Latest news with #GenZstare
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Why this ‘cringe' Gen Z quirk has TikTok divided
Debate over the so-called Gen Z stare is the latest conversation on TikTok to capture people's attention, but like so many viral social media moments, generations from millennials to boomers have a very different take on things. Here's what to know about the Gen Z stare and the debate surrounding it. What is the Gen Z stare? First off, you're probably wondering, what is this Gen Z stare? Simply put, it's a blank, unfocused stare into the void, often found in the faces of Gen Z (also called zoomers)—the generation born between 1997 and 2012, wedged in between millennials and Generation Alpha. It's most irritating for older people, namely millennials and their parents, who find it difficult to hold a conversation with members of Gen Z, instead being met with a blank, unfocused stare, often accompanied by silence or a one word answer. Why are people debating over the Gen Z stare? If the Gen Z stare seems like typical teenage behavior, you're not wrong; Gen Z certainly doesn't have a monopoly on being uncommunicative. Now, TikTokers are debating not only whether the Gen Z stare exists and is a thing, but also, what it all means. Is it rude, or a justifiable reaction to what is being said? In their defense, Gen Z social media users have said the stare is one of disbelief or frustration. It might be justified when, for example, in a customer service job, an older person can't figure out how to use the credit card machine, or just has trouble using basic technology—best summed up by TikToker _kayluhbb, whose post garnered 1.1 million likes and a number of replies, like this one: 'The gen Z stare is bc you're tired or repeating yourself.' There are plenty of other TikTok posts demonstrating the stare, including this one, in which the user acts out a scenario in which she has to repeatedly tell a customer that a class is fully booked. Fair enough. But older generations used to just call this type of frustration being impatient, or mocking someone. Just sayin'. However, not to be out-mocked, millennials are poking fun back at Gen Z, like in this post from a TikToker named Riley, who was met with a Gen Z stare as she attempts and fails to get her daughter golf lessons. Which is, at the very least, cringe.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The ‘Gen Z Stare' Is the New ‘Ok, Boomer' — Here's What You Need To Know
Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by the Gen Z stare. Actually, maybe don't raise your hand because it's kinda cringe to admit that you've been given the stare — as it's basically the same as getting called 'Ok, Boomer.' Let me back up. More from SheKnows JoJo Siwa's Vintage 'Bette Davis Eyes' Makeover Has People Asking If the 'Trad Wife' Pipeline Is Real A discourse on the 'Gen Z stare' is taking over TikTok, and we've broken down exactly what this body language means (and how parents can avoid receiving it from their teens!). Millennials had RBF (resting b—h face) and Gen Z has the 'stare,' which is basically a blank, awkward look that Gen Z gives to people who are being audacious, acting too much, or being downright ridiculous. According to Know Your Meme, the Gen Z stare is that uncomfortable blank look that teens will give out (it's the way Sydney Sweeney stared at anyone on the first season of The White Lotus). This expressionless stare is common in social situations or customer service situations, in which an older customer is being rude, obnoxious, or unruly. In one skit, a Gen Zer ordered a complicated coffee drink and complained when she couldn't get it. 'What y'all sound like before receiving the 'gen z stare,' they wrote, adding in the caption, 'the gen z stare comes out when there's nothing nice to say.' Another Gen Zer explained, 'the gen z stare is when ppl r being slow and u just stare at them bc of how dvmb they r.' Just look at the comments to see how older generations react to Gen Z coining this stare. Like one person, who wrote, 'I think it's hilarious that Gen Z thinks they're the first generation to ever deal with stupidity or difficult customers, and that's how they justify the fact that they just disassociate and mindlessly stare into space whenever they are confronted with a difficult for confusing situation, instead of immediately engaging in the situation like every other generation has ever done before them lol.' 'As a millennial I can tell you it's not this 😂 although this is super funny,' one person wrote. 'It's more the ones that literally don't know how to have a normal human interaction..' One person made a video showing Gen Zers doing the stare at their first jobs. 