Last May, I started my summer internship for a large company.
Because most of my coworkers are Millennials, I tend to have a unique viewpoint to the digital side of things — particularly when it comes to Gen Z-centered apps like Instagram and TikTok.
So, I was surprised when I learned how rigid social media can be in some workplaces. Even when Gen-Z employees are eager to help, processes often make it hard for us to fit in.
But this isn’t just a coincidence. As Gen Z-ers in the workforce, our lack of professional experience means that our jobs are low on the totem pole, so some managers don’t take our unique ideas as seriously — especially when they conflict with tradition. But what Millennial bosses don’t realize is that this rigid mindset — dare I say, gatekeeping — is harmful, and hurts performance.
When it comes to content, Gen Z is all about immediacy and persistence
I’ll admit it: I come from a generation known to have short attention spans. We’re used to, and prefer, a constant stream of information coming at us from all directions. Gen Z takes multitasking to a new level, and we love anything trendy, catchy, or flashy.
So, when it comes to companies’ social media presence, it’s all about being quick. Think about all the TikTok trends that come and go at the speed of light — they’re not easy to keep up with. You’ve got to hop on the trend as quickly as possible, because you’ll be late before you know it. And on Instagram, you’ve got daily story updates that disappear after a day, only to be replaced by another. Instagram feeds are constantly flooded by an overwhelming amount of posts from brands, influencers, and friends.
With platforms like these, companies have to move faster than they may be used to. And given our innate need for speed, Gen Z seems to have more urgency when it comes to social media. Millennials are more keen on carefully assembling and revising posts, which will only be buried under hundreds of others in users’ feeds. Meanwhile, Gen Z complies to this strategy we don’t agree with — simply because we have no other choice.
Gen Z has grown up with social media
Essentially, all Gen Z-ers can’t remember a time before modern computers — or even social media. We’re about as old as Facebook (which was created in 2004), or the iPod (which came out in 2001). We can’t remember a time when we couldn’t just Google something — and we’re the most accustomed to that constant stream of information, because we’ve never lived without it.
This is a sad and astounding fact for many people, and lots of us have expressed a wish to have grown up in older generations just because of social media. There’s no doubt it has a horrible influence on our mental health, and many of us will admit it’s not healthy. But the reality today is, we can’t resist.
Because of our lifelong obsession with social media, the most popular platforms have audiences composed mainly of Gen Z-ers. And because we’ve never known life without it, we have a natural ability to understand social media. It’s a language we have native fluency in — and that level of innate knowledge is hard to match.
Nobody knows Gen Z like Gen Z
Understanding your audience is a key part of running a social media page, and in most cases, this presents another advantage for Gen Z.
Most Gen Z-ers are hyper-aware of digital trends, because we’re the ones who create them. And we know what the average user wants to see from many brands, because we are that average user. Simply put, we know how to get people’s attention online.
Gen Z has a natural intuition about social media that Millennials usually can’t match — even with research and years of work experience — because we have so many years under our belt of just being on social media. And for what we lack in work experience, we make up for in an extensive knowledge of the fast-paced, unique attitude needed to run a successful social media page.
Take a chance on US
The corporate feud between Gen Z and Millennials has gone on for too long.
It may not seem like it, but despite common assumption and my admittedly condescending attitude, most Gen Z-ers are eager to learn from Millennials.
We don’t mean to parade into your company and act like we know everything. And we definitely don’t mean to tell you how to do your job. All we ask is for more responsibility to showcase our skills in the only area we can call ourselves experts on. We may not have much previous work experience, but we have a lifetime of experience on social media — who else can say that?
Go ahead and call us entitled, call us spoiled, and call us petty — but give us an opportunity to prove ourselves before you call us unqualified. Because we’re a lot of things, but cheugy sure isn’t one of them.