I was born in the year 1998. Growing up, I never heard the term “Gen Z,” in fact, I only remember starting to hear it within the last half decade. However, my younger brother, who was born in 2005, tells me that I am considered Gen Z just as he is. My first response was a resounding “hell no,” but then I thought - what generation am I?
When I think of Gen Z, I think of the kids that were raised on technology and the internet. You know, the toddlers that had iPads or the kids that have been using TikTok/Twitter/Instagram since they could read and write. This is more or less how my brother came up, and I feel as though my experience was a bit different.
I was born the same year as Google. I had the internet growing up, but in a much smaller capacity. As a kid, I would use my mom’s laptop to play Pajama Sam or Runescape. The social media phase didn’t really begin for me and my friends until everybody hopped on Facebook in 2009, when we were starting middle school.
I’m certainly too young to be a millennial, but I don’t think I belong in a category with Gen Z kids either. No hate to Gen Z, I love how progressive and open-minded they are, and they’re far more informed than I was at their age. I’ll be 23 in July!
Though the years aren’t that far apart, I feel as though being a kid in the early 2000s was quite different from growing up in the early 2010s. I understand that if I have to be placed in a category, I am Gen Z. What do you think? Am I just talking out of my ass, or do you see what I’m getting at?