'We're talking about the stare when anyone tries to have just a normal human interaction with you, like in the flesh,' she said. 'And you guys freeze the f— up.' She said she's seen this when she tries to say hi to teen neighbors that walk by and 'they just look at you like they just saw a ghost and think, there's no way that interaction is real.' It can be frustrating if this happens to you, but there is a reason for it. Gen Z defended this deer-in-the-headlights look in the comments, writing, 'I think our generation is done with fake and genuinely hate people, we just wanna be left alone.' 'why do older people think they are owed my time and energy 😀 if I don't know U leave me alone 😭,' another person said. Someone else explained, 'I'm 29, and I get it. It's anxiety. The world is so demanding and degrading, they're avoiding shame, embarrassment, any awkward feelings, any feeling at all actually. It's scary, it never ends at hello, continued hellos become further conversations and familiarity. its hard to keep up the perception of 'normal' when you're perceived.' Honestly, we get it. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald Trump's presidency, the rise of misogyny and hate, the threat of war, and so much more happening in the country right now, it's no wonder Gen Z has social anxiety — and no time for small talk. It's a rebellion against creepy old men telling girls to 'smile' or entitled customers acting like they are always right. It's also a protective mechanism against stress and anxiety, and we can't blame Gen Z for that. Research has shown that teen anxiety doubled during the COVID lockdown, with 1 in 5 teens reporting elevated anxiety symptoms. In 2024, the National Survey of Children's Health found that 16.1 percent of teens ages 12-17 were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in 2023, which is a 61 percent increase since 2016. 'During and since the pandemic, there has absolutely been an increase in anxiety among teens,' Samantha Quigneaux, LMFT, the national director of family therapy services at Newport Healthcare, previously told SheKnows. 'Disruption of daily routines, social isolation and distancing, academic pressures and changes in methods of learning, uncertainty about the future' are all factors that Quigneaux said 'strongly contributed to heightened stress and anxiety levels' among teens. 'Those 'unprecedented times' also left our youth with disrupted critical social and emotional learning environments,' she explained. 'This has led to them having to navigate their teen years and young adulthood with [fewer] skills and emotional resources in our ever-changing world.' So can you really blame Gen Zers for staring into the void and not knowing how to react in social situations? There have been times I wish I was brave enough to just walk away when I didn't want to interact with strangers, so more power to them! If your teen is going through anxiety or stress, the best thing you can do is to be 'an emotionally safe space' to support them, according to Quigneaux. Check in with them, talk to them about ways to handle different situations, and talk to a therapist if you need help. The next time someone gives you the Gen Z stare, maybe re-evaluate your own actions (are you being rude to customer service? Intruding on someone's personal space? Making a teen feel uncomfortable for no good reason?), then show some empathy for a generation that grew up in these wild and uncertain times. It's OK to talk to your own teens about how to react in different social and professional situations, but save random Gen Zers, whom you don't know, from the same lectures. Finally, try embracing the freedom of the Gen Z stare and see what happens. You might be surprised by how freeing it is!Best of SheKnows These 'Old Money' Names Are a Quiet Signal of Wealth & Prestige At 19, I Broke Up With Social Media – & Chose Myself AP Scores Just Came Out — Here's What to Do If Your Teen's Upset About Theirs
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What is the Gen Z stare? TikTok zoomers and millennials are bickering over facial expressions
