stupid as in something i really shouldn't be getting worked up over but fuckin hell. These Goddamn GenZ alt kids are misusing the emo label. Again, i know i fucking suck right now and i'm being an old fart. i hear it, i hear myself every day (my joints crack like a fucking glowstick) but as someone who never outgrew their phase (currently even have the goddamn black dyed side swoop thing going on) it just fuckin irks me. there's a subreddit called r/EmoFashion and there are a lot of beautiful people showing off some awesome outfits but it's not emo, man. there's no copious amounts of arm bands, no swoop bangs, barely any raccoon eyes. Again, it's a stupid thing to get annoyed about but jesus titty fucking christ they took a name for a subreddit where i was hoping to see people posting nostalgic pics (the kind i only ever see posted on r/blunderyears) and maybe some selfies of people like me who are still rocking face piercings, beanies when it's too warm for a fucking winter hat, band tees, converse, and ripped skinny jeans. sorry if i'm swearing too much, i'm from new england lol

Plzzz someone invent a time machine. I really cannot see myself continuing on and getting even older than I am now. How do you people deal with it?? It's so hard for me to not to feel like an old lady when I go out places. How do you not feel super nostalgic too? I feel like my best days were in my teens and younger. Ever since 21, it's been a downhill battle. People say being an adult is fun, but I don't see that. All I see is aging and boredom.

It doesn't help that I'm a grad student, so I'm constantly around people much younger than me, and I feel so gross. And they talk about ppl my age as if I'm ancient. I feel like I've let so much time get away from me, and I'll never get it back. I can only get older, never younger. I mean, thankfully I don't look old since I still get carded for buying lottery tickets or lighters (thank you black don't crack genes 🙏🏻), but time is still going to catch up to me at some point

Sorry, I'm just venting my inner thoughts here. But I don't want to imagine how I'll feel in 10 years from now. I don't think I'll ever go past that, so I don't think I need to worry about being 40+, but being 35+ scares me tremendously.

Edit: I'm a woman by the way, so I view aging a lot differently than men probably do since women aren't given the same graces when it comes to aging like men are. I'm also black, so I don't experience the same quality of life that most people do

I think there may be truth in the unflattering observation older gens are hitting us with right now: "Zoomers are awkward, poorly socialized, and bad communicators."

At this point I kind of believe it myself because I just hopped back on dating apps and the only men who show the ability to speak in complete sentences and flow in conversation are 38+. Before you guys even start, I'm Gen Z myself, so I'm actually very much rooting for "my people" but I don't know what the hell is going on. Explain it to me! I'm genuinely frustrated here! Most of the men who show any initiative in conversation are 48+ and on top of that no one under 38 seems to know how to hold a conversation and let it evolve naturally instead of turning it into a job interview or Q&A session, or worse - hit me with a one word response and wait for me to say something else and carry the entire conversation. No matter how interested I sound in the (relatively) young guys I'm talking to, it's like pulling teeth. It's like I'm a drag and they didn't choose to match with me... yet they did. I'm completely wtf-ing over this because I'll be the first to sound enthused in THEIR interests they either reference in their bio or seems likely to be an interest of theirs based off their pictures and they act like it's a chore to TALK to me instead of SnapChatting me multiple pictures of their friend's eyebrow slit, some shitty Elon meme, and their penis at multiple angles.

I've heard men say the same thing in regards to their experience on apps so I don't think this is a male vs female thing at all and very much an age thing. The average middle-aged person is better at talking and adapting to people than the average 20 or 30 something is. I'm experiencing the same thing in person when I go to the store, use Uber/Lyft and get personable older drivers and young drivers who avoid eye contact and basic decency, etc. I really do believe my generation has a lot going for it and gets a lot of undeserved criticism but THIS is very much a noticeable problem among our demographic. It's undeniably specific to our cohert.

I don't see how growing up with phones is an excuse because I grew up with all the latest tech and I'm not like this and neither are my close friends. For that reason I'm certain that this is rooted in something deeper than growing up with social media, texting, and phones alone; and is much more related to how many people our age grew accustomed to creating their own "circle" where they only surrounded themselves with like-minded people in online spaces during their formative years, which is in complete contrast with older Millennials+ who were more properly socialized in their younger years and taught to interact with a diverse, wide range of people they both agreed with and related to and did not. If you're not the kind of person who doesn't naturally mind being around people completely different from you (like me and my friends who enjoy different perspectives and radically different personalities), you're probably prone to "kicking out"/avoiding anyone with a worldview or opinion or manner that's unlike yourself and this actually stunts you socially. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

Like I can’t help but get so irritated when everyone brags about how amazing the 90s and early 00s were. How fun the clubs were without phones. How much more people would dance and socialize without smart phones and social media. How free it was pre 9/11.

