How does one adapt to the connected generation?

Deckade

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As someone from Gen-Z (2002) my biggest obstacle is that I can't get over people using social media for validation and being "social sellouts", and with that the disturbing lack of personal integrity that so many from my generation have, not to mention the general lack of care for anything that isn't either directly related to them or the social media that they use. Another thing to note is that friendships in the modern era tend to be more transactional than ever. I know countless people with dozens of friends who would be ditched in an instant if they ever deleted their social media for texting and calling, so maybe more people than you realise are having difficulty making real friends in the connected generation.

Alternatively, if you're not looking for your next soulmate just don't overthink it too much. Most people who are looking for friends aren't looking for something too complicated and just want someone to be around who says nice things and shoots the shit. So just be nice, work out a little to build that testosterone and become more naturally extroverted, pick up some low rez buddies, do some low rez activities, and live the low rez life. And the best friendships can start over the smallest things.
 
post above^:

lain theme song *plays*
 
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Regal

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I am almost always unable to relate to any of my peers and engage in casual conversations without them bringing up something from social media or celebrity news that I almost always don't know about

Associate with more interesting people and you won't have this problem. This is not a generational problem, it is a NPC problem. Anyone that talks about these things have nothing going on in their lives and aren't worth knowing.

Signed,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Elder Millennial
 
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Associate with more interesting people and you won't have this problem. This is not a generational problem, it is a NPC problem. Anyone that talks aboutme these things have nothing going on in their lives and aren't worth knowing.
I feel like I need to meet more people. People tend to get silo'd into their own pseudo-caste (e.g. someone who works a service job will only know other service workers etc.) and I want to break out of it. Learn something weird that nobody else in my caste knows about. Talk to people who have a completely different life story than mine. Talk to people who make wildly different wages to me. To stay on topic, it'd be interesting to see how people in each pseudo-caste use socmed. Like are there memes that only college graduates know about? Kind of like how black and latino guys are big into Goku memes.
 
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NeoTokyo Tempo

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How does one adapt to the connected generation that is Gen Z / Alpha?

I am Gen Z, but I am mostly disconnected from the online world. I don't use most mainstream media sites, however this comes as a cost as I am almost always unable to relate to any of my peers and engage in casual conversations without them bringing up something from social media or celebrity news that I almost always don't know about, which always ends up with the conversation becoming painfully silent and awkward, like i'm somehow magically supposed to know what they are talking about.

Does anyone have any advice about this topic without it having to end up with me joining the botnet?
I was born in 95, which makes me barely a millennial. I find I can dominate most zoomer spaces because most of them are actually quite shy. My suggestion is to cultivate a wide array of social experience and get outside your comfort zone. Build confidence and practice not being uncomfortable in quiet moments with people. If you have a fair amount of social confidence, you'll have an advantage over most zoomers.
 
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Regal

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If you have a fair amount of social confidence, you'll have an advantage over most zoomers.

To build further - if you really want advantage, the more non-digital hobbies and experiences you have the better. Younger people seem to have this Ready Player One-esque mindset about our digital lives being cool, but it simply isn't like that. The winners of the League of Legends World Championship will never be as cool as the winners of the Superbowl.
 
To build further - if you really want advantage, the more non-digital hobbies and experiences you have the better. Younger people seem to have this Ready Player One-esque mindset about our digital lives being cool, but it simply isn't like that. The winners of the League of Legends World Championship will never be as cool as the winners of the Superbowl.
like this?

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."

― Theodore Roosevelt
 
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brentw

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unable to relate to any of my peers and engage in casual conversations without them bringing up something from social media or celebrity news that I almost always don't know about
lol, my immediate reaction is "whats the problem?"
Anybody interested in celebrity gossip is not someone I want to talk to.
 
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