It sounds terrifying when Anna Geary – sitting in for Oliver – describes the Gen Z stare: "A long, unblinking, soul-piercing gaze from someone under the age of 27."
Anna recruited writer Niamh O’Reilly to guide us through this minefield of inter-generational eye-based warfare:
"It is quite an unsettling stare. I still can’t quite figure out what it is obviously because I’m a Millennial, I’m not Gen Z, so I’m speculating here, but it sometimes looks like the Gen Zers are, I don’t know, are they disassociating a little bit, are they slightly annoyed? Are they just over the whole interaction they’re having with the other person? It’s hard to put your finger on what it actually is."
The Gen Z Stare debate is raging on social media at the moment, Niamh tells us, and Gen Z are apparently not too happy about it, especially when they’re being called out about it on TikTok:
"People are making videos giving examples of these Gen Z stare interactions that they’ve had, and Gen Z are not really taking it, they’re insisting this is not actually happening."
But how can you tell if you’ve been on the receiving end of the dreaded Gen Z stare? According to Niamh, it’s one of those obvious things that, once you see it, you can’t ever unsee it:
"It’s a name now that’s been put on something that I think is actually happening quite a lot."
So, what is it like to experience this Gen Z stare then? Niamh recounted an actual full-on encounter with a Gen Z stare at her local coffee shop, courtesy of the new barista that had started there:
"There was someone different behind the counter, a young guy behind the counter, and so I said what I wanted and he just kind of looked at me. And there it was in all its glory – the Gen Z stare."
Niamh went on to describe it as comparable to the buffering that some streaming services undergo when they’re trying to serve you content, but their connection has dropped:
"It was this beat, a little longer than what was normal of someone just staring – as you said – into my soul. I couldn’t tell if he was just over having to chat to me, or maybe he was a little bit sort of, 'I'm not sure what to say to this lady,’ you know, ‘why is she saying hello and good morning and how are you and stuff to me?’ I couldn’t really tell what the problem was."
That particular interaction went back to what Niamh describes as "semi-normal" after the pause for the stare, and as she made her way from the counter with her beverage, Niamh realised she’d been seeing this type of stare all over the place for quite a while:
"If you ask people like potential employers, for example, who are maybe interviewing Gen Z or the zoomer generations, I think they would probably agree that this sort of – I don’t know if it’s a lack of social skills or maybe not knowing how to deal with people in the flesh – is happening."
Of course, by now you’re thinking, ‘hang on, all this focus on the Gen Z Stare, but no word about the Millennial Pause?’ Yes, some people are suggesting, Anna tells us, that the Stare is a direct response to the Pause.
Here’s Niamh to tell the uninitiated among us what the Millennial Pause is:
"Again, this is a really sharp, I think, generational observation. And it’s those in the millennial generation, we tend to take a short pause before we speak on a video."
Niamh puts this down to millennials - unlike Gen Zers – having a foot in both digital and analogue worlds, so when you remember how flaky video recording was with a camcorder, you’re a little hesitant to commit to your monologing from the very start of recording.
"If you see Millennials making videos on social media, I guarantee they’re going to take that little pause before they speak and it’s the Millennial Pause. And I don’t mind it at all, I think it’s a really keen observation."
These kinds of intergenerational beefs, Niamh suggests, are based in truth. And the point about Millennials having a foot in two worlds goes to underline how Gen Z are the first fully digital-native generation.
So clearly the whole world is a screen they’re staring at as they wait for all the Millennials to start speaking, no?
You can hear Anna’s full conversation with Niamh by staring, tapping or clicking above.
