If you were born between 1981 and 1996, you can consider yourself a millennial. That’s according to the Pew Research Center, which has done extensive research on this generation. When it comes to humor, millennials are in a league of their own. But whether it’s a winning or a losing league depends largely on who you ask.
The younger Gen Z “kids” aren’t always impressed by millennial humor, with some going as far as calling it “excessively self-deprecating and dark”. TikTokers have also called out millennials for constantly harping on about how bored or fatigued they are in life. Others say millennials "try too hard" to be funny, or are just plain "corny".
It’s no surprise that millennials are tired. Besides having to cope with general adulting, they can’t seem to catch a break from the younger generations. “Over the past few years, Gen-Zers have used social media to identify the many things millennials do, particularly online, that now feel out of touch,” reads this report by media monitoring company, Meltwater. “They’ve even coined a catchall phrase for those behaviors: millennial cringe.”
According to Meltwater, millennial cringe refers to "anything millennials do that inspires second-hand embarrassment in younger people." Some examples include using the 😭 emoji, or emojis in general, posting a Boomerang, painting your home in a neutral gray, skinny jeans, and taking photos in landscape mode. Hell, millennials are even being roasted for breathing.
Apparently, millennials need to hurry up already. A slew of TikTok parody accounts make fun of what's known as the "Millennial Pause."
"That so-called draw of breath they apparently all take before speaking on a social video — is ‘cheugy’ (basic, embarrassing)," reads this humorous take on millennial cringe published in the Standard. The writer goes on to say that in the eyes of the Gen-Z generation, millennials also all have zero chill.
"Every video send-up is chaotic and yet deftly depressing in the extreme. There’s a whole sub-section dedicated to how wilfully clumsy millennial women are. And yet also, how we like to do dance routines for men’s attention. The eye for a very distinct but also derogatory detail is close. It’s as if they’re, like, obsessed with us?"
Maybe the younger generation is a bit obsessed with millennials... Meltwater's research shows that there was a 119% increase in mentions of millennials and cringiness from November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023, compared to the 12 months prior, while online conversations about the millennial pause jumped by 432% during that period.
So when did millennials start losing their cool? If The Curious Creator is to be believed, they fell out of the “it crowd” around about the time when the oldest millennials turned 40 in 2023. “The vast majority of the generation are no longer in their 20s,” reads the blog, adding that a term was even coined to describe the oldest of the cohort: geriatric millennial. How rude!
