Just ‘Zillennial’ Things
Not sure if you’re a Millennial or part of Gen Z? Maybe you’re a Zillennial… Claire Ince explores the group on the cusp of two generations.
For some very strange and indescribably weird reason, society seems to have a fascination with the idea of generations.
From Baby Boomers to Millennials, every generational name holds an unprecedented reputation that becomes the source material for meme after meme after meme.
But it’s not just that- we also love to identify ourselves with these labels.
Baby boomers love to talk about… fuel prices? and complain about how lazy and entitled the youngins’ are.
Millennials love to claim ownership of things like ‘Friends’ and collectively bag out baby boomers and the entirety of Gen Z.
And Gen Z is all about Tiktok, Hydro flasks, scrunchies, and saving the planet (which totally isn’t a bad thing).
But what happens when you don’t belong to a single generation?
Being that I was born in 1998, I’ve found myself to be part of this weird transitional generation, who don’t really fit the description of millennials or gen Z.
This intergeneration (formally known as ‘cuspers’ or ‘zillennials’) is constantly disregarded by the tight-knit millennial community as its members are slightly too young to relate to the generation’s identifying traits.
On the flipside, zillennials also feel misrepresented by the Gen Z community, and categorically feel too ‘uncool’ to participate in their culture.
And even though we know it doesn’t really matter, we want nothing more than a solid answer. So, instead of disregarding the validity of generations, we’ve simply created our own.
Here are some of the greatest tweets about the ‘Zillennial” culture.
1. Not being ‘down with the kids’ anymore.
the difference between gen z and millennial isn’t determined by a cutoff year. it is determined by how long it takes you to download the tiktok app and anyone that doesn’t have it by now is a millennial
sorry you had to find out this way
— aria-camille (@ariacamillle) September 21, 2019
2. Having to be told what’s cool and what’s not.
TikTok knows I’m a millennial in a world increasingly dominated by Gen Z, and has decided to cut the ambiguity and just tell me I should care about a thing. pic.twitter.com/UE85YGC9Xl
— Jacob (@Richter_Rhetor) September 22, 2019
3. “Hey, do you remember when Squidward…”
Peak millennial/gen z cusper culture is every other conversation starting “this is like that one episode of spongebob when“
— Yeudith (@yudi_patootie) May 6, 2019
4. ‘Special features’ being peak entertainment.
DVD special feature games are definitely a very millennial/gen z cusper type thing https://t.co/EMDc2iBPHJ
— Kate Beckman (@Kate_Beckman) February 9, 2019
5. “Party rock is in the hooooouse toniiiiiiight!”
if you were born before 1996 you’re a millennial
if you were born after 2005, you’re gen z
if you were born in between those two years you are an honorary member of LMFAO
— alexfromrematch (@alexfromrematch) September 13, 2019
6. Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” and Jason Derulo’s “Ridin’ Solo” were your preteen anthems.
I know I'm a millennial and not gen z because no matter how popular TikTok gets, every time I see the word "TikTok" written out, I assume that we're talking about Ke$ha
— Liza Brusman (@lizardwithaz) September 9, 2019
7. Mourning the loss of your millennial status (also, getting your news from memes).
just found out from a meme that i’m technically ‘gen z’ after years of thinking i was a millennial sad & confused please respect my privacy during this time…..
— stolen person. (@queersocialism) August 27, 2019
8. I am confusion.
ok if i was born in 1999 am i a millennial or am i gen z because i’m still in college and cannot afford to buy a house but i also don’t get how tiktok works
— joslin (@joslinkeim) August 15, 2019
9. HSM for the win.
Forget Gen X vs. Millennial vs. Gen Z
Tell me whether you're of the Cheetah Girls generation, HSM generation, or the Descendants generation pic.twitter.com/pMAUCZ5zlo
— anna is harmless fun (@hapasareasian) September 16, 2019
10. This true test.
idc what year you were born, the real millennial/gen z divide is whether you know vines or tiktoks
— madison (@madilcarter) August 8, 2019
Feature Image: Annie Spratt via Unsplash, no changes made
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