I always rolled my eyes Generation Z’s TikTok obsessionuntil I realized I might be worse.
Five years ago my life split in two. My partner and I left London, the place where I had grown up and built my adult life, for a small village in rural Cambridgeshire. We had just hit our thirties, still felt invincible, still went out late, and still thought we would be the cool parents one day. Then the pandemic hit and I had three babies in less than three years. Like many millennial parents, I found myself raising small children while my own world shrank to the size of a screen. My social life, my work, even my escapism moved online. It wasn’t all hustle and bustle. It was loneliness. And I didn’t realize how much of myself I had lost because of it until the night I finally stepped out and walked into a room full of teenagers.
Generation Z is blamed for phone addiction, but millennial parents may be worse
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A friend’s band was playing a gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. It was our first night out in five years. No pregnancy. No newborn strapped to me. You don’t have to rush home before falling asleep. The two of us, dazed and unsure, but out.
I expected glowing phone screens, half-watched Instagram Stories, maybe a hint of sadness at what youth culture had become. Instead, I saw point-and-shoot digital cameras. Teenagers were genuinely happy to be there. A long line for CDs and vinyl.
It was not an isolated moment.
Gen Z is bringing back physical media in its own way
Luminate reported that vinyl album sales have increased from 13.1 million in 2016 to 49.6 million in 2023, and that vinyl buyers remain younger. According to them Music closing at the end of the year24% of consumers purchasing vinyl from independent record stores were 24 years old or younger, while 41% were under 35. Gen Z’s love for vinyl is about more than sound. It’s about feeling and something real.
The band we went to see, Panchiko, had formed in the late 1990s, recording music in a bedroom and burning it to CD-Rs before they came of age. In 2016, a Gen-Z teen found one of those discs at a thrift store, uploaded the music online and inadvertently helped launch a cult revival. Now the band is touring again and playing for large numbers of children born after their break-up. When I looked at that audience, I couldn’t help but compare them to my own generation.
Millennial parents didn’t grow up online, but adulthood has drawn them there anyway
Our personal histories are scattered across Facebook albums, tagged photos and dormant blogs. We work on Teams, parents via WhatsApp, and celebrate important life moments on Instagram. We didn’t choose it, we adapted. And somewhere along the way, many of us stopped noticing how much we had given up.
Generation Z, who grew up within the algorithm, on the other hand, seems to be already looking for the exit. Pew’s 2024 Screen Time Report found that 38% of teens say they spend too much time on their smartphones, and about a quarter say the same about social media. Many teens are also trying to cut back. Pew found that 39% say they have reduced their time on social media, while 36% say they have cut back on phone use.
It’s not that Gen-Z has completely rejected technology. It’s that they create rituals that slow things down: vinyl, flip phones, disposable cameras, personal connection. Photos that look real.
Meanwhile, we all live with robots in our pockets. Pew also found that 47% of parents say they spend too much time on their phones. By ChatGPT to app-powered recommendation systemsAI is now shaping everything from our shopping habits to the way we process our feelings. It’s convenient, but quietly unnerving.
The boundary between man and machine is blurring. And perhaps that is why the hunger for authenticity is starting to break through.
Generation Z may be more aware of screen addiction than adults give them credit for
That evening in Camden reminded me that connection is still possible. That attention, once fragmented, can be gathered again. That meaning does not have to come from speed, but from silence.
We often joke about how addicted teenagers are to their phones. But what if they are the ones who lead us out of this mess? This is not a generational war. But it’s worth recognizing that the generation we call “digital natives” may already be pushing back more consciously and creatively than ever before.
Our children are growing up in a world that we can hardly predict. But maybe what they inherit isn’t just burnout. Maybe find a way to find balance technological tools with the need for depth, presence and time away from the screen.
That evening reminded me not only of who I was, but also of what I still want to pass on. No anxiety, no exhaustion, no distractions. But the hope is that they know when to log out. And remember what it means to be human.
Susannah McIntyre is a writer, communications strategist and mother of three. She has published articles in the Independent, The Times of London, Medium and Huffington Post, among others.
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