Every generation has its own trends.
As a millennial, I’ll be the first to admit we had our fair share of silly or stupid trends.
Remember the cinnamon challenge? Or all the Harlem Shake videos? We were not the brightest crayons in the box.
Girls wore only skinny jeans, boys adopted Justin Beiber’s side-swept haircut, and we spent more time on YouTube than any other social media site.
Those who belong to Generation Z think we were pretty stupid too, but everyone else thinks Gen Z have their fair share of weird trends. Tide pods, anyone?
If we turn to Reddit, those Gen Z trends can be easily identified.
Curious to find out more, Redditor Distinct_Bee_4580 asked:
“What’s a trend among Gen Zs you find weird?”
Pictorial Evidence
"Documenting themselves committing crimes then posting them to social media."
– Shaveyourbread
"was at a (car) accident reconstruction engineering office this summer and a 20 ish yo guy drove of the edge of the road and died and his snap story from the night was a video of his speedometer at 100+ in the dark in the rain and he was bragging that he was going fast (and also drunk)"
– Puzzled_Passenger_34
Look How Stupid I Am!
"They film EVERYTHING"
– AnOkFella
"I went out drinking with a mixed age group. We got silly drunk, and had a good time. A few months later, one of the younger girls posted a "hilarous" video of me blackout drunk and acting stupid. Nothing illegal, just embarrassing. It was horrifying. Like, why would you video someone that vulnerable, and then put it out in public? Like, what other videos did they take? She took it down, but didn't understand at all why I was so angry at her - because "she posted dumber sh*t of herself all the time!""
"Never again. I'll just stick with my older friends who know not to film anyone doing stupid sh*t."
– Lexi_Banner
"this. gen z getting themselves fired from work over tiktoks is such a common occurrence."
– sane_fear
Be Sensitive
"Gen Z here. Romanticization of mental illness or crime."
– Justatroubledgirl
"fr it’s embarrassing because they treat it like it’s a competition or something quirky like… no it’s not? stop making your mental illnesses your only personality traits"
– yeehee087
Evolution Of Hair
"Brocoli haircut. Will definitely age like milk"
– ehjtarretetoutdsuite
"Ahh the “Meet me at mcdonald's haircut”, no seriously that’s it name, you can google it"
– ElOliLoco
Like e.e. cummings
"Finally I can ask this. Why do a large amount of gen Z's not use capital letters? Is capitalization going the way of cursive writing?"
– Themanwhofarts
"It's probably because of texting. Over time, texting with capitalized letters became seen as too formal, and people began to intentionally remove capitalization to seem more laid-back and informal."
– SignificanceBulky162
"Millennial here and a lot of people my age used to not use capital letters either in our early twenties. Might be regional, might just be a general "trying hard to appear chill" kind of thing"
– LatelyTea
Use A Dictionary
"Saying gaslighting every f*cking day with no comprehension of the word."
– joshjamon
"I know what it means stop gaslighting me"
– Technical_Watch2137
Here's My Life Story
"Oversharing personal struggles, overdramatizing common anxieties/struggles, and flaunting "going to therapy" to the point where it's clearly a means of seeking attention and staying relevant."
"On a related note, since I see it on dating apps all the time, when every other bio puts "going to therapy" as a green flag. Like yeah, that should be normalized, but mental health practices are turning into a new form of virtue signaling."
– WrongSperm95
Not Funny
"Bothering people just trying to go about their day in the name of "pranking.""
"I've seen one that regularly goes into a store like Home Depot and pretends to be an employee and then films the real employees who seem to be going a little overboard in their reactions; but I'm just like this poor guy is just trying to get through his workday without this bullsh*t."
"I just saw a man was getting charges pressed against him for attacking a kid that was "pretending to steal his luggage as a prank." The 'prankee' grabbed the kid by the hair and probably did go a little overboard but the number of comments I saw defending the kid amazed me. JUST LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE!!"
– steelbydesign
Feel The Beat
"Stupid Tik tok dances"
– greenok12
"At least they're getting some exercise"
– ImNotTheBlitz
Times Change
"Trying to “cancel” singers/rappers/actors for things they said 30 years ago when social norms were different"
– WhosMurphyJenkinss
"Gen z is the most pretentious moralistic and puritanical gen since maybe the lost gen"
– muldervinscully
The Capacity To Care
"For me it’s the insinuation that I’m supposed to care about every problem/issue in the world. It’s not realistic- we as humans don’t have the emotional bandwidth to care or even keep track of all the issues in todays world. Social media is constantly bombarding these kids with the most recent catastrophe and everyone is expected to be an activist for it until the news cycle breaks. Pick an issue you’re passionate about and do something, but letting every atrocity in the world affect your emotional state is counter-productive and makes you feel like the boot is against your neck at all times"
"My opinion is that this contributes to the rise of mental health issues like depression-"
– br0therbert
Let People Be Who They Are
"Queer discourse. Not in general, but the way I see now. People fighting each other over Pronouns, attacking each other because they don't believe someone else should go by the label they use."
