Last week Emily Seymour wrote about effects of Generation Z’s having been born into new technology—from their use of digital media and the concomitant mental health issues contiguous to our technological culture which include mass shootings and the greater willingness of society to accept the reality of suicide. One of the central issues that Seymour highlights is the fact that Gen Zers in the U.S. are projected to be approximately 10% of the voting population as of next year with the majority being more on the left side of the political spectrum than in previous generations.
However, Seymour never ties together these links to query what are the actual impacts of new technology on Generation Z and how this social group incorporates media into a present day where they, more than other generations, are more hooked into electronic devices and virtual spaces more than any other group thus far. How has Generation Z’s use of new technology affected how we do business or have fun, for instance? Or what are the effects of a lifelong use of new technology on mental health? But mostly, how is new technology as rehearsed by Gen Zers having a wider affect on mass culture today such that we are seeing revolutionary changes in how our society functions?
For starters there is the issue of communication which is not minor for many of us. Gen Zers, while native creatures to digital communication tools, actually prefer face to face communication and the inverse is so for Millennials who prefer digital platforms for communication. Moreso, the entire gamut of communication from Gen Z’s use of social media to how one schedules events on a calendar or procures a letter of recommendation is entirely anathema to that of Millennials. While new studies point to the fact that Generation Z is the demographic cohort more interested in job permanence and multi-tasking, we are also seeing how this generation uses technology to shift out of traditional roles in the office or the classroom. In fact, today many are opting for job experience over formal education with many being employed straight out of high school.
One of the most overlooked issues today, for instance, is how Gen Z is looking to avoid the economic traps in which Millennials became stuck, from the massive amounts of student debt to shifting views about the need for higher education. In fact, many Gen Zers are already manifesting a growing aversion towards taking on student loan debt as they are more invested in securing personal wealth and financial planning than Millennials. To boot, Generation Z is more invested in using new technology to check the best economic options from searching out the best prices for products before purchasing items to their adoption of tech in more aspects of everyday life than previous generations before. Gen Zers are even viewed today as the “new face of financial power” with companies like Payment Savvy focussing on this demographic to expand its reach.
Another offshoot of Gen Z culture is the use of cannabis which is, as a leisure activity, giving alcohol a run for its money. In fact, Generation Zer is twice as likely to use marijuana as other generations and despite the mounting literature on the dangers of cannabis as this generation sees marijuana use as something more than simply controversial. Where corporate America has embraced marijuana as it is now legal in two-thirds of US states, there is a knock-on effect for those tech companies which look to brand around the legalization of marijuana. As the expansion of cannabis and marijuana is growing the country, companies like Sharpstone USA and Flower Co. are thriving. And despite the burgeoning marijuana market with legalization spreading across many western nations, Generation Z is experimenting with pot and other derivative forms that are taking hold in countries where marijuana is not yet legalized as these markets veer away from new technology.
One such company, Kushly offers Canabidiol or hemp oil (CBD) which they describe as “the highest grade CBD selections you can find on the market today.” A product that is desired greatly in countries like Germany where the government has not yet legalized marijuana allows for a vibrant CBD oil market to flourish. From CBD oils, gummies and capsules, there is no shortage of ways to ingest cannabis and Generation Z is embracing cannabis in all its forms, most notably CBD oil and the increase of marijuana use. The lines between how technology connects this generation to legal recreation presents a huge cultural shift in how we perceive previously illicit substances and a gamut of assumptions surrounding their use.
While Generation Z’s lifetime immersion in technology that most of us simply did not grow up with might seem to be a boon in terms of their navigating current cultural and social changes, the reality is almost counterintuitive: Generation Z addresses new technology as an “extension of themselves” rather than an addiction or compulsion. The side-effects of this social experiment are yet to be seen with some experts weighing in on the fact that an over-immersion in technology stunts the growth of the individual both emotionally and socially. The difference, however, is that this generation is constantly immersed in the social, it’s just a different social from that which many of us were raised—it is a social with many levels of unspoken rules which this generation has already worked out to the benefit of the IRL (in-real-life) social.
While new technology is connecting us to each other in different and much faster ways, these changes will necessarily have a knock-on effect to how we interact with one another, how younger generations open up to new cultures and ideas and how we interpret this cultural Tower of Babel from one era to the next. While it might seem an ominous undertaking to witness the growth of a generation which has no clue what it is like to answer a phone and have no clue who is on the other end of the line, this difference is an occasion to open ourselves up to the possibilities of this brave and crazy new world.
