In even more troubling news for youth these days, it seems that members of Generation Z – or Gen Z – simply do not know how to flirt anymore. This, apparently, is because Gen Z has only ever known communicating through smart phone apps instead of in person, according to an NBC News report.
Gen Z-ers – or Zoomers as some people calls them – no longer meet new people in person. They find them on Instagram and other social media services. So, what do they do instead of flirting? They “like” someone’s social media post and expect to be contacted through direct messaging.
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Nikki Sanjongco, 24, told NBC News, “I think flirting is dying. If someone thinks you’re cute, they just ask for your Instagram these days and then DM you or swipe up on your story to show they’re interested.”
Maxine Williams, 28, the founder of We Met IRL, a singles events group, told NBC, “Our generation has been so online that when it comes to talking to people, it’s a bit scary. There’s not that natural sense of like, just, ‘Hey, how you doing?’”
It’s like the cliché where people sitting right next to each other send texts to one another rather than talking. However, this is now a reality and someday, when Gen Z gets older, there will be no one around to teach the younger generations how to interact with other people.
Generation Z, often abbreviated as Gen Z, refers to the demographic cohort following Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. There’s no universally agreed-upon birth year range, but most sources place it somewhere between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s. This means the oldest members of Gen Z are entering their late 20s, while the youngest are still teenagers.
Unlike Millennials who grew up with the rise of the internet, Gen Z has never known a world without it. They are comfortable with technology and adept at using social media, online communication platforms, and mobile devices.
Gen Z has come of age during a period marked by significant global events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Great Recession, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These events have fostered a sense of social awareness, global citizenship, and a questioning of traditional authority figures.