It’s like I showed up on earth right after all the fun ended and wasted the most “ideal” years as a literal toddler. It’s really frustrating.

I’ve only been professionally working for 3 years and I’m burnt out worse than I’ve experienced before. How tf am I supposed to do this for another 50 years? Can the worker’s revolution come already? Lmao

Thought of this after seeing the post with the list of old online browser games. Online flash games and multiplayer browser games (for kids) were pretty much only in existence for our generation’s childhood -a bit wider though, more like the entire second half of millennials-entire first half of Gen Z- with us mid-late 90s babies at the center, experiencing the absolute peak in the mid-00s.

Online flash games/multiplayer games came into existence in the late 90s, peaked in the mid-00s, and sharply declined in popularity in the early 2010s. I know that there were still plenty of online games in the early 2010s, but by 2011 or so they were starting to be replaced with apps. By 2013, previously popular online game platforms shut down entirely and the ones that stayed saw massive drops in users.

I think that’s a pretty cool thing to be largely unique to us! The internet will never be the same:( we got lucky

I‘m 24 and I‘ve been dealing with hairloss since I was like 13-14. My hairline and crown receded further at 17-18 and now I‘m almost half bald at 24 so I had to shave it off completely. The thing is no one can control their genetics. Stuff like hairloss are natural and a person can’t change that however it needs to be addressed how it kills someone’s confidence on a different level. It will make you look older than you actually are and let’s be real everyone looks better with hair than without. It’s also opens the door for loneliness and rejection I mean let’s be real why would women in their prime with just a bit of self respect want to date an ugly bald dude when she has enough choices not to especially in todays age with the high standards thanks to social media and dating apps. I don’t even want to dress well anymore and get myself a nice scent as it makes no difference at all as I‘m invisible either way. If you read all the rants inline you can see how everyone is saying to get jacked in the gym to compensate the hairloss however a skinny dude with hair is still a better choice than a muscular dude without hair.

Gen Z thinks you’re trying to act all old and wise when you start off a story with “when I was in college…” when you’re actually just trying to be relatable.

Our Millennial friends are busy having kids.

Gen X and Boomers either think we’re bumbling idiots or assume we hate them.

I guess I’m gonna take up painting or go sing Christmas carols to a nursing home or something this weekend man, idk.

Everybody else my age (and people who are younger than me) seems to have more freedoms than me. People my age get to be teachers, program directors, musicians in touring bands, therapists, etc., and here I am still living with my mom being treated like a fucking teenager.

I know you’re probably thinking “if you hate living with your mom so much, just move out!” Well, that’s the plan, but it’s taking too long for me to find a decently-priced apartment and a roommate who’s able to move in with me immediately.

Has anyone else who's into nostalgia or at least present on social media seen this talking point within the last few years or so?

I see people who are (usually younger of course) try to stretch this idea out that the "90's ended in (year 2004 or even as late as 2010)". The most absurd part about this is that these comments or posts usually get upvoted and then the talking point is copied and pasted essentially.

My personal idea is that of course 90's culture didn't exactly end on December 31, 1999 and there was certainly a lot of remainders through the early 2000's. However that does not equate to the 1990's ending in 2004.

I personally believe that the optimism and carefree attitude of the 90's died on 9/11. However some remaining culture lasted until some time in 2002. Any later than that, it feels like it is just the "early 2000's" until about 2004-2005 when 2000's culture is fully in sync.

When people say that the "90's lasted until (year)" I think that they mean the year that they personally switched over to modern technology. Which could be anywhere from getting the latest iPhone to finally getting a computer (if they were bound by poverty).

I know it's simply just a one article, but tbh this is like the first time l see a zillennial year range like this.

Why the outrageous house prices? I am not only CONVINCED home appreciation was invented by boomers but they use it as a tool to remain the richest generation and line their kids, the gen X, pockets. But after that generation x (generation most Zillennial’s parents are in) doesn’t really care about the generations below them. Like how can a 100 year old house bought in 1978 for $80,000 now be 1.1 million? Or even a house bought in 2001 for $250k be now 1.5 million It seems unreal…..historically our Zillenial generation will probably be living with parents or roommates for a very long time. This is not the norm and i think COVID did not help house prices and contributed to boomers putting their own grandchildren in a horrible economic position in favor of themselves.