"It feels like the LGBTQ community is running around in circles, nibbling at its tail and not realising its bleeding to death."
– confused-as-f-boi
Cause And Effect
"For me it's claiming everything as abuse..."
"*got punished for doing or not doing something they were told/asked to do or not do a thousand times... gets punished... that's abuse... wtf... actions and inaction have consequences... Don't want the consequence then don't do or do what I asked/ told you to do or not do... It was that simple when I was growing up..."
– SecretaryKey3923
The Internet Can't Help You
"As a gen-z myself, I'm also confused on why everything has to be posted on social media:"
""OMG I'm gonna die 😭😭😭""
""He made it into my house 😭😒🥺🥺""
""Idk what I should do now 😔😔😟😭😓""
"So you decided to post about it on social media rather then calling the police or ANYONE ELSE FOR HELP?"
– DaGamingTurtleB
Invited In
"Or the other way around"
""Look what a fun life I have, I'm here on the mountains with my entire family" nobody is home for 2 weeks pls come rob me"
– QBekka
"They are really the first generation with the capability to do that easily. They’re like the oldest siblings who makes all the mistakes so the younger ones can learn from it. I salute their sacrifice."
– littlegreenb18
Fascinating…or questionable.
Do you have any trends to add? Let us know in the comments below!
People Explain Which Name Brands They Refuse To Replace With Generic
Everybody loves to save pennies.
In this time of financial worry saving money is a must.
One of the ways we've always saved is by buying generic.
Sometimes the name doesn't always matter.
But there are instances when those extra pennies need to be spent.
Sometimes name equals better quality.
Redditor AndrewIsMyDog wanted to discuss what things they will always spend a little extra on just because of the name.
"What 's a name brand item you refuse to replace with generic?"
I do mostly generic, except when it comes to vodka. Quality matters when it comes cosmos friends.
Vest of...
cerkl team GIF by CerklGiphy"Post-It Notes And practically anything else made by 3M."
Fun-Director-4092
"3M is S tier. Basically every product they have is the best version of that product."
Timoth_e
Swing
"Swingline stapler. If they took my Swingline, it'd be the last straw."
siliconsmiley
"I inherited my grandpa's Swingline when he passed away. He had his own business and had the darn thing for years prior. He's been gone for 23 years and that stapler ain't never gonna quit."
crissyjo618
"I just looked over at my favorite stapler at work and saw its a Swingline. The thing was like $30 but it takes a beating and has never jammed."
MissAcedia
Store Brand
"Sharpie."
shoobsworth
"Cheaper doesn't always cost less. Story below..."
"I worked at a Lab and for a little while they had a program where if you made an improvement that saved the company money you got a reward for a portion of the savings (10%). It was meant for process improvement, increased efficiency, etc. but the person who worked in purchasing got one for saving money on office supplies by switching to cheaper 'store brand' supplies. I think they got about $20,000 for it."
"Anyway I went from having a Sharpie last 1 to 2 months of writing on glassware, slides, petri dishes, etc. to going thorough a pack of knock off sharpies a week. Any savings in per unit cost were wiped out, and then some, by increased consumption of supplies. They switched back to the previous supplies within a couple months."
"I'm guessing someone had some serious explaining to do to the senior executives once they found out they gave someone $20k for an idea that cost them money."
Winter_Principle4844
God, it's so good...
"Also Crayola crayons, markers, color pencils. I’m all for the store private label options in other areas. However the off brand art products are crumbly and produce mediocre results."
Leather-Mixture-2620
"I buy Crayola not only for their overall quality, performance, and durability, but also and most importantly I buy them for their iconic scent. God, it's so good. All core regions of my brain light up when I take that first hit off a fresh 64 pack."
CoolClementine
"Crayola ultra wash is the only brand of marker and crayon allowed in my house because it is really easy to get off of most surfaces."
busybee223
Be Clean
Season 5 Episode 10 GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"Dawn dish soap. It's just good, and really not that more expensive."
