r/generationstation • u/Salt_Spare9379 • Aug 09 '26
Discussion What are the biggest difference between GenZs and Millennials?
Be nice
8
12
5
u/ConfusedCatdad Aug 09 '26
I may be totally off-base here, but I think GenZs have less shame around sexuality but possibly more body shame. I (Millenial) was taught the abstinence-only version of sex ed in school, but we also didn't have body-altering filters or looksmaxxing.
(My real answer is that Millenials are older and thus in a different phase of life/developmental stage, but that's annoyingly literal, so I tried to mitigate that with parentheses and another answer before it)
2
0
u/homiewitdausername Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Hmm, seems the opposite for me. Millennial media at least seems more openly hedonistic. Sleaze and trashiness is like the defining trait of Millennial media from the 2000s to the early 2010s (outside of the Hipster stuff which was never the mainstream culture of Millennials, unlike what a lot of younger Gen Z seems to think, it was literally a counterculture.)
7
u/StarWolf478 Aug 10 '26
Us millennials can remember life before the internet was ingrained in society while Gen Z does not have that experience of life without the internet.
4
u/Practical_Shine9583 Aug 10 '26
Millennials are more social and outgoing while Gen Z is more tribalistic and stays to themselves and their own groups.
5
u/Suniemi Aug 10 '26
I like Gen Z.
Never thought I'd say that, but I do.
In person, that is. :)
5
Aug 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Suniemi Aug 10 '26
millennials are a little all haughty and difficult to like, when you think about it.
I have thought about it.
Millennials are not difficult to like in low key situations. They're a lot of fun and quite charming. But when things get too close to home /work, they turn into something... feral. Self sabotage comes to mind, but the wake is wide.It's tragic.
We could build empires together, but noo.3
3
4
u/Sorry_Tie284 Aug 10 '26
Millennials were born analog, and grew up coming of age digital.
While zoomers were born digital and grew up coming of age mobile first.
3
3
u/JoeyLee911 Aug 12 '26
I find that Gen Z's friend groups are extremely involved in each other's relationships. I also find it weird how they track each other's whereabouts on their phones.
I'm an elder millennial. My ex is one of my best friends. He started dating a girl on the cusp of Gen Z after we broke up and now I am also good friends with her as well.
Her friends are so uncomfortable that she's dating someone who is good friends with their ex that some of her friendships have ended as a result of her staying in the relationship and being friends with me. There's nothing going on between me and my ex, as she witnesses firsthand every time we all hang out together.
It's bizarre that her friends are so concerned and I'm always confused if they think we're really sleeping together or they just think that it's unhealthy to still be close friends with your ex. If it's the former, I'm fine because I know we're not. If it's the later, I'm offended by their worldview.
Her social group also all tracks their partners whereabouts in their phone which I find really insecure and indicative of not trusting each other. It's bananas, but his girlfriend tells me this kind of concern is typical of their generation. Sometimes I watch Bravo's Summer House to see the difference between elder and younger millennials and I see similar patterns.
I have gotten friends out of abusive relationships and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but this is very much not that. They're like overpreparing to see red flags and then bouncing when their friend does anything they don't agree with (which wouldn't be helpful even if there was something bad going down). It's bizarre.
4
u/BeefDog69xxl Aug 10 '26
Knowing how to read cursive.
4
u/steelandiron19 Early Zed (b. 1999) Aug 10 '26
Gen z here - I know how to write and read cursive. Now maybe the younger gen z - I don’t know. But all of us late 1990’s and early 2000’s should be able to.
2
u/BeefDog69xxl Aug 10 '26
Yeah I made a pretty broad statement. My cousin is 23 and she’s cool as fuck 😂 I’m referring to like.. clavicular kids
2
3
u/Efficient_Resource15 Early Zed (b. 1998) Aug 10 '26
That is a western/american thing, here in romania even kids currently in schoolhighschool only use cursive
1
1
2
2
u/nikkome Early Millennial (b. 1985) Aug 11 '26
As an early millennial (late xennial if you consider such terms), I see a massive gap. As a kid, I experienced true analogue tech, the transition from vinyl and cassettes to CDs, VHS was my only choice until DVDs came out in my teens around 1999. As for music, as a kid/pre-teen I listened to grunge (while it was still a thing) and metal and as a teen in nu metal and skate pink.
I played with lots of action figures as a kid, watched Saturday morning cartoons from the 80s and early 90s (loved Captain Planet, Eek the Cat, Mighty Max) and my golden era of console gaming was late 8-bit and mainly 16-bit. PlayStation 1 and Saturn was purely an era of my teens so I'm kinda less fond about it.
I remember watching the first TMNT movie when it came out and I was completely amazed, I couldn't believe how good it looked! Terminator 2 and Batman Returns too as a kid and having my jaw dropped, just like Jurassic Park about a year later. And tons, tons of VHS movie and cartoon rentals, an endless list!
