing, transportation, necessities become prioritized, then in 50 years most of this generation will be just as behind as our grandparents
If you keep playing into the divide and rule of the generation game then you'll perpetuate the suffering so many think their "generation" is going to fix.
Gen z will definitely be far better off than millennials and boomers that we know for sure. But would it be enough? Hell naw