How Technology Influenced Generation Z

Then (Gen Y): First Phone

Image Source: Flickr user cygnoir

The oh-so-cool flippy Sidekick thing was your first badass mobile device.

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Now (Gen Z): First Phone

Image Source: Everett Collection

Now, kids can't remember the first time they got a mobile device — because they were that young.

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Then (Gen Y): Watching TV

Image Source: NBC

Everyone hung around the TV to try and sing Will Smith's The Fresh Prince of Bel Air's opening theme song.

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Now (Gen Z): Streaming TV

Image Source: Giphy

You plan a night with the crew to download the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Amazon Prime because apparently Will Smith used to have a TV show! Oh, and the theme song is so great that you look up the lyrics — instead of listening to it.

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Then (Gen Y): Using Your Phone to Talk

Image Source: Paramount Pictures

You used to call your friends on the house phone and talk for hours — until your mom kicked you off of it.

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Now (Gen Z): Using Your Phone to Do Anything but Talk on It

Image Source: Netflix

Never call any of your friends; only message or text them.

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Then (Gen Y): Use AIM For Everything

Image Source: Giphy

All you wanted to do after school was get on AIM and tell all your friends what happened that day but dial-up took forever.

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Now (Gen Z): Use Social Media to Communicate

Snapping, DM'ing, and GChatting your friends the moment something happens at school or work. No phone, no problem; just pull out a tablet or laptop and you're set.

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Then (Gen Y): Buy a Disposable Camera

Image Source: Giphy

You would bring all of those incredible party pictures from disposable cameras to show your friends.

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Now (Gen Z): Use a Filter That Looks Like a Disposable Camera

You spend time tagging your friends in party pictures — but with a filter that makes it look like the photos were taken on a disposable camera.

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Then (Gen Y): Make Mixtapes

Image Source: Giphy

You recorded your favorite songs on a mixtape to give to a significant other.

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Now (Gen Z): Make Playlists

Make a playlist on Spotify and text it to your significant other.

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Then (Gen Y): Fight Over the Game Boy

Image Source: Giphy

Nothing compared to fighting with your sibling to play Pokémon on a Game Boy.

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Now (Gen Z): Fight Over the Xbox

Image Source: Giphy

Logging on to play Halo Live with people all over the world.

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Then (Gen Y): Watch Music Videos on MTV

Image Source: MTV

You used to race home from school to watch the music video countdown.

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Now (Gen Z): Watch Videos Off of YouTube

Image Source: Giphy

You spend a Saturday night trying to learn Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance straight off YouTube.

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Then (Gen Y): Wait in Line For a New Book

Image Source: Getty / Ethan Miller

You waited in line at your nearest Barnes and Noble or Borders for the next Harry Potter book to come out.

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Now (Gen Z): Wait in Bed For a New Book

Image Source: Flickr user Joanna Penn

Downloading any book within seconds — and without midnight lines to wait in.

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Image Source: Disney

Each of these comparisons made me sad, knowing that my sister won't experience that analog version of adolescence. If I'm completely honest, however, I'm just as sad for my current self as I also struggle to keep up with the digital Joneses on a mass and impersonal level. The new normal for teens and adults alike is conversations getting belittled to 140-character blasts and keeping in touch is now reduced to "liking" #sundayselfies. It's an existence that leaves little room for the human connection, like those late-night three-way phone calls with friends that I took for granted so many years ago. I guess the saying is true — you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

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