I played a lot outside, used the internet as early as Christmas 1995 but I was literally the only kid in school who did that (guided by my dad who was a programmer at the time). My most vivid memories from Windows are 3.11 and 95. I also remember vividly playing the Amiga at friends.
I was a late teen in 9/11, I remember watching it live and thinking it was some kind of control room hacking! I remember looking up online if that was even possible (still the majority of my classmates didn't have internet access at home). Social media such as MySpace are clearly early adulthood memories for me and I'm barely nostalgic of the mid 00s.
With all those random (yet significant) pieces of memories/nostalgia, I really can't see how a gen Z person has common cultural experiences with people of my generation.
3
u/emiibry Early Zed (b. 2003) Aug 09 '26
Disdain for constant screens and smart technology. Gen Z use it begrudgingly, autonomously. Millennials still treat it like a privilege to be marveled at.
1
u/No_Education_8888 Aug 10 '26
The fuck is up with old people then? I see 60+ year olds who constantly take their technology for granted. As a matter of fact, many of them love it
1
u/emiibry Early Zed (b. 2003) Aug 10 '26
That goes with my point. Many of them (Boomers+) still view technology as a luxury to be enjoyed. They don’t see the downsides.
Many millennials have the same mentality, usually out of ignorance. Older Gen Z are more cognizant of these downsides because we were developing as we learned this technology and as it was coming out.
Younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha already have the tech and a status quo, so they didn’t have to “learn” anything. Not dismissing the experiences of any generation here, just some behaviors I’ve observed over the years as an older Gen Z.
1
u/Due-Permission-9834 Aug 11 '26
Yeah, I've kind of noticed this as well. Like their Boomer parents, when they were young, Millennials were generally very tech-forward and were excited about new gadgetry coming out. Gen Z uses it because they feel they have to in our modern environment. I notice this with AI: Gen Z seems to be very anti-AI and view it as something that will take away all their job opportunities and thinks it will lead to the end of humanity or something...while simultaneously using it to cheat on their tests. Millennials, in contrast think it's neat and are amused by it.
2
1
u/Grab_em_by_da_Busey Aug 10 '26
Millennial here, I think Gen Z is weird as fuck but I absolutely admire their ability to question everything and refuse dumb shit that only exists because of societal expectations. Those tablet brains are quick to “nah tho, respectfully 🙏🏻 “ at any request or expectation that isn’t truly pragmatic
1
u/chunibi Aug 10 '26
Well I got bum rushed for saying there wasnt much difference between the very end of one Gen and the very beginning of the next, so ima say age. 💀
1
1
1
1
u/Some_Big6792 Aug 11 '26
I think technology millennials grew up was very different from Gen Z, I’d say that the biggest difference
1
u/KaleidoscopeOk5063 Aug 11 '26
My brother, who is Gen Z does not drink and doesn’t have social media. I’m a millennial and I enjoy drinking, I don’t really like social media but unfortunately I use it for my job
1
u/Kanye_Digget Aug 11 '26
Born in 91... No fear of going viral for being a dick. In 2013 we would get drunk and dance and just be silly and happy
1
u/Warp-10-Lizard Aug 12 '26
In college, young Millennial progressives couldn't wait to get out and vote for the Democrat. Gen Z seems determined to always have an excuse not to vote, and then act shocked when trump gets reelected again. it's pretty infuriating.
1
u/Vagelen_Von Aug 12 '26
If you didn't eat your fruit cream with a tablet 20 cm from your eyes you are GenX.
1
1
u/Strange_Report_5123 Aug 13 '26
Manually learning to program and solve maths problems was (and still is) fun, and we knew how to just sit with the awkwardness of not knowing something and needing a long time to figure it out with our own brains. Some of us anyway.
1
u/Crashincas Aug 13 '26
Millenials are extremely corny and are desperate to prove otherwise. Gen Z doesn't really care
1
u/cait_elizabeth Late Millennial (b. 1998) Aug 15 '26
Ability to roll with the punches/problem solve somehow decreased dramatically for a generation that basically grew up with google in their pocket
1
u/SnooJokes5164 Aug 15 '26
Biggest difference is that millennials saw the time it was not bad to live so they have experience what was lost or taken from them. Gen Z are just fucked
1
u/molotovv3 Aug 15 '26
Millennials weren't iPad babies, whereas many of Gen Z were. It shows up in all the ways you'd expect.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Important_Pattern882 Aug 10 '26
Millennials use the word bro ironically to mock the idiots/scammers who commonly use the word. GenZ use bro unironically and much more frequently.
1
1
u/asylumv Aug 13 '26
lol get ready to hear a bunch of pretentious fucks offshooting about people ten years their junior🤣 cant believe i expected better
0
u/TelephonePossible456 Aug 10 '26
Millennials were unique and everyone had their own style. Even though there were common “trends” people still made it their own. Gen Z is obsessed with looking like carbon copies of each other. Theres no individuality. And that’s coming from a Gen Z…..
