what makes gen z humor so interesting?

this topic was super interesting to me -- i think humour is very impactful and it's cool to see how it progresses! i forgot to talk about how gen z love to ironically use emojis and how random it has become because it's such a new phenomenon.... like why is 🤸 so funny!!!
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: i'd love to hear what you all have to say *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 intro (no more millennial gen z war pls)
2:30 irony lesson stolen from jreg
5:13 gen z's unique use of meta-irony
7:04 schrödinger's meme & meta-ironic personas
10:27 gen z vs. millennial absurdism
13:26 dark humour & nihilism
17:52 potential danger of meta-irony?
★・・・・・★・・・・・★
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★・・・・・★・・・・・★
SOURCES:
A Decade of Dark Humor: How Comedy, Irony, and Satire Shaped Post-9/11 America (Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene)
On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far: www.pewresearch.org/social-tr...
Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins: www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...
What is the Age of Irony?: www.infobloom.com/what-is-the...
The Age Of Irony Comes To An End: content.time.com/time/subscrib...
Why is Gen Z Humor So Weird? (Mister Sweet): • Why is Gen Z Humor So ...
Coping with war and crisis through memes: www.vox.com/2020/1/17/2106511...
Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth after Postmodernism - Four Faces of Postirony