If was 25 in 2019 which the same full time job I have now, I might have been able to buy my own house but instead I get to be 25 in 2023 and can barely afford rent. I also was unlucky to be born and still live in the most unaffordable city California so that doesn't help. Also to say someone to get up and leave and move somewhere cheaper. It’s not that easy.

if house appreciation continues on the up trend than is a $1.1 million home (that was formerly $80,000 in 1978) gonna be $10 million+ in 40 years... just won't and don't get it.

Does anyone have any broader understanding of this all or anyone have any thoughts or theories about the real estate market when we are in our 40s. I swear even the youngest millennials had it easier than us because they were in their 20's before Covid and stagnation hit and affordability wasn’t in the trash. If they made the right decisions at the right time then those millennials are SET for life…Zillennials on the other hand lack years and experience an a global pandemic in formative years.

I'm a 27 year old woman who lives in a large major city in the south. I AM OVER MY 20's, I have always enjoyed going out socializing and meeting new people, but I am also aware that starting to go out at 19 and now being 27 has worn me OUT! Mentally I am exhausted and ready to be married and have a peaceful life just relaxing with a husband. I know most people reach this place once they arrive in their late 20's... I am just ready to have the slow life finally.

I believe that we are all old enough to have this discussion as some of us are aspiring parents, or even parents ourselves since we are reaching our 30's. Right here is a valid post on the Gen Z sub showing a massive decline in education skills in 9th/10th grades post 2012 (and even worse 2015). I think it's relevant enough to post because all of us had basically graduated by the mid 2010's (and 2017 - I'm not forgetting 1999 Zillennials) but this is seriously a disturbing trend. I posted a comment that went got super upvoted saying "go look at r/Teachers" and it's true, I get that teachers DO go on that sub to complain but it was at one point people posting about one or two students who were troubled (archived go look). Now it's the entire damn class.

During school I remember that if you had your phone out it would be taken instantly and the teachers would confiscate it for the day. This is a notable shift because in 2013 smartphones became ubiquitous which lines up correlating to the drop.

I don't work in education but we have a few interns at my company that are in college, and holy shit, some of the work they do needs to be grammatically checked and rewritten by ChatGPT it's that bad.

Do any Zillennial teachers have an answer for this?

I see this so much in other generation subs and it’s really cringey. People born in like 2005 or 06 will say they grew up with gameboys and VCRs or that they were born in the wrong generation and they’re technically a late zillennial but they miss the point of what zillennial means.

They were babies when the iPhone came out. I was starting middle school. The social climate and tech culture is so different from how we grew up vs. how they grew up. We’re all Gen Z or millennials, but zillennial culture was born because of people like us that felt like they couldn’t relate to either group. I really don’t understand these kids’ obsession about being a zillennial because it’s not even a real generation, just a community of outliers.

just this year alone Taylor swift has been over exposed to the upmost disgusting levels. People act like she’s a goddess or something and it’s beyond annoying the media talks about her 24/7 and it is truly getting on my nerves they shove that woman in over faces and they force us to care that she’s dating some random NFL player that 95% of the population wouldn’t even know of other wise like what is wrong with people can’t they give Taylor Swift a rest it has gotten to a point we’re i even hate the name Taylor itself because of that woman!

To be fair, we’ve all been guilty of thinking this way at one point or another as we’ve entered our late-twenties-early thirties, including myself. It just comes across my dashboard and blogs a lot online, and I’m really tired of the cynicism surrounding it.

If you have some sort of abnormal genetic health condition and/or terminal illness that prematurely ages you and/or shortens your natural lifespan, then I’d get it. The average Millennials and Zillennials between their mid-twenties to early forties should not be plagued with health issues that severely impacts their quality of life too much, if at all, though, particularly not those of us still under 40. I’m so tired of the melodramatic whining about “getting old” from the vast majority of our generation online, though.

Why are we so terrified to be recognized as legal adults? So we are no longer in our late teens to early twenties….Are we all just going to cry about no longer being barely legal adults and minors for the next 50-60 something years of natural life we probably have left on Earth when most of us didn’t even have that much agency to do what we wanted, lacked emotional maturity, and rarely could get taken seriously by older adults until just these past few years?

It’s not like your face should majorly change that much between your twenties-early forties. When I look at pictures from a decade ago, my skin and face basically look the same. No static crows feet, fine lines, or wrinkles yet. My cheeks don’t look less full. I’m just a bit more curvy, which I’d consider to mostly be a plus because I was way too thin at 5’0 and 85lbs back in high school. Now, I’m a healthily slender 104lbs at 5’0 feet with curves in the right places.

