That blank look you're getting? It's called the "Gen Z stare"
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There's a fight simmering on TikTok over the "Gen Z stare" — the blank look some young adults might give you when you talk to them.
Why it matters: Depending on who you ask, the stare either means the Zoomer in question thinks you're a total moron — or that kids today don't have social skills.
How it works: "It is this blank, deer-in-the-headlights stare that you guys have, and it's like, 'oh my god is a real live person talking to me,'" one TikToker said.
- "We're not talking about the stare that everyone gives a boomer," she clarifies.
- The stare is particularly common among customer service workers, judging from the online videos.
Zoom out: "If you spent your formative years on Zoom, you didn't get much exposure to learning how people give each other visual cues that they're listening," said Kate Lindsay, a millennial, who wrote about the stare on her Substack, Embedded.
The other side: Gen Z says the blank look is their response when someone says something baffling and/or stupid — like asking if there's banana in a strawberry banana smoothie.
- Plus, they just don't like small talk.
Reality check: Teens and 20-somethings have long considered their elders to be cringeworthy idiots.
The big picture: The fight is the next chapter in the generational war playing out on TikTok between millennials and their young rivals.
- The core argument: "Millennials think Gen Z is rude, and Gen Z thinks millennials are stupid," Lindsay said.
- In the past, Gen Z has called out millennials for a variety of cringe habits — including a pause before they start talking in online videos or a "BuzzFeed Accent."
- This time, millennials have the upper hand, in Lindsay's estimation.
The bottom line: The younger generations are fighting among themselves — over something that may or may not be real.
- Boomers and Gen X can breathe easy from the sidelines on this one.
