10 Things Millennial Kids Did Growing Up That Would Make Gen Z Cry
Gen Z wouldn't last an hour in the society that Millennials lived in.
Dean Drobot | Shutterstock Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, which makes them between the ages of 28 and 43 in 2024. They're sandwiched between Gen X and Gen Z, and while there's some social and cultural crossover between Millennials and their younger Gen Z counterparts, the differences in how they were raised are significant.
Because Millennials were born without access to the internet, many things that Millennial kids did growing up would make Gen Z cry with frustration and boredom. By virtue of living a life that wasn't chronically online, Millennial kids found creative ways to have fun and stay connected to their friends.
Here are 10 things Millennial kids did growing up that would make Gen Z cry
1. Living without social media
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Unlike Gen Z, Millennials didn't have constant access to social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Facebook was the Millennial entry point into social media, and its arrival on the scene was marked by its restriction to certain college campuses. While Millennials let their friends know their general mood or what they were doing via their AIM away message, there was no such thing as posting photos online.
The lack of social media provided Millennials with a certain amount of freedom. According to various research studies, social media consumption is a double-edged sword. In some ways, it enhances connection and a sense of belonging, yet it can also make people feel isolated and excluded.
As an article in BMC Psychology reported, one-third of young people think they spend too much time on social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Excessive use of social media is associated with lower psychological well-being.
The fact that Millennials spent their formative years without social media would make Gen Z cry.
2. Memorizing phone numbers
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Another necessary Millennial practice that would make Gen Z cry was the use of precious brain space to memorize phone numbers. Millennials had to – gasp! – call their friends' landlines in order to make plans. This often meant they had to – gasp! – talk to their friends' parents, or even worse, leave a message on the answering machine if they wanted a call back.
Because of the lack of cellphones, which automatically store phone numbers in their pocket-sized computer bodies, Millennials had one of two choices: They could memorize important phone numbers, or they could keep a notebook with phone numbers scrawled in it.
Chances are, if you ask a Millennial to give you their besties' phone number from 1995, they would be able to rattle off the string of numbers without any hesitation.
3. Burning CDs
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Playlists tailored to your exact mood and activity are cool, but you know what's even cooler? The tried-and-true Millennial practice of burning CDs.
If Millennials wanted to compile an album of their favorite songs, they did so in analog form. Millennials spent entire afternoons downloading fuzzy versions of their favorite songs from pirating sites like Napster (rest in peace). Then, they burned those songs onto a blank CD, and wrote out the tracklist on the CD itself with Sharpie.
It seems like a quaint practice now, but back in the day, burning a CD was how you solidified friendships and showed your crush just how much you liked them. While Millennials devoted much of their free time to burning CDs, the very idea of doing anything harder than making a Spotify playlist would make Gen Z cry.
4. Owning a flip phone
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Another sign of the bygone Millennials golden era was owning a flip phone. These early-model cellphones flipped open and closed with a satisfying snap of plastic on plastic. Flip phone owners could customize their ringtone by paying a fee to pick out a tinny, electronic song. Also included in the joy of flip phone ownership were endless games of snake.
Texting on a flip phone required people to press the same button multiple times in order to get different letters of the alphabet. Sending a text was a laborious process, and if Gen Z thinks that iPhone's autocorrect is annoying, they would absolutely weep at having to text using a flip phone.
5. Subscribing to magazines
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Before influencers did their thing, Millennials had to subscribe to actual magazines to learn about the latest trends. Gaggles of Millennial teens would crowd the aisle of CVS, flipping through the most recent edition of YM or Seventeen. Millennial magazine readers took quizzes that taught them how to flirt and learned what the best makeup was for their complexion.
Teen magazines of the 2000s contributed to many young girls' sense of body dysmorphia while peddling the impossible beauty standards of the era. While this all seemed normal to Millennials, the sheer toxicity would have made Gen Z cry.
6. Using actual alarm clocks
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Another piece of technology that Millennials relied upon were actual alarm clocks. While iPhones have replaced any need for the digital clocks that sat on nightstands in the 90s and early aughts, way back when, if Millennials wanted to wake up on time, they had to use a literal clock.
If you were lucky enough to have a radio alarm clock, you could get woken up by the latest boy band single. Otherwise, you had to endure the harsh relentless beeping sound that probably still gives older Millennials nightmares to this day. Hitting the snooze button required Millennials to actually press a button.
The presence of iPhones have turned alarm clocks into a true relic of the past, and the clunkiness of it all would have made Gen Z weep with frustration.
7. Taking photos with digital cameras
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Before iPhones made taking selfies easy, Millennials used digital cameras to take pictures, which seemed like the height of streamlined technology at the time. Gone were the days of sending canisters of film to be developed at the store, like Gen Xers had to do.
Millennials could take a picture and see it instantly, then take out the chip the photos were stored on and bring that to a store to be developed. There were no filters or stickers to edit photos with, but using digital cameras felt like a huge leap forward for Millennials, even though the idea of using them now might make Gen Z absolutely cry.
8. Collecting Beanie Babies
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After Magic: The Gathering and pog collections, Beanie Babies were the hot ticket item to have. Ask any Millennial about their Beanie Babies, and they'll assure you that one day, those tiny stuffed animals are going to be worth a lot of money.
Beanie Babies were brought into the world in 1993, and they were considered one of the first internet fads. Millennials collected Beanie Babies because they were cute, sure, but they were also told that someday, those Beanie Babies would be a collector's item.
Yet all good things must come to an end, and the crash and burn of the Beanie Baby craze left many Millennials with piles of plush miniature animals that weren't actually worth anything at all.
9. Doing research at the library
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Before dial-up internet became a marker of the Millennial past, students weren't able to find consistent enough online sources to use in their research for papers or school projects. Instead, they had to flip through thickly-bound, paper encyclopedias to find the information they needed. This often required a trip to the library in order to use their public collection of research material.
Millennials painstakingly flipped page after page and scribbled down notes in order to complete their school assignments. The sheer amount of effort it took to compile enough information for a solid paper would make Gen Z cry, because they have such instant access to all the world's information at the very tips of their fingers.
10. Sending chain emails
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Another marker of the Millennial past is the way they sent out chain emails to 50 of their nearest and dearest friends and most distant relatives. These emails declared that you would have a lifetime of bad luck if you didn't forward the email along, so young Millennials did exactly that.
Soon, inboxes were flooded with endless chain emails, and you had to make a painful decision: Would you delete the message and be destined for singlehood forever? Or would you annoy everyone you knew and send them the chain email, too?
Sending chain email certainly seems like an antiquated way to have fun now, but back then, it was serious business. The chain mail trend has found its place in the grave, along with Beanie Babies and flip phones, but it's just one more thing Millennial kids did growing up that would make Gen Z cry.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.