Generations today have been accounted for in 15-year increments with Generation (Gen) Y (Millennials) born from 1980 to 1994, Generation (Gen) Z from 1995 to 2009, and Generation (Gen) Alpha from 2010 to 2024. Soon we will have Generation (Gen) Beta which will be born from 2025 to 2039. While one might not think that these 15-year timespans would have such a defining influence and distinction between one another, each generation has begun to develop their own collective knowledge and understanding about life. Specifically, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, being only a few years apart, had entirely different upbringings resulting in separate preferences in all aspects of life.
During COVID-19, kids were more susceptible to social media influencers because of their overarching access to electronics for online school, which, in turn, left Gen Alpha kids more comfortable with media use at an earlier period in their lives compared to Gen Z. As 7th grader, Sophie Berman explained, “Growing up during COVID I feel like I used my phone a lot and so did my friends, and we were just kind of on social media a lot. Since we didn’t have time to be in person with each other I feel like most of [our hangouts were] done over the phone. When we did see each other [in person] I feel like we just stayed on our electronics.”
In contrast to this, Gen Z didn’t have this same easy access to electronics at such an early age because school was in person instead of online. Ultimately, Gen Z kids had already built relationships with others and knew the importance of maintaining these key relationships. “During COVID, I remember I hated being far away from my friends and…I remember it was really lonely because although I had my family who I love and adore, I didn’t get to see my friends like I usually always did. I [used to be] a social butterfly and [during COVID] I wasn’t able to have that social interaction…We did a lot of drive by’s, like birthday party type things just to stay connected, if it was someone’s birthday just to let them know we were thinking about them,” junior, Julia Miller explained. Instead of scrolling through Instagram during the pandemic, Gen Z were found riding bikes together, hanging out in open settings where they could social distance, going to the park together, and talking to each other regularly.
Additionally, Gen Z and Gen Alpha upbringings are inverses of each other in several other aspects. The world and society can change rapidly, and with the age gap between Gen Z and Gen Alpha, what they consider to be normality within their life growing up are polar opposites to what Gen Z considers to be their “normal.” While Gen Z roamed around Claires, Gen Alpha roam around Sephora. Gen Z wore twinkle toe sketchers and Gen Alpha wore Jordans or Golden Goose. Gen Z wore Justice and Gen Alpha wears Lululemon and Aviator Nation. Gen Z didn’t even use skincare, but Gen Alpha uses Drunk Elephant. Gen Z had Musical.ly while Gen Alpha had TikTok. Gen Z wore Rainbow Loom bracelets while Gen Alpha wears Baubel Bar. The list could go on infinitely as even though a few years might not seem like enough time for the generational distinctions to differentiate, it is in fact enough time.
Overall, as each generations differentiate so does the way each one grows up and matures. Different generations evolve to have different norms and realities. For Gen Z it is the Musical.ly and Rainbow Loom but for Gen Alpha, it’s TikTok and Bauble Bar. Even if the distinctions are not completely lucid, if one were to read in between the lines and look a little deeper, it would become clearer.
