Things Older Generations Find Strange — but Gen Z Sees as Normal

Every generation develops habits that appear unnecessary, impolite or risky to the people who grew up before them. For Gen Z, many of those habits reflect a childhood shaped by smartphones, unstable housing costs, digital work and constant access to information.

These patterns do not describe every young person, and many are spreading rapidly among older adults too. However, surveys consistently show that younger generations adopted them earlier and often treat them as ordinary parts of daily life.