It’s no surprise that Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations, not (only) because of surveillance or puritanism or disinterest: As one 17-year-old high school senior told The Atlantic , “Sex is easy, and emotional connection is hard.” Hand-holding feels scarier than hooking up because it signals real vulnerability. Another student said... See more

They binged Girls , snapped up digital cameras on eBay, and wore low-rise jeans with visible whale tails. Print magazines experienced a renaissance, with Gen Z driving demand for “something tangible and collectible” at a time when everything felt ephemeral. Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding said “half the audience are Gen Zs” at her book... See more

The 2010s, once dismissed as the “cringe era,” are being reclaimed by Gen Z, who view it as a representation of the “fleeting freedom” they’d never experienced, with their own coming-of-age consumed by pandemic lockdowns and political turmoil.

Unable to afford the future, Gen Z is romanticizing the past. But in 2025, their nostalgia targeted not their own childhoods but the adolescence of millennials.

42% of Gen Z having dipped into retirement savings just to pay off BNPL debt. The average Gen Z now carries $94,000 in total debt.

Young people, raised on screens, are rejecting algorithmic mediocrity. As Clay Routledge wrote this fall, Gen Z is experiencing “historical nostalgia” for eras they never lived through, grasping for something real in a world that’s become too frictionless .

Millennial optimism: A reframing of millennial cringe as a lost freedom Gen Z never had. (I, II, III)

Meme drought: Creators declare the moment spiritually unfunny, with some ironically repurposed Great Depression-era photographs to express their despair ("When mfs say they grew up poor but never had to live during the great meme depression”). (I, II)

Algorithmic blandness: A perceived sameness across social feeds caused by optimization and trend recycling. (I, II, III, IV)Slop life: Acceptance of overstimulating, low-quality consumption as a default mode. (I, II, III)