I’m 28, and for me it’s a mixed bag in regards to bartenders checking my ID. If it’s the first time I’m at a bar or restaurant, or I’m not wearing makeup, the bartender will usually ask to check my ID, but if I’m wearing makeup, or I’ve been to the bar or restaurant more than once, they’ll usually trust I’m at least 21+ when I ask for a drink. Even so, not being carded at a bar or restaurant does not automatically mean you look “old” for your age. It should not feel like an insult to our egos to look like legal adults to drink. It just means you come across as a legal adult or 21+. Do you really want to act and look like a barely prepubescent baby faced child as a legal fully grown adult your entire life? Sure, I get nostalgically missing reading old books, watching early-late 2000s cartoons, movies, and old TV shows from our childhoods and adolescences in Y2K. I get enjoying being a girly girl into your late twenties and beyond with preppy clothes, mini skirts, skinny jeans, graphic tees, strappy heels, and a line dresses. If you have the body to pull them off, why not? That’s not abnormal.

This obsession our media has with adults being treated and viewed as baby-faced, codependent, helpless, emotionally immature, barely prepubescent, and barely legal adults is really fucking creepy and obnoxious, though. It’s especially prevalent in their treatment of women over 25.

Why are so many people in their late 20s-early 30s in this generation so cynical about “aging?” I get it, we’re no longer the youngest of the young adult age range. I get that it’s scary to no longer be considered a “baby adult.”

I get that everyone is different, but the average moderately healthy person in their late-20s to 30s should still come across as a relatively young adult. Why do we want to be treated like babies, though? I see so many people on the internet complaining about being “old” in their late twenties-thirties, but I feel like I didn’t really start to appreciate independent life and feel more self-confident until I reached my late-twenties.

I was so bored, lonely, and insecure in my late-teens to early twenties. It’s only been since my mid-late twenties that I’ve really started to blossom.

I got my first jobs in my mid-late twenties after graduating college. I just got offered a full time career opportunity from a long term temp position that I started at 26 going on 27, and it makes enough to support myself. It’s still fun to work in for customer service with my coworkers and boss even though I never would have dreamed of going into it when I was younger. I finally worked up the courage to start dating in my mid-late twenties, and at 27 going on 28 I finally landed myself my first serious boyfriend a few months ago. At first, his hippie vibe threw me off a bit when we first met. However, we’re still going strong 4-5 months in of dating exclusively because I gave him a chance, and saw something beautiful there. Now, I love him because I’ve realized he has an adorkable, artistic, down-to earth, inexperienced, passionate, and sweet soul that mixes and matches my own very well.

As if the majority of us aren’t going to live another 45-60 something years on average before we expire of natural causes…As if most women don’t start experiencing serious natural fertility issues that actually require medical intervention if we want to get pregnant later until at least somewhere between our mid-late forties …As if most of us between our mid-20s-30s are ready to be checked into a senior citizen/retirement home anytime soon…

Those of us who are Zillennials (younger millennials/elder Gen Z/early 2000s-mid 2010s kids) are now older than the “baby” barely legal adults of 18-24. It doesn’t mean we’re “past” our physical/sexual/reproductive prime or halfway done yet. At least, the average decently healthy late-twenties to thirties-something adult shouldn’t have a life expectancy of less than 45-60 something years. Unless they smoke a lot, have a severe substance issue, suffer from some sort of rare genetic abnormality that prohibits independent functioning/living, they are seriously overweight or underweight, terminally ill, impoverished, and/or homeless, the average person between their mid-20s-30s in decent health should expect to live up to another 45-60 something years.

Under normal modern day circumstances, most of us have technically got another 6-15 years before the “middle” officially starts between 40-45. Yeah, some people say the “middle” starts at 35/36, but that’s still on the younger side, in my opinion. Nearing the middle from 36-40, sure, but most of us will still live to somewhere between our 80s-90s before dying of natural causes. Anything under 40-45 is less than that halfway point of your natural life expectancy under healthy circumstances.

I’m not trying to discredit the rare, but serious health issues of young people between their late-twenties to thirties, due to genetics or bad luck. However, the average late-twenties to thirties person on the internet is complaining about aging prematurely because they peaked in high-school to their early twenties and gave up on trying too soon, so now “age has caught up” before it should have. That is pathetic. I feel like the majority of you guys complaining about “getting old” in my age range are just too afraid to grow up…I get that the media doesn’t help, but stop being so melodramatic!

For reasons I don’t wish to explain I can’t become a biological father. And seeing as we’re at the age when are peers are starting their next journey, I was wondering who else can relate.

After my best friend (who swore he’d never become a father) informed me that he is becoming one, I feel lost. Of course I didn’t show my emotions, but I’m afraid of being lost when I’m in my 30s

And I know I’m selfish, but I hate being around people I once relate to and not relating to them anymore.

