Every generation has its own way of using humor but when we say GenZ’s is distinct, we mean they could laugh off extremely terrifying or traumatizing ongoing events in real life, it's because they realize at the end, there's truly no other alternative. Gen Z's humor is unlike any past generation's style of comedy because it is so niche and built upon years of exposure to stressful incidents and the internet.
Gen Z has more that connects its members than other age groups, thanks to international experiences and the growth of social media. Through this connectivity and trauma, Gen Z has developed a breed of humor all its own, with jokes no other era of people have even had the opportunity to create. Another thing that makes their humor stand out is, they provide a healthy dose of escapism and absurdity without having their jokes being centered around sexism, homophobia/transphobia, racial discrimination, or any kind of stereotypes and we think that's beautiful.
Why is it JUST GenZ?
Millennials and boomers have a harder time discerning what makes ridiculous and absurdist memes are so funny because, though relatively nihilistic as well, they do not feel the need to collectively catastrophize in such a humorous way.
GenZ having themselves laugh hysterically at how someone did “surgery on a GrApe” to millennials finding humor in the cheugy art of “adulting” or “but first, coffee” mantras and boomers making fun of young people for their internet addiction, GenZ paved its way to have absurd humor and successfully made millennials and boomers go “👁👄👁” at their humor.
Where did GenZ’s unique social humor come from?
Scott Fogel, the Senior Strategist at Firstborn (a design and tech company), told Fast Company that a lot of Pivotals' humor stems from a "Weird, unhinged sensibility." They love self-deprecating Snapchats and memes, or videos that make them appear offbeat or quirky. And that's what is on-trend. And Fogel points out this is not a Millennial behavior.
Growing up in the internet age not only allows for a collective understanding of the world's hardships but a collective attitude about them as well.
How to tap into GenZ’s Sense of humor?
As social media natives, Gen Z has a certain level of social media literacy that older generations will have a really hard time mastering. (Yes, that includes Millennials!). We love content that is #relatable because it allows us to feel "in" on a joke. This might sound like a no-brainer, but the majority of Gen Z want to support brands that they see as “fun” and “cool.”That could explain why humor and meme-centric social content are so popular among the younger crowd.
Recently Taylor Swift, an American singer-songwriter who is a millennial (and is definitely aging backward) has joined TikTok and broke the internet by using all the GenZ slangs and going by their trends having all her fans from every generation in AWE!
Writer - Suhani Jain
Graphic Designer - Thea
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