Ok-disaster2022
"I've used blue Dawn to take old oil stains out of concrete."
RossLH
As you get older, you don't realize how important dish soap is.
Top of the Line
Agt GIF by America's Got TalentGiphy"This is pretty specific but Scotch Commercial-grade Packing Tape. The Uline tape is freaking terrible."
IntoTheMystic1
Flavors
"Nilla Wafers. The off-brand versions tend to be flavored differently and they leave a funny aftertaste."
TD5023
"Slayton Bakery Vanilla Wafers are so much better! H‑E‑B has them in Texas. They make Nillas taste like the crappy store brands."
ilikeme1
"Swap a graham cracker crust with a nilla wafer crust. Especially with something like lemon cheesecake. Way better. In both taste and texture."
LB4184
The '09
"409 cleaner. Nothing else works the same."
Neon_Camouflage
"Same. But I've been noticing that Clorox is downplaying 409 in favor of Clorox brand, the amount of shelf space of 409 is shrinking."
jorsiem
"They also keep changing the freaking label or adding all these different product lines... 409 Plus! 409 Bathroom! No, I just want the regular 409 cleaner."
prestigious_delay_7
Lead Perfection
"Ticonderoga pencils. All the other ones don't hold up to intense note-jotting."
FloridaFlamingoGirl
"The Dixon Ticonderoga set the bar for pencils. But, friend, you haven’t lived until you’ve taken a spin on a Papermate Mirado Black Warrior. https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-Mirado-Warrior-Pencils/dp/B00006IEES"
Strict_Bit260
"You freaking pedestrians aren’t ready for the Palomino Blackwing. 'The Cadillac of pencils.' - Wirecutter https://blackwing602.com/products/blackwing-602-set-of-12"
GloryGoal
Wrapped
Wrap Moving GIF by 3 Men MoversGiphy"Plastic wrap. It's worth it to buy the name brand because the box doesn't fall apart."
clocks212
"Have you heard about our Lord and Savior, Kirkland? I've been using my same roll for years."
flibbidygibbit
Generic is a good deal. But sometimes you need an upgrade.
What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comment below.
People Explain Which Things Are Acceptable In 2022 That Weren't When They Were Growing Up
Societal norms gradually change over time, and it's not until a generation looks back and notices just how far they've come.
One of the major differences people from earlier generations find fascinating is how things were much more rigid compared to current times.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor FCFSDeals asked:
"What’s now weirdly acceptable in 2022 that was not acceptable growing up in your generation?"
Prior to cellphones, calling protocol was vastly different once upon a time.
Answering The Call
"Not answering the phone. When we only had landline phones (yes long time ago), there was no ringing phone that went unanswered. Now we screen or just plain ignore calls until we are good and ready to deal with it."
– ekimlive
Respectful Hours
"Also, no one expected to reach you at any time, 24-7. I miss those days."
– techretary
Proper Etiquette
"But there was phone etiquette: no solicitation calls; no polls; and nobody called after 9PM unless someone was in jail or the hospital."
– Positive-Source8205
Appearance guidelines seemed to have shifted between generations.
Body Art
"People have already said tattoos, but body piercings also exploded in popularity. It used to be girls could get their ears pierced, and that was it. When I was in high school, some guys started doing the one earring look and tongue, nose and bellybutton piercings were starting to become popular."
– viderfenrisbane
Comfort Is Priority
"Wearing sneakers to work at a fortune 100 company."
"At the beginning of my career it was suit and tie, then business casual and now I wear stan smiths, jeans and an untucked polo in the most senior position of my working life."
– Big_Requirement_3540
Casual Political
"I worked for the US Senate in 2009 (in a totally non-political job for the Senate Curator). I wore clothes from Hot Topic on the Senate floor. Some days I wore old jeans with holes in the knees if I knew I'd be climbing ladders to clean artworks. One of the women on the team had a full chest tattoo and made zero effort to cover it up because no one cared. The day I met Senator Inouye to discuss what paintings he wanted in his office, I had on trainers."
– ballerina22
Benefits Of Letting The Hair Down
"They realized that they can't erode wages and expect us to look like we're on Mad Men at the same time. Allowing long haired freaky people has made them sh*tloads of money over the years."
– throwawayqw123456
Hair Coloring & Tattoos
"Any type of hair coloring would result in serious trouble at school. I also remember tatoos being frown upon as being found mostly on people that got out of prison."
