I am a member of America's youth and entering my 20s. I use social media, take selfies, and listen to my fair share of Yeezy. However, I often find myself questioning the actions of myself and my peers. Was my dad right this whole time? Are selfies actually a waste of time? Was last month’s rent actually more important than the Kylie LipKit? Here I’ve listed some general confusions I have about the daily activities of Generation Z.
Taking selfies.
Okay, so I sort of understand this one. It’s nice to see how you look before and while you’re taking the picture. Not to mention, finding the perfect lighting and angle is super important. But why do we do this so often? Do we need to reassure ourselves our faces haven’t changed from day to day?
Taking selfies with a stick instead of asking someone else to take the photo.
So, selfies can be useful, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand the selfie stick. I apologize to stick enthusiasts, “Stickers” if you will, but this one eludes me. Remember the days when we handed our digital cameras to a stranger and asked politely for a photo? Yeah, communicating with unknown humans and asking them to take photos is creepy (#Tinder).
Photographing various food items instead of immediately consuming them.
Perhaps the most mind-boggling, non compos mentis thing youths do is photograph delicious food before eating it. I mean, I know when I’m hungry and some delectable morsel of culinary art rests in front of my chops, my natural response is to pull out my iPhone 6 and send a photo to everyone I know with the caption “can’t wait to kill this." If smartphones existed in the Stone Age, the human race would’ve been annihilated from starvation and high-risk selfies with wild animals.
Why talking on the phone is terrifying, but texting is second nature.
This one has gotten less common as I’ve ventured into Adultland (which would be the saddest name for an amusement park ever). However, I still communicate with at least a handful of people that would rather base jump with an elephant than answer their phone. Why texting is so much easier, the world may never know.
Why Snapchat is more appealing than simply sending photos over text.
I distinctly remember when Snapchat became ubiquitous. For the first year of my love/hate relationship with this application, I danced back and forth with deleting and downloading it when someone insisted I “needed” it. Here’s how those conversations went:
Friend: “Hey homie, have you got that $wag app Snapchat yet? I need to send you bad pictures of me so you can exploit them on Instagram for my birthday.”
Me: “No, but you can text me a picture of your face.”
Friend: “No, you must use this app that makes the pictures expire after 10 seconds, it’s great.”
Snapchat has held a steady spot in my phone for at least three years now, and my dad still doesn’t get it.
Turning social media into a diary.
We all know at least one person who does this, and most of us are probably guilty of this cyber etiquette violation. There’s always someone who feels the need to update all 789 of their closest friends and family on what sweater they wore on Tuesday, or how many dogs they saw while jogging that morning. Sometimes we need a little support and validation for life’s little victories, okay? I’m here to encourage you to eat that sandwich, and be daring enough to wear that outfit you’ve pushed to the back of your closet. You go, Glen Coco.
So in conclusion, my generation is perhaps the most tech savvy and confusing generation yet. That being said, don’t let someone with a selfie stick up their butt and tell you to change. Love your #selfie.
