Gen Z is changing the world we live in and not all for the good. The cascading effect is being felt not only on the internet but in every aspect of life. We are only just now seeing the storm front as Gen Z takes over the controls of how society is run. The seeds of change were planted by the millennial generation with the evolution of handphones.
Gen Z Time Frame
Generation A – Born 2013 – 2025 – Age 0 – 9
Generation Z – Born 1997 – 2012 – Age 10 – 25
Millennials – Born 1981 – 1996 – Age 26 – 41
Toxic Revolution
The toxic revolution all started in 2007 when the touch screen on the LG Prada and iPhone was introduced to the 10-year-old Gen Z population by the millennials. I know because my daughter ended up with one in her hands much to my protest. It was worse than a virus.
Everyone had to have one and once in the hand it became their life, a fashion statement, it replaced all forms of entertainment and communication methods. They sit in the classroom, on the bus, wherever and chat with their friends not more than a few feet away. They close out the real world and become immersed in a digital world where all the rules play out differently. The iPhone and other touch screen devices like it brought with it a totally new way that society interacts. With social media platforms and online shopping, we now live in a totally different world than it was just 15 years ago.
Digital Corruption
Much like previous generations that believed everything they read, it is no different for Gen Z. The day of honest news reporting is over. In the past news, reporters had an honor code to only report the truth and not mislead their readers. There was little competition within each city so it was only about being the first to make the report. News reporters of that time wrote unbiased presentations for the benefit of the public.
With the internet proliferation using mobile devices all that has changed. Now anyone can become a reporter. Anyone can write a story that is often read by millions. A good example of how digital news reporting has been corrupted is the 2012 elections and forward. The largest expense now for a political campaign is not hotels and travel, it is digital advertising across the web. Political parties now buy the stories published on major news outlets with their almost unlimited campaign budgets. The 2020 political campaigns exceeded $14 billion more than double what was spent in 2016.
Anyone with a right mind would have known that Joe Biden should never have been elected president, not saying Trump was a good choice. But the democratic party through mastery of online campaigning managed to convince the younger generation that Joe was the man. That is what I mean by Gen Z being toxic. They are living in a different world that ultimately affects real-world events.
Social Media Engagement, Toxicity of Isolation
Generation Z needs a social media detox. Social media has created a society in isolation. The previous generations grew up in a world where you interacted face to face with your friends. You played outside, and you sometimes got in fights but you learned what the real world was about. Gen Z grew up in a different world. Their world became digital. You can destroy friends on the phone with just a few words and a click. They never have a chance to involve themselves in real-world interactions.
The Next Stage of Gen Z
Gen Z outnumbers preceding generations in terms of population and influence. Gen Z has already established its dominance on college campuses, and these digital natives are now entering the job. The most typical charge leveled against Gen Z employees is that they are self-centered and incapable of bargaining or compromise, which leads to conflict. Other generations frequently find it difficult to understand, much alone work with them. So, what are the possibilities?
Social Psychology
Jonathan Haidt is a great social psychologist who was voted one of Prospect magazine’s top 50 thinkers. He co-wrote ‘The Coddling Of The American Mind,’ a book about Gen Z, with Greg Lukianoff.
According to Haidt, the new issues on campus stem from three concepts that have grown more intertwined throughout growing up in the digital age and education.
- If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you weaker.
- Do what your gut feeling tells you to do.
- Everyday living is a battle between evil and good people.
He points out how petty and contentious discussions that were formerly isolated to business message boards have now spread to the larger corporate culture, where the huge new difficulty is reconciling employees’ woke politics with the firm’s financial line.
Generation Z will be the world’s largest consumer group by the end of next year. In the United States and Europe, they will account for 40% of customers. They control what the family buys and how much is spent. With control, Gen Z has $1 trillion in indirect spending power in the United States alone. Simply said, businesses that fail to engage Gen Z effectively will become obsolete.