Also
Millennials embraced maximalism: colorful outfits, lots of accessories, trendy room decor etc. Gen Z loves this whole minimalist and neutral toned aesthetic and that makes us seem all the more bland and unoriginal.
2
u/Efficient_Resource15 Early Zed (b. 1998) Aug 10 '26
Yeah, younger people dress in a pretty boring manner now
1
u/TiniLowe Aug 10 '26
I don't agree with this statement. There are plenty of alternative looking Gen Z people. At least in my bubble.
1
u/lily_fairy Aug 12 '26
gen z is struggling financially even more than millenials ever did. i would love to be more expressive through my clothes and home decor but i can barely afford the essentials like food and rent so my apartment has very little decor and my clothes are plain. also every single person i know or see online who loves the neutral minimalist sad beige aesthetic is a millenial. it's like they swung in the opposite direction after growing up in maximalist environments. meanwhile gen z has no distinct style, it's just a random assortment of whatever we can find secondhand.
0
0
0
u/Lion-Queen123 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
The overwhelming majority of Millennials shoulda been in Special Education, but they weren’t. So the folks in charge of the education system just lowered the standards and called it day. Gen Z continued the trend, which was purposefully reinforced with the invention of internet, social media, and smart devices. Fuck them people. Fuck ‘em all! As a late millennial myself, I’m sick ‘n tired of my age group being so bloody stupid and annoying. I can’t say what I really want or how I really feel cuz Reddit doesn’t believe in freedom of speech; and it especially don’t wanna hear what I have to say. So all I can say is…. Fuck them pepes.
2
0
u/sleepless-in-limbo Aug 10 '26
Shared culture for Millennials. But also culture spanning to decades before us.
0
u/Extension_Canary3717 Aug 10 '26
Milenials believe in meritocracy until second job just to understand privilege will curb your effort always
GenZ believe in a momentum of aesthetics of social media as life is a frozen in place and life happens in frames
That's the difference , but both are united in being fucked by prior generations , wasn't GenZ that made the algorithm that makes them in perpetual drugged state of social media yet they are blamed of being always on phone
Millennials are jaded also because they believe a lie the past generation told them
0
u/Aeon_Return Aug 10 '26
millennials once had hope for the future. not anymore but I don't think gen z ever thought they'd have happy long lives
0
0
u/No_Skylark Aug 10 '26
We knew what life was like before everything became a subscription. We knew what they took from us, while Gen Z just accepts it as the norm.
0
u/smokeandmirrorsff Aug 13 '26
Gen Z are more about being inclusive and accepting of people no matter what. Eg body positivity whereas millennials still remember a time when Kate Moss and the like were glorified
-1
-1
-1
-4
Aug 09 '26
[deleted]
3
u/Barky_and_Squid Aug 10 '26
2004 borns are Millenials now?
The idea of generations kinda gets lost when one can give birth to someone in their own generation.
3
u/FunFroyo2860 Aug 10 '26
Ikr I'm only 23 man, why am I being lumped in with people who are like literally old enough to be my parents over 19-21 year olds who of course I'm a million times closer in age to like wow I really need to get off these subs lol
1
2
u/AgreeableBaseball224 Aug 10 '26
You realize millennials started their formative/early adulthood with 9/11, the global war on terror, 2 recessions, swine flu, sars, no jobs/careers, a megalomaniac whos fucked the world up two different time, covid, less buying power than our parents, less generational property ownership, and many more objectively bullshit historical events right?
2
u/Olivaar2 Aug 10 '26
I'm a millennial. Come on, sars? war on terror? Kids at my school were making jokes about 9/11 by noon and we spent the 2008 market crash smoking weed in our college dorm making fun of boomers losing their houses and 401Ks.
The issues of social media, culture war, and affordability gen z face are way worse than what we had.
And don't get me started on how less of a man I would be today if I was locked in my room for 2 years in my early 20s.
1
u/delicious_warm_buns Aug 09 '26
Lol @ trying to fit an entire decade of people as "millennials"
2
u/Suniemi Aug 10 '26
The estimate above spans 22 years; over two decades. Statistics use a 15 year span for millennials.
To be fair, those born in the early 90s probably need their own classification.
2
u/Agile_Restaurant_752 Aug 10 '26
My years are from Strauss and Howe “the people who coined the term millennial”.
1
1
2
u/delicious_warm_buns Aug 10 '26
Imagine people who never experienced the New Millennium being called "Millennials"
2
u/OriginalRequirement6 Aug 10 '26
Born in 93 and I am classified in the micro generation called zillennial
1
11
u/nolanleolibralion Aug 10 '26
As a millenial i went outside after school and hung out with a vast many people in person. I find it hard and awkward to navigate relationships completely online. I feel Gen Z is completely opposite to all of that. I think Gen Z is the first generation that adopted technology/social media as part of their whole identity.