Woman explains who are actually the 'Zillennials' generation: 'They had a Facebook phase'

Generational cohorts like GenZ and millennials are classified based on their birth years, assuming that particular influences dominate each of their lives. As the Pew Research Center states in its report, millennials were the generation that mashed technology with daily lives. But, the dominance of technology in their lives was nowhere close to what Gen Z experienced. Facebook was at its peak with millennials but lost fervor when GenZ came around due to the arrival of applications like Instagram and TikTok. 

Discourse Magazine explains how events like 9/11 hugely impacted the millennials as they had to go through their after-effects in real time. On the contrary, the factors that impacted GenZ include climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape and COVID-19, as per McKinsey. What about the people who relate to the problems of both these cohorts, the group that experienced Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, all in small and big measures? Zhangsta—who goes by @zhangsta on TikTok—identifies as "Zillennials" and with the help of Professor Deborah Carr, gives pointers as to why this is the group that does not fit anywhere.

The video begins as she explains where she got the idea of "Zillennials." At first, she gave a refresher to people about generational cohorts- millennials and GenZ. "Millennials are those born from 1981 to 1996 and Gen Z from 1997 to 2012," she shared. After that, she attributed the term "Zillennials" to Professor Deborah Carr of Boston University. Zillennials, a mash-up of Genz and millennials, refers to a group of people that relate to both cohorts. She puts their birth years between 1992 and 2002. "These are the people that heard about MySpace but never used it, had a Facebook phase, are still stuck on Instagram and are a little bit late to the TikTok craze," she elucidated. This group did not enjoy anything when it was at its peak in the realm of social media because they finally learned the ropes of the platform that was no "longer in."

These were the kids who were present during 9/11 but were too young to remember the actual event or the after-effects of it. This group was not completely overtaken by technology. They had the experience of playing outside and being absorbed by Game Boy or the DS. The Zillennials knew the world devoid of the dominance of the internet but also lived in a phase where they were influenced by it. They are stuck somewhere between the two cohorts. She concluded her video by asking people to share other features they could attribute to the "Zillennials."

The comment section poured down their thoughts. @shekoynuh commented how Zillennials had the best when it came to television, "Zillennials witnessed and grew up with the golden age of Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. period." @wasiffahim wrote how Zillennials experienced a world without binging, "Real Zillennials grew up with cable TV instead of streaming services." @authentic_tortilla wrote about the massive change Zillennials experienced, "Naw, Zillennials is 1998 to 2002 it's literally like a weird gap of like no technology growing up and then boom iPhone everywhere."