Some major thinkers believe that this generation has to be managed and filtered out of enterprises that rely on collaboration. Rather than being deceived into believing that we can ever change or manage them, older generations may just need to learn as much as possible about Gen Z. It’s feasible that Gen Z will learn to comprehend us in the process.
Digitally Connected at Birth
If the millennial generation were the digital pioneers, Gen Z are the first real digital natives, having grown up with technology at their fingertips and demanding seamless, on-demand access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Not Connected to Leaders of Society
Every generation has had the impression that their parents did not comprehend their reality. The current generation is correct. Parents didn’t have to watch the same TV shows, listen to the same music, or play the same (or any) video games as their children to grasp a bit about the worlds those programs, songs, and games were about in the previous century. However, surfing alone isn’t enough to comprehend Gen Z’s online worlds. It’s easy to see how Gen Zs feel their elders haven’t traveled their route before them, especially with parents who don’t even know what a meme is.
The Digital World of Gen Z
You’d have to firsthand experience the intensity of online friendship and romance with individuals you’ve never met to grasp their worlds. You’d also have to endure a form of stranger bullying, trolling, and shaming that older generations find difficult to grasp, as well as the feelings of shame brought on as a result of viewing other people’s near-perfect lives online.
Comprehension of the Digital World
Generation Z is the most commercialized generation in history. Their shorter attention span isn’t due to a lack of concentration but rather built-in learning from online interactions that allow them to identify relevant stuff faster and more accurately than any previous generation.
Growing up Fast
According to data, Generation Z is less likely than previous generations’ teenagers to have tried alcohol, obtained a driver’s license, had sex, or gone out on a regular basis without their parents.
Protesters
Generation Z is socially conscious thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and increased access to travel, entertainment, and ideas. Through their digital training of almost computer-like thinking, they have learned to stand up for diversity and justice, advocating for businesses that represent their values using their collective voice and purchasing power. They also vigorously challenge or boycott persons or products they disagree with.
Unprepared for Lifes Challenges
Generation Z is less capable of dealing with ambiguity, according to an Australian survey of 800 respondents. Gen Zs appear to process information in a binary manner, similar to the computer programs they grew up with. Rather than preparing them for life’s ambiguities, early digital exposure may have harmed a generation’s ability to manage uncertainty. Whether it’s video games, where you can learn patterns and restart if you make a mistake, Siri, which answers virtually any question, or Google Maps, which is designed to eliminate ambiguity, it’s possible that technology has harmed a generation’s ability to manage uncertainty.
Challenging World
They grew up in the midst of recessions, financial crises, wars, terror threats, school shootings, and the 24/7 scrutiny of technology and social media. The end consequence is a fearful generation, wary and hardened by economic and social upheaval. They prioritize personal resilience, financial prudence, and hard effort as a result of growing up in a period of global volatility. They put money down and plan for the future.
Changing The Internet
Another Gen Z major change is the way we use the Internet. With mobile devices now being the predominant way users interact with the internet, the internet itself had to be redesigned overnight. The entire internet went from being designed for desktop large screens to being designed specifically for mobile devices. There are two approaches to that.
- designed specifically for mobile phones.
- adapted to be viewed on various sizes of screens including mobile devices.
Mobile-first means developing a website or application specifically for a mobile phone. If this is to be viewed by desktops or pads you then scale up your design to fit various screens. Then you have mobile websites that are designed for mobile devices only. They are not viewable on a desktop. They have their own web browsers.
Responsive design means developing a website that is adaptable to all sizes of screens by design. This is the best approach to doing web design as it is viewable by all devices. By default, most applications that are used to develop a website such as WordPress have included the coding required to be responsive.
Summary
Gen Z is our children, we have to love them. They are not at fault alone for the way the world is changing, spare the rod, spoil the child. Every generation alive today has contributed in some part to the state the world is in and headed. In today’s environment, it is truly a survival game for those that can accept fast-paced change, adapt or become extinct.
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