Can you imagine a world without the internet and AI?
Having never experienced a world without the internet, Gen Z are described as ‘digital natives’, credited as being the most ‘tech savvy’ generation, and praised for their ability to rapidly adopt and understand the cutting-edge, emerging technologies of our time.
However, this fluency with technology comes with certain troubling truths for the generation. Having mobile phones and social media so readily available at such a young age means that many members of Gen Z never had a chance to even think about the effects, both positive and negative, that these technologies would have on their childhood, emotions, friendships, and overall development. Whilst social media and the internet can have a hugely facilitating role in connecting and bringing people together, Gen Z are the generation who felt the full consequences of the digital world becoming such an integral part of their real world.
As a result, it is not surprising that when students’ platform EduBirdie received over 2,000 responses from members of Gen Z aged between 18-27, 45% of survey respondents believe life was better before the internet. Moreover, 39% of respondents envy millennials for growing up in a world void of AI.
These figures suggest that growing up in the digital world, while providing members of Gen Z with unprecedented opportunities, has also fueled the anxiety and disconnect that we so often hear associated with young people and technology. Another result of this is hearing people talk about wanting to experience an internet-free era, and feeling ‘historical nostalgia’ or anemoia - the nostalgia for a time they never lived through.
It is common to hear at events or concerts phrases such as ‘I wish I could experience a time when there were no phones and people lived in the moment’; young people saying that if they could go back in time and never make any social media accounts, they wouldn't have; or hearing members of Gen Z talk about how they would delete all their social media if they didn’t feel such a pressure to stay online in order to stay connected to their peers.
Over half (53%) of the participants in EduBirdie’s survey said that they “hate that they’re chronically online”, and that 42% of respondents “worry the generation relies too heavily on artificial intelligence”. Due to the way that AI has entered and completely taken over education and the workplace, it is hard to blame young people using the tool to their advantage when everyone around them is using it, even if they do not believe in its use or believe that their peers are overreliant on it.
These concerns extend beyond AI and social media as well, with Gen Z wishing for a time when people faced fewer of the risks that are characteristic of the internet-age, such as online privacy risks, cybersecurity, data harvesting, or the physical impacts of screen over-use.
Conversely to these concerns, the survey did highlight characteristics of this era and traits of Gen Z that have positively affected areas such as normalising conversations about mental health, work-life balance, improving diversity and inclusion, and feeling empowered as individuals.
Therefore, even though the generation is proud of the progress they have achieved in certain areas, Gen Z’s longing for the past they never knew is their attempt to “slow down the page of change… it is not a rejection of progress - it’s a coping mechanism”.
Combining existential fears and anxiety over AI and technology, the climate crisis, the shifting political landscape, individual mental-health and wellbeing, and the concern that all this progress is happening at a speed quicker than what society can adapt to helps explain why Gen Z’s perspective on the future is one of caution.
It is examples like these why Gen Z is the generation calling for stricter social media regulation, increased digital literacy, and more effective education surrounding how young people use technology. Helping young people, both in their own generation and also in future generations, make smarter and more informed decisions about technology and navigating the digital landscape, means that they will be better equipped at finding that essential balance of innovation and technology mastery.
For all things digital literacy and digital wellbeing, check out the blog posts from our Gen-Z FlippGen Digital Rebels here: https://www.flippgen.com/blog
Allegra Cuomo
Digital Rebel, FlippGen ✌️
