More on the two gen zs
AI, social tracking, and a changing American Dream.
Back in November, I wrote a piece about the ‘The two Gen Zs.’ If you’re a long-time reader, you may remember my theory:
Our generation has been bifurcated into sub-groups: those who graduated high school and were young adults pre-Covid and those who grew up during Covid.
Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of interest in the theory.
A graphic I shared on X (below) sparked a big conversation, with some saying we should get rid of generational monikers altogether. I disagree.
Yes, there are of course truths about humanity that supersede generational fault lines, and it's true that the pandemic changed all of our worldviews, regardless of age. But there are also nuanced ways in which certain world events shape us, depending on how old we were when we experienced them.
In an era where technology is moving at the speed of light, when AI bots are outdated the second you finally learn how to use them (and where there are new models to play around with literally every day) – and taking into account that the pandemic totally changed everyday life for young people – those on the oldest cusp of Gen Z (like me, who was born in 1997), really have very little in common generationally with those who were born in 2012 (the year Pew says Gen Z ends).
Anyone trying to better resonate or communicate with today’s youngest eligible voters, audiences, and consumers needs to identify who their target demographic really is before making blanket statements or deploying campaigns designed “for Gen Z.”
What resonates with each of us depends on how we see the world, and Gen Z 1.0 and Gen Z 2.0 see the world differently. That makes it nearly impossible to design a campaign that resonates with all of Gen Z.
Since my first piece about this, I’ve had some time to reflect on other ways that Gen Z 1.0 and 2.0 differ. There are stark shifts when it comes to AI, social media habits, collective vision of the American Dream, and perspective on the cost and purpose of higher education.
AI
Perhaps the most obvious example is the proliferation of AI and how it’s used in the classroom, to streamline decision-making, or as someone to talk to. When Gen Z 1.0 was in high school, sites like SparkNotes or Google Translate could help students cut corners on homework assignments. But today’s teens can plug full prompts into Chat GPT or use the chatbot as a virtual tutor. Gen Z 2.0 is able to use AI at high stress points, to help navigate the college application and decision-making process, or to figure out the pathway that’s best for them post secondary school. All of this creates a unique, and broadly favorable opinion on how Gen Z 2.0 thinks about AI.
Social Media Habits
When it comes to social media, peer-to-peer social tracking is an everyday habit for today’s teens. And with the pervasive use of tools like Snap Maps, chance social interactions have all but disappeared for those on the youngest cusp of Gen Z 2.0. Those in Gen Z 1.0 now track our friends too. But we didn’t when we were in high school. Today’s teens have grown up in a culture of curation, without the possibility of organic, unplanned social interactions – the moments that build social skills, resilience, and confidence in navigating unpredictable situations.
The American Dream
At the outset of our young adult lives, many in Gen Z 1.0 bought into a version of the American Dream that at least resembled one our parents’ generation was able to achieve. While the Great Recession made us skeptical, Gen Z 1.0 was still generally hopeful that buying a home would eventually be possible. We also grew up with the belief that higher education was a worthwhile - and perhaps even required - step to securing a successful future. But today’s teens have been almost entirely robbed of that expectation. They are constantly peppered with stats about how hard it is to afford rent, let alone a home, amid inflation and an ongoing housing crisis with the sky-high cost of higher education. The cost benefit of higher education itself is being reevaluated, and teens in Gen Z 2.0 are looking at post-secondary pathways beyond the pursuit of a 4-year-college degree. In conversations with teens across the country, I hear less and less interest in Ivy League schools and a liberal arts education, and more desire for career-connected learning. That’s not to say the American Dream is dead; but it certainly looks different than it used to.
So What?
The age at which certain seismic world events happen shape how an individual sees the world. The less defined one’s worldview is, a.k.a. the younger they are, the more these high-impact events shape their worldview for the rest of their lives. For a generation that’s grown up amid multiple ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ events, the unique intensity of each of these events have created micro generations within Gen Z as a whole. And the more crazy and unprecedented the course of history gets, the more distinct these factions become.
In our Almanac era
My friends at Day One Agency just dropped an Almanac, and I got to learn about it at a dinner last week. Inside, you’ll find articles like “You Can’t Fact Check Feelings” and “A Critical Thought on Advertising,” mini features like “A Word on Words,” plus some more Almanac-y things like key dates, horoscopes, recommendations, and classifieds. It’s a refreshing alternative to the kind of frenetic “what you need to know now” vibe of most trend reports with longer form thinking, more evergreen topics, and an honest evaluation of the opportunities and challenges. Get your copy in print HERE, available digitally immediately upon ordering.
Noteworthy reads
On politics
A look inside Trump’s speech, through two Congress members’ cameras, Dylan Wells for The Washington Post
FYI, 42% of Gen Zers Said They’d End A Friendship Over Politics, Julia Hecht for Her Campus
Adulting
(and a belated find) The Many Faces of ‘NEETs’, Callie Holtermann for The New York Times
Across culture
Anora’s Mark Eydelshteyn Is Way More Romantic In Real Life, Emma Baty for Cosmopolitan
As the pace of--everything--accelerates, I wonder if we will have to refine our concept of generations. Instead of being 15-20 years, a generation may end up being more like 7-10 years.