TikTok loves to argue — and the latest spat is over the so-called Gen Z stare. You might have a few questions like: 1) what's the Gen Z stare? and 2) why is TikTok fighting over this? and 3) who would spend their time fighting over this? Well, we'll get into all that. But first, the primary question. What is the Gen Z stare? Well, the full answer depends on who you ask. But the agreed upon facts are that it's a blank, middle-distance stare into the void often employed by Gen Z folks. (By the way, definitions vary, but, roughly speaking, Gen Z spans those born between 1997-2012.) From someone else's perspective, it's a young person staring into nowhere as you attempt to communicate with them. We cannot, however, go much further without getting into the bickering. What is the Gen Z stare trend on TikTok and why are people arguing about it? First things first, most people online are not arguing over the existence of the Gen Z stare, but rather how and why it's deployed. And, another disclaimer, no generation is a monolith and no opinion or behavior is fully shared among any large swath of humans. We are complicated, silly, hypocritical, intelligent creatures who are able to hold both multiple truths and misbeliefs at once. Have you ever seen Werner Herzog wax poetic about skateboarding? The human condition is unpredictable. Anyway, I'm generalizing, but Gen Z seems to think boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials — the cringe millennial especially — are the cause of Gen Z stare and the source of a misunderstanding about it. In this version of the Gen Z stare, the younger person is working a customer service job, and the stare is simply a reaction to a customer of an older generation doing something dumb or annoying. The Gen Z person then stares in disbelief or frustration. That's the thrust of the definition at online dictionary Know Your Meme, for instance. Here's a TikTok skit, for example, claiming the stare is for something like a boomer not understanding when to remove their credit card from a payment machine. Or, another example, where someone might not understanding a basic fact — that a class is fully booked — leads to the stare. Now, the arguing comes in because other folks have said that this definition of the Gen Z stare is incorrect. After all, plenty of people of all generations working customer service jobs have stared into the void when faced with a particularly incomprehensible customer. Instead, the argument goes, the Gen Z stare isn't necessarily about working a customer service job at all. It's more referencing folks' unwillingness or inability to participate in pleasantries or benign informational exchanges. This version of the Gen Z stare refers to any situation where a young person gets approached about something simple (i.e., a basic question or a friendly "hello") and stares straight ahead instead of responding. In fact, millennials and others working service jobs have said they've gotten the stare from Gen Z customers. Here's @theprincessandthepoppers breaking it down (gently) for zoomers as a service worker who's seen the stare when asking customers where they'd like to sit in a restaurant. And here's another skit addressing a similar scenario. So why the bickering? Well, because zoomers have pushed back on the idea they might have a slightly weird habit. Meanwhile, millennials have retorted that the generation responsible for mercilessly roasting millennial behavior should be able to acknowledge their own occasional cringe behavior. This @xiandivyne post pokes fun at Gen Z for getting defensive, basically saying they're claiming, "we're smart and you're stupid." Or here's even a zoomer talking about experiencing the stare at work. Now, to be fair to zoomers, a few weeks ago there were a few posts — and a write-up from the New York Post, naturally — complaining about the Gen Z "gaze" from service workers. That's seemingly related to the "stare" debate now, but it's certainly evolved. So... why is this a thing? Part of the reason this trend — or debate — has been embraced with such energy is the fact that it is slightly poking fun at Gen Z. Zoomers are young and, naturally, have a habit of roasting other generations — especially millennials because, to them, millennials are cringe. Millennial cringe compilations are literally a whole genre of video and, as a millennial, I can admit that's not without a good bit of merit. But some zoomers have seemingly not liked the fact that anyone would poke fun at their behavior, which has led to the Gen Z stare pushback and even more bickering online. I can't say for sure, but maybe the Gen Z stare is real. As some folks have floated online, small talk would be difficult for a generation that came of age during COVID isolation. Gen Z roasted millennials for the Millennial Pause — the habit of waiting a beat before talking during a recording — so maybe zoomers have the same issue, but IRL instead of on their phone. But the real reason this is a trend, or an argument, is because it's become fertile ground for zoomers to get defensive and (mostly) millennials to poke fun or gently point out something about Gen Z. In total, it seems to be a pretty laid back argument — nobody's actually getting pissed off — but it does seem to be growing in vigor lately. But as a millennial, I'd rather try to bridge the gap with zoomers with something we can all agree on: at least we're not boomers.
