They swipe before they speak, they stream before they watch, and questionbeforethey accept — welcome to Generation Z. Zoomers (or Gen Z) refers to a demographiccohort born between 1997 and 2012, bridging between Millennials (Gen Y) andGeneration Alpha. A year ago, I watched a movie named “iBoy” and recently came acrossa book named “iGen” authored by Dr. Jean Twenge — these artistic works made a clear
distinction of zoomers from any other cohort. Their politics, ethics, norms and intellect
paves a way for one to think whether this generation is becoming a dilemma or success. Keeping these arguments in sight, we will discuss upon the dreadful challenges andremarkable achievements embraced by generation Z.
Since the invention of internet in the late twentieth century, the worldfelt
globalization a near future. This invention forced the economies and international
politics to rethink their strategies. While all this was happening, a generationgenerational cohort introduced itself as if previous generation was adopted to technology, generation Z was designed alongside it. Being a part of this generation, I felt the affectsof these drastic shift. Developed countries may it be USA, UK or Russia —they were thecore-contributory figures of technical advancement — had changed the discourse of
generation after 1995.
Be it technology, social issues related to human rights and shifting world orders, ranging from consents to controversies and from decisions to developments, thisgeneration has left others a mile behind. The access of smartphone and internet hasmade this world a global village. People are more active digitally than they are physically. A Swedish activist and best known for pressuring governments to address climatechange and social issues, Greta Thunberg is a product of this generation who becameapart of two aid flotillas sent to Gaza, Palestine — an internationally recognized place of
genocide by Israel — she along with her partners spoke always in favour of stopping thedesecration of humans. Moreover, one of the youngest Microsoft certified professional
Arfa Abdul Karim and Kautilya Katariya recognized as world’s youngest computer
programmer — both having named in Guinness World Record.
In politics and social reforms, this generation is not bound to any structuredleadership, all they need is a platform (which they already have in the formof social
media) and they speak and share to whatever they are concerned about. We have majorlyobserved the protests for Gaza issue not only in Muslim countries but in United Statesand Europe as well. Beside humanity, they are linked through digital arena. Previousyear, a youth lead violent protest changed the political grounds in Bangladesh, andnow
its happening in Iran — awaited for conclusion. All this ensures that generation Zis nomore a silent observer neither it needs a polarized environment, in their diaspora, everyone is a leader and a follower vis-a-vis.
While all these appraises do not camouflage their dark side and dilemmas. According to international studies, where social media has become a digital lifestyle onthe contrary, it has negatively influenced the personal life of iGen. On average, 7.2to9hours is the screen-time for this generation which is absolutely alarming and highest
than any other digital generation. This exaggerated screen-time has become a major
contributor towards ample of issues this generation face. Firstly, there has been observeda drastic spike in suicide attempts. Spending a lot of time on Instagram, Facebook andX(formerly Twitter) and watching the so-called perfect lifestyles of social mediainfluencers and celebrities have sparked an elevation in depression. Where doom- scrolling has made a short-cut to ‘brain-rot’ and other psychological disorder like FOMOand OCD. Secondly, excessive consumption of short-form content such as reels andYouTube shorts has made this generation too much impulsive and extremely short
tempered, quick rise in dopamine and oxytocin has altered the patience and raisedanger
issues.
Furthermore, it would not be wrong to label that this generation is continuouslygoing through a ‘digital-biologic mutation’ which we are facing in the formof trailedimpulse, short termed gratification, emotional undergo and many more. They are moreirresponsible, unstable and self-centred.
Life, where it has become a digi-life, a tsunami of misinformationanddisinformation has made its roots stronger than ever before and due to enhancement of
AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) there is no easy way out. Generation Z, where it has madebenchmarks in digital and social world, it also has to understand the importance of digilife and real-life balance. They might have to undermine digital presence in order toawake emotional and mental presence. Moreover, classsic book reading culture is far
better than digital reading, this needs to be engaged before it gets late. Furthermore, theworld is surely progressing into extreme-digital domains, but, there always remains aquestion whether is this success of technology or failure of mankind ?