I must preface this article by saying I fall smack dab in the middle of these two generations. I was born in ’97 and grew up with an older sibling, so I identify as a millennial despite being in the Gen Z range. When people refer to Gen Z as “iPad kids,” I cannot relate. When iPads came out, I was heading into high school. I watched my favorite movies on a VCR and grew up with a “family computer room.” So, when discussing the differences between these generations, keep in mind there is some overlap.
1. The Desire for a Driver’s License
A major and interesting difference between the two generations is that millennials couldn’t wait to get their driver’s licenses, while Gen Z kids couldn’t care less about driving. I recall getting my license at 16 and remember the immediate freedom it offered, and it’s crazy Gen Z people don’t want that.
2. Relationship With the Internet
While Gen Z has grown up with the internet, meaning they’ve had it their whole lives, millennials were growing right along with the internet. Millennials saw and used things like VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs, and other forms of tech that fell by the wayside as the internet slowly took over everything.
3. Weight Shaming
As a borderline millennial, I can confidently say that growing up in the 2000s with even a little bit of chubbiness was a curse, thanks to the likes of Paris Hilton and low-rise jeans. But Gen Z seems to embrace all body shapes more, which is so beautiful to see, and I envy their body confidence.
4. The Mindset Concerning Labels
I’m not talking about designer labels; I’m talking about how we as humans assign labels to one another, whether it’s about someone’s orientation, race, class, or anything else. While millennials tend to reject any sort of label, Gen Z seems to embrace hyper-specific labels as a way to express and understand themselves.
5. The Love of Video Games
While many millennials love video games, they grew up with them being slightly taboo. Like if you played video games, you were a nerd or shut-in. But Gen Z fully embraces video games, and it’s not seen as something lame or weird to be obsessed with. The success of sites like Twitch shows how accepted it is to be a gamer.
6. Casual Clothes at Work
While boomers think millennials are too casual at work, Gen Z takes it to another level. They’re bold enough to wear leggings and sweatshirts to the office, while millennials still shop for dress pants and blazers. Millennials love athleisure, but Gen Z truly lives in these comfy clothes with no shame.
7. Posing in Photos
I, as an honorary millennial, still smile when someone points a camera at me. However, it seems that Gen Z is a poutier generation who likes to strike a mysterious pose or make a sultry expression instead of saying cheese. I assume this comes from the prevalence of influencers on social media and their moody poses.
8. Remembering a Pre-9/11 World
I actually do not remember 9/11, so I fall into the Gen Z camp on this one. Anyone reading this is likely familiar with the concept of pre and post-9/11, with some remembering a time when you didn’t have to take your shoes off at the airport and people weren’t afraid of a random black backpack left in a public place.
9. The Sense of Immediacy
Gen Z is used to getting things immediately. They can order things from Amazon to be delivered a few hours later. They can text their friend and get a response in 0.5 seconds. But millennials are a bit more accustomed to waiting for things. Neither attitude is good or bad, but Gen Z definitely expects a faster-moving world.
10. Documenting Life
Gen Z is a generation obsessed with documenting their life, from pictures to videos to saved messages. They take photos of anything and everything, whether or not they post it somewhere. Millennials post, too, but not as much. I find it beautiful how Gen Z wants to document everything for posterity, and I don’t think they need to “put down their phones to enjoy the moment,” as some older generations say.
11. Freedom To Express Feelings
Gen Z also grew up in a space more accepting of emotions. Millennials were raised by boomers, who are not the best at accessing, processing, and expressing emotions. This issue trickled down to millennials to a degree, but Gen Z seems freer when it comes to saying how they feel without being embarrassed.
12. Dating Differences
Many Gen Z kids grew up in a world where Tinder and similar apps are the norm for dating. Apparently, many of the younger Gen Z folks aren’t even interested in dating. I can attest to this, as I have some friends who have sworn off dating, and not in a bitter way. Being alone is becoming more normalized.
13. Growing Up With Rose-Colored Glasses
This is one of the most interesting differences, in my opinion. Millennials grew up with an optimistic view until they saw 9/11, followed by the 2008 recession, and had their world shattered. Gen Z, on the other hand, grew up without rose-colored glasses and has always been more pessimistic and cynical.
14. Catering to the Male Gaze
While there had been waves of feminism before and during the millennial generation, female millennials still tended to cater toward the male gaze, especially with the early 2000s fashion. But Gen Z women are much less likely to dress for men, which is a lovely thing to witness.
15. Perception of Aging
I hate this one! Young people always have a skewed perception of older people and aging, but Gen Z seems to think life ends at 29, which is severely depressing. Millennials were a little more forgiving, and many would few 50-year-olds as being old, not 30-year-olds.
16. Opinions on the American Dream
Gen Z wholeheartedly thinks the concept of the American dream is garbage, and I couldn’t agree more. Millennials still held on to a scrap of that ideal growing up, but Gen Z quickly deconstructed this idea and never even pretended to accept it.
17. Embracing Vintage Fashion
Millennials have their own distinct fashion sense, but Gen Z seems to draw inspiration from all different eras, melding them together. Gen Z doesn’t have anything that seems exclusively their own, as they simply borrow styles and trends from past decades, and they’re ripping through the decades fast.
18. Understanding of Tech
Interestingly, it seems like millennials have a better understanding of technology. Gen Z grew up with tech, but millennials have more experience with the inner workings, like troubleshooting a computer or building an HTML code. I would think the opposite would be true, but tech has become too easy for Gen Z in some ways.
19. Attitudes Toward Jobs
Like boomers, millennials still sometimes fall for the sunk cost fallacy, meaning they stay at a job for a long time simply because they’ve been there a long time. On the other hand, Gen Z has no problem dumping a job and moving on to the next without any guilt or second thoughts.
20. Drug Culture
It seems Gen Z is much less interested in drugs and alcohol compared to previous generations. Gen Z doesn’t care about these hard substances. More and more young people are sober, opting for mocktails over cocktails and skipping on other party drugs.
21. Political Tactics
Millennials and Gen Z tend to fight for the same things, like environmental policies and gay marriage. However, millennials take a more positive approach, advocating for what they want, while Gen Z goes after the other side, trying to get people out of office who go against their beliefs.
22. Involved Parents
Gen Z’s parents are more likely to get involved in their child’s education. In an online discussion about this topic, some teachers and professors said their Gen Z students’ parents often emailed them about their child’s progress, while millennials had more hands-off parents.
23. Intimacy Levels
Apparently, Gen Z is far less intimate than millennials. A possible reason for this is how much they live online, making physical intimacy something more intimidating when it finally comes down to it. I don’t know if I agree, but many online commenters feel this is an accurate difference between the generations.
24. Global Interests
Millennials got a taste of global culture, but Gen Z embraces it. Things like K-pop and anime are huge among Gen Z, but reading manga as a millennial was still considered weird when I was a kid. Even their tastes in cuisine are more globalized than the generations that came before them.
Source: Reddit.
