Gen Z, Millenials, and Online Political Activism
If you have been keeping up with my blog posts, you would know that I have been enjoying TikTok during this pandemic while we are all (mostly) shut in. For the most part, I find the TikToks on my "For You" page (its version of a homepage) funny and/or informative; I do not interact with the ones that I don't like so that the algorithm will exclude them and others like them. However, I have been getting a few videos that are just bizarre to me. In these videos, kids who are a part of the Gen Z generation will make fun of esoteric characteristics of millenials. As someone who was born on the Gen Z-millenial cusp, it's kind of upsetting to be honest. I see more similar behaviors between the two groups than dissimilar, particularly when it comes to politics and online activism.
I was reminded of this while reading the article "Can media literacy education increase digital engagement in politics?" (2019) by J. Kahne and B. Bowyer for class. Their conclusions were interesting, particularly this one: "Indeed, while many youth are exposed to news, perspectives, and mobilization efforts via online platforms and especially via social media, most youth are not active participants. They receive messages, but rarely or never send them or, in other ways, become actively involved politically. Moreover, youth who get involved in online political activities tend to be those who are politically interested and active, who possess digital skills, and who are college educated (see Cohen et al. 2012; Hargittai and Shaw 2013)" (pg. 219).
In my personal experiences and observations, I have found this to somewhat be the case as well. Many of the people I went to high school with who did not go to college do not seem to really care about the political reality we are living in right now. As long as they can provide for their families and live their lives the way they want to, it's all the same to them in the end (or at least, it seems like it is from the outside looking in.) I know that they consume the same amount of, if not more, social media than I do and are exposed to the same or similar advertisements, posts, etc. Hey, I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing because I would like to zone out every once in a while myself, if I'm being honest.
On the other hand, I have high school friends who went on to college and graduated with their bachelor's degrees who have worked for Bernie Sanders, participated in Black Lives Matter protests in multiple cities, volunteered with political organizations, etc. Would I say that most people my age are not active participants in politics? Well, it depends on your definition of participation. My brother, who is 7 years younger than me and a rising sophomore at Ohio University, sees the same attitude in peers from his graduating class. A lot of people who still live in our hometown just go about their lives as they always would, while his friends at OU discuss what is going on in politics and are getting active with the campaigns by volunteering.
I don't know if anyone who reads my blog is a part of Gen Z or not, but if you are please understand that we are more alike than you think we are. You know the crotchety people who are in their late 20s/early 30s who just want to watch the world burn? You are going to have people like that too once they hit that age range. Don't think that we are all them. The majority of us are just as tuned in and participatory as you are. We're in it together.
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