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Old farts of Hexbear, is there something about younger people that you don't get? [no punching down!]
(hexbear.net)
OK this is my list. But first, I need to say that this isn't a condemnation of those into such thing. They just don't vibe with me.
- Cannot get into ASMR. I've tried. Often its women 20 years younger than me, rubbing their fingernails on hairbrushes. The intentional sounds they make with their lips and fingers are things that would make me want to change seats on a bus.
- Instagram. I was maybe the last person to get a smart phone. It was probably 2016. I'm just fully lazy to take photos of stuff. This is a real issue when I'm single and I need to start putting photos on dating sites, as all pics of me in my phone are me squeezing carrots in my nostrils and similarly goofy things.
- My students' taste in anime. I try to be all cool and show off my cool taste in anime, maybe drop a Azumanga Daioh clip. It's all ancient history for 17 year olds.
- Photo and videos done in portrait mode. I guess I don't watch videos on the go. See #2
Things that the kids these days do better:
- Usually better opinions on current events than people my age
- I wish that cosplay existed when I was a teen. The default when I was younger was drugs.
If anyone insults the kids, I will visit you at your home and do an 
I am an early 00s baby so I can give you some insight on a couple of those things. First, I like ASMR, but it has to be really specific. There are only a few creators I watch and I only watch specifically sci-fi or medical roleplay. I have no idea why these are the only videos that work for me, but they are. But when they work, they feel great. I get a really relaxing tingly feeling in my head, like when you're a kid and your parent is scratching your head. It's definitely weird but it works for me. I can't explain it.
I use Instagram loads, but only really to look at memes and talk with my friends. I don't post much, and most of my friends don't post much either. My feed is 95% shitposts and 5% cooking videos.
Anime is so popular and moves so fast now, and has so much support, in comparison to the 90s when a lot of it would never get an English dub or sub. There's always gonna be a few popular battle shonen - it used to be Bleach and Naruto, then Attack on Titan, now it's Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. But there's also so many seasonal anime that asking someone "do you watch anime" actually doesn't tell you much about their tastes.
I always take my photos and videos in portrait because I guess that's the best way to look at them on a phone. I never turn my phone sideways because it's easier to scroll in portrait.
Also, a lot of people are saying that Gen z are a lot cooler than our predecessor politically. That may be true (idk I wasn't there when you were young), partially because we grew up in a post cold war, post 9/11, post 2008 crash world, but also partially because of the movements which came before us. I would say most young people are very good on LGBT issues specifically, and I think that's in large part thanks to the especially vocal movements of older queer people who came to the forefront as we were growing up. We were more exposed to gay and trans people in a positive light, thanks to a lot of millennials.
This is what's said about every young generation. I don't mean to rain on your parade or anything, but young people being more progressive than previous generations has been a staple of the US since at least the 1950s. Boomers were at one point considered radicals who threatened to overthrow all of society. It's what got said about Gen X too and Millennials.
Progressive young people tend to either acclimate or die off, but we still gotta have hope. I really hope younger folk can get it together and decide on a better future.
On the other hand, a lot of my millennial friends from high school didn't really give a shit about politics back then. Now, nearly all of them are leftist. And if not, progressive lib at the least. Maybe that's just 20 years of me feeding them a steady stream of propaganda, but I think especially Bernie and all the shit that came after has pushed folks in my circle left.
AFAIK this has mostly always been way overhyped. Like hippies and flower children and the counter culture had a massive cultural impact, but their actual numbers relative to the population were tiny. Likewise, seeing how many Gen X turned out to be boomer chuds, I finally just last year realized why all the good music in the 90s was on radio channels called "Alternative". The Millenials are turning out to be a lot more right wing than anyone thought, too.
Oh yeah I know. Honestly I think the image some people try to present of gen z as an entirely revolutionary generation because some people shitpost about guillotines is kinda embarrassing