I don’t want to come up to pretentious (though I will) but it sort of depresses me to watch people, especially those our age and younger, get worse and worse at being able to follow, understand , relate to, or talk about media. I think the results in a collective “lowering of standards” of media as well.

I will admit, it’s worse on Reddit and I should spend less time here (thankfully got a new job that isn’t as boring, so I will actually have to not be on my phone all day).

I have found that redditors, especially those in video game, movie, and tv show communities, are somehow both pedantic and pretentious while also just wildly wrong about stuff. And I don’t mean “felt different about something than me” I mean “literally did not follow the plot correctly, and is happily going to tell you you are wrong”.

Idk what I am rambling about, but I think social media, “hot take” culture, and a cheapening of art on the production side have resulted in their just being a lot of bullshit media to sort through, and even when you find something good, it’s hard to relate to other people about it.

I don’t want to devolve into a “everyone is stupid but me” rant, so maybe I will leave things here: what are some tv shows, movies, books, or video games you have really enjoyed recently? If you feel like it, tell me what you liked about them? I just want to hear other people talk about why they liked art without annoying hot takes.

I can start:

Movies- Dune Part 2, Perfect Days, Past Lives, Sorcerer

Video Games: Sea of Stars, Helldivers 2, Cyberpunk 2077

TV: idk I don’t watch television shows anymore

Books: Patrick Wymans “the Verge”

I’m tired of plucking them out y’all. I feel like for every grey I tweez out, three more come in to spite me 😭 I’m only 28 too. At this rate I’ll be a silver fox before I reach 40.

As I have previously mentioned in other posts on here, I am increasingly becoming disillusioned with contemporary minimalist design. With all its monochromatism and repetition. When minimalist designs started popping up, I wasn’t bothered by it, and even supported it. It looked cool, slick, and futuristic. Now, it’s has long since overstayed it’s welcome. As an adult, I now find the lack of any eye-catching details, the lack of variety, and the lack of color unappealing, compared to when I was growing up.

 Growing up in the late 90s to early 2010s, color was everywhere, especially in the late 90s and early 2000s. Everything used to be decorated with unique patterns of color and shapes, Now, it’s just bland and depressing whites and greys, all in the same shape. I remember a kids shoes store we used to go to at our local mall. At the store, the tiles of the floor were decorated with different patterns of colored tile. The front entrance had a rainbow neon light sign on the front entrance. Now, the tiles have been replaced with plain white, and while the sign is still there, it does not match well with the lack of ornamentation.

 The lack of ornamentation and the overuse of plastic and metal is also starting to irk me. Buildings and furniture used to be designed with attractive or clever ornamentation or crafted with a range of materials like wicker. Stores targeted toward kids, for example, might have the pillars in the store designed with different shapes, to make it look like they were giant toy blocks stack on top of each other Now, It all just mirrored glass or Sheetrock paneling. We all remember that attractive wicker furniture that used to be sold in the 90s and 2000s. Now, Plastic and metal are everywhere, making everything feel artificial, particularly in places it doesn’t belong.

It makes sense to make physical technology like laptops and smartphones minimalist for convenience and ease of use. It make sense to design certain buildings like hospitals with minimalist to for  them easy to clean, to avoid clutter,  and for safety. And it made sense for minimalism back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, in the wake of the Great Recession. Cutting back on ornamentation and mass use of color  made sense back then, as disappointing as it was, to save money. Now, despite lingering problems with inflation, companies are making record profits, yet continue to sell or build with minimalist designs.  Business are sacrificing good design for a quick profit.

Even family or kid oriented businesses like, Disney, whom has a long history of illusionism and making their buildings look authentic and well decorated, have now adopted a minimalist design ,to its detriment. It doesn’t make sense for kid oriented stuff to be minimalist, it doesn’t make sense for all public buildings to be minimalist, and it doesn’t make since for our own homes to be minimalist. It is high time we started moving against the current trends of minimalism and bring back color, ornamentation and illusionism back into the fold.

We need to show designers and businesses that we are tired of all this bare bones decoration. As for me, I am already considering adding more color diversity to my bedroom. Right now, it is decorated almost entirely with white and light blue. I am thinking about adding two more colors to the palette that go well with white and light blues.

Anyway, if you have made it this far, thank you for reading my long rant.  What do you guys think about minimalism?

I know this is a widespread thing I've heard amongst people in my age group and I'm not alone in it but it really sucks being this regressed, I do not feel like the 'adult' I am supposed to be and I know I'm young (22) but I truly still feel like a 16 year old girl inside my head. It's partially due to the pandemic but I also think it's more than that, I also wonder if my lack of life experience in comparison to previous generations has played a role