– no_cause_munchkin
The advent of the internet was a huge game changer, and rules were made up as we went along.
The Bandwidth Situation
"2 people using the internet at the same time."
– ProfessorPanga
Phones In The Classroom
"Middle/high school students being allowed to have their cell phones in class. Being caught with our cell phone when I was a high schooler was an automatic detention etc."
– TrumpHairedHarambe
Consequences Of Having A Phone On Campus
"I graduated in the late 90's, and the president of my class got expelled one week before graduation for having a phone on campus. It was in his car, and this was after hours. It rang and a teacher heard it. They made an example out of him. He lost his admission to West Point."
"Now my 8th grader finds it super unjust that her science teacher makes all the kids put their phones in a box at the front of the room during tests, and feels super justified in never ever giving up her airpods to that sort of thing."
"Different world."
– electrolytesaregood
When I was a cast member at Disneyland in the early 2000s, we had to abide by the strict, clean-cut appearance guidelines required of all cast members–with different rules applying to each respective gender.
Men, for example, were not allowed to wear jewelry or have visible tattoos. We also had to maintain the length of our hair to not exceed past a certain length, and sporting facial hair was a major no-no.
Now, the "Disney Look" has changed, allowing all cast members to reflect their personalities through “gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewelry, nail styles and costume choices; and allowing appropriate visible tattoos," according to the Disney Parks Blog.
To the Mouse, I tip my hat for these awesome changes.
You know what would be great?
If "family influencers" didn't exist. I don't know what people get out of watching people do their shopping and raise their kids, but it sounds boring as hell. Oh, and did I mention that the children have pretty much no privacy from the moment they're born? Yeah... that'll be a treat for them to comprehend when they're older.
But there are a host of other things out there that are just as annoying.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor RAZOR314 asked the online community:
"What modern trend do you absolutely hate?"
"News agencies writing articles..."
"News agencies writing articles about "all these people are saying X" when it's just a few random people on Twitter, and generally the trend of amplifying fringe theories, beliefs, conspiracies, etc..."
DaveInDigital
I think one of the unfortunate developments in the modern media landscape is the obsession with Twitter.
I think it really exacerbates some current issues of representation in the media.
"I hate these videos..."
"I hate those videos with a split screen and something interesting is happening on one half, while an 'influencer' is literally just watching on the other half."
"I do not give a single f*ck about the influencer. I just want to see the thing on the other side. You know, the thing worth reacting to."
Penguigo
So true.
They can't create worthwhile content so they "react" to the worthwhile content.
"People recording..."
"People recording when they should be helping."
Sometimes recording does help — look at all the instances of police brutality that have made national headlines — but it's not when people are recording for likes, views, clout etc...
"The abundance..."
"The abundance of unskippable ads on videos. I 100% guarantee I will actively try to not buy your product if you're interrupting what little precious time I have to watch something."
Goatiac
Yes, it makes me so angry.
Stop wasting my time.
I will click out of something so fast.
"Corporations..."
"Corporations buying single family homes and turning them into rentals."
And people wonder why there's a housing crisis.
"All controls..."
"All controls in a car being through a touch screen."
"For driving safety I wanna keep my eyes on the road, and want to find controls (like window wipers, radio by touch. With a touch screen, I have to look to see if I am touching the right place on the screen for the control I want."
u233
Yes! It's an unnecessary design change, honestly more trouble than it's worth.
"The fact..."
"The fact that EVERYTHING is a f*cking ad."
badchad65
There are many ways to get around that and you can learn about it in my new book How to get rid of ads (free with your Amazon Audible trial).
"Everything nowadays..."
"Subscription services. Everything nowadays is being turned into a monthly bill."
TutuKitten
It's awful. And everything is so expensive. Why bother having all these subscriptions in the first place, right?
"The abundance..."
"The abundance of people trying to be influencers/streamers, while the majority of them are about as interesting as a boil."
mugen1337
To be honest, most people would rather watch the boil.
Frustrated yet?
We live in a pretty cool world. It'd just be better if most of this stuff didn't exist.
Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
Who hasn't partaken in a trend everyone was doing at one point, but which quickly became passé?
Indeed, 90's children probably have mountains of POGs which are collecting dust in their parent's attics, and their parent's probably made every effort to hide any pictures of them attempting a mullet.
But seeing the long lineage of fads, from bellbottoms to beanie babies, we can't help but wonder what current trend people will look back on with regret, if not outright disdain, in the not-so-distant future.
Redditor stoopididiotface was curious to hear what the Reddit community thinks will be passé in a matter of time, leading them to ask:
"What current trend will be the most regrettable 20 years from now?"
I update my status much less often these days...
"Posting about almost every aspect of your life on social media."
"I posted some pretty cringe sh*t as a kid that is still floating around somewhere, and that was before social media became big."
"I can't imagine what it's going to be like now."- video_2
facebook update GIF by Christina LuGiphy"In 20 years it’s gonna be the great cringe where all the TikTokers see what they did and pay for the damage they caused to society."- Confederaterifleman
Parenting should be a personal choice.
"I hope mommy bloggers who post constant pics and details of their children."
"Robbing children of privacy for likes and money is sickening."
"Don’t even get me started on ones with sick kids."- nikki_therese
Everyone was watching it... back then...
"I think people are just starting to regret naming their kids Danerys and Sansa."- Wazula42
game of thrones boom GIFGiphyFelt "kute"... will regret later
"Quirky misspelling of names."- Virghia
Natural beauty is destined for a comeback
"Too much plastic surgery, fillers and Botox on young people."- factchecker8515
"Those eyebrows."
"Holy sh*t, there’s no way that your kids won’t be horrified by those weird eyebrows."- Delica
Eyebrow Raise GIFGiphyHere's hoping actions will one day have consequences
"Ignoring criminal acts by politicians."- Max-lower-back-Payne
Contemporary views of education
"The destruction of public education."
"Squeezing and outright sabotage of public schools, prohibitive costs for secondary education."
"The normalization of being undereducated either through apathy or because of forces outside your control."
"The idea that opinion is equal to fact and that sticking to your original viewpoint is heroic."
"'Yeah, your studies may say that, but this is how I FEEL about it'" and similar arguments."
"The reason we are no longer a minor species of omnivorous hunter-gatherers is our ability to pass along knowledge to others."
"Each generation building on the achievements of prior generations is the path to progress in health, quality of life, equality, production and so much more."
"Worse yet, technology now is at a level where if the masses are uneducated, they are also powerless."
"Small groups of people with specific knowledge have become outrageously powerful and this gap in individual power will only get worse with advances in fields like AI and robotics."
"If we allow whole generations to grow up undereducated, it will be very difficult for them to understand and affect their world."
"I feel the exponential growth of wealth gaps across the world is a symptom of this deliberate enforced ignorance."- GrymEdm
Being unkind
"Mis-using real psychological concepts like boundaries to justify treating others poorly."- ejcc824
Mean Girls Shut Up GIFGiphyCommitment is bound to make a comeback
"Open relationships."
"I think most people that enter them regret it and eventually it will fad once people realize that, while not perfect, monogamy works better."
"While marriage might have been a patriarchal construct, monogamy existed way before marriage came about."- AnonVeldon
Nothing wrong with a little modesty
'That one 'put your head on my shoulder' but remixed trend, the one where people would film their silhouettes."
"Sometimes even nude and occasionally seeing outlines of people's genitals and other private body parts."
"Basically any trend thats too sexual or dangerous."
"Especially if you are doing them young."
"It's not too current but it is still floating around in some bits of the internet."- Pimstan
There will hopefully be more effective ways to raise awareness.
"Not current but that ice bucket challenge several years back."
"Total cringe."- pjmshark
ice bucket challenge news GIFGiphyMaybe a man's name will be forever ruined instead?
"Karen's. A.k.a Communism a.k.a Karenism."- Zestyclose-Goose5477
Let's hope so!
"Fascism."- managedheap84
A change in cosmetic style...
"Stretching your earlobes!"- Melodic-Inspector-23
"Those hole things people do to their earlobes."
"I think it's called lobe stretching?"
"Not sure."
"Seriously, that will not look good even 10 years from now."
"Especially if did it to the extreme."
"I'm sure if you do a small one, it's fine and will go back into shape."- SurealGod
"I don't understand the sh*tty lego-man/Beiber/helmet hairstyle guys have adopted."
"It does not look good."
"At all."
"I will die on this hill too, motherflippers."
"Also, maternity photos with elaborate dresses/poses."
"It's like getting an 80s glamour shot."- Fanfathor
Justin Bieber Sunglasses GIFGiphyBecause who really needs that much energy?
"Energy drinks are probably gonna be thought of as a lot more unhealthy."- SodaDonut
Some things we'll laugh about, other's we'll look back on in disdain and horror.
And Ironically, we'll probably be enjoying another current fad which will be outdated in another five years.