Welcome to the Internet: Millennial & Gen Z Ennui

It’s interesting to think about how new generational consumer behaviors translate into new businesses. We’re seeing a slew of startups building better solutions to the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the education crisis. But there are also less obvious impacts from consumer behavior:

We’re seeing the rise of more authentic social media—apps that focus more on the present, and less on curating a flawless online persona for future benefit. I first wrote about BeReal on June 2, 2021 after my Paris-based internet friend Marie Dolle sent me a Twitter DM about how BeReal was spreading like wildfire across Paris. Twelve months later, ... See more

Whether this is a good thing is up for debate—we should, of course, still fix things like income inequality and climate change. (And we need policy changes to complement private sector solutions.) But consumer technologies will always adapt to changes in the people they’re being built to serve—and with the Gen Z and Millennial generations radically... See more

We’re also seeing a mental health renaissance in reaction to the Millennial and Gen Z mental health crisis. Companies like Headway, Real, and Pace are building better ways to access therapy and to find community.

And we’re seeing the emergence of more escapist forms of media, namely VR. Over the weekend, I went with my family to the Harry Potter VR exhibit in Madison Square Park. We flew on broomsticks over Hogwarts and fought Death Eaters. Every time I experience VR, I have full conviction that it will live up to its hype—just a bit later than we all expec... See more