The Strife of the Zillennial
From indie sleaze tumblr core to y2k-inspired TikToks. How growing up in between two worlds is refreshingly disorientating.
October 10th, 2023
As a 1996 baby I’m left in a sort of ambiguous plane of existence. Whether I’m considered ‘Gen Z’ or ‘Millennial’ is entirely dependent on whichever article or TikTok I find myself consuming. It’s a peculiar middle ground that to this day has me questioning where exactly I stand. I have one foot firmly planted in a childhood defined by the 2000s and the other shaped by the 2010s journey of adolescence to adulthood.
But even in the midst of this battle of the generations, I find myself appreciating the bewildering power behind my predicament. As a middle child I really saw the best of both worlds. (And yes, Hannah Monotana fucking ate with that song.) My older and only brother was born in the Home Alone era of 1992 while my youngest sister popped out in 2004 – the year of the cinematic masterpiece that is the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. It’s been a wild ride to say the least.
I distinctly remember getting excited to pick out our weekly Blockbuster film but also cherish the memories of playing Club Penguin on our home desktop computer. I largely attribute my feeling of limbo to this sibling dynamic. There I was splat in the middle of brother rocking Kanye shutter shades and a sister living out her elementary years, while I took on the torture that was High School.
My sense of identity really took a turn once I entered college though. I was being taught the history of the digital realm with a clear focus on how that shaped the evolution of advertising...and with that came some silly ol’ existential dread. Which direction did I want to go in? Should I play up my inside knowledge of both sides of the coin? Or was rejecting it all together a possibility as well?
I could relate to my older millennial counterpart but would get lost once they brought up AOL or dial-up. I understood the Snapchat craze but fell off its radar when Rihanna publicly slammed the app in 2018. Despite these revelations though, I felt incredibly comfortable with where I stood. To the older folks I’m still a wee baby with so much left to navigate but for the youngsters it can sometimes feel like I should take up knitting and consider myself basically barren.
Both perspectives are wildly insightful. I get to reap the benefits of the wisdom that comes with older friends but also get to switch my world view with the reminder that life is about fearlessly developing your individuality. No matter what that entails.
So, whether you’re like me–in between two generations—or you know exactly where you stand…I encourage you to define who you are entirely on what inspires, exhilarates, and envelops you. And that my friends, is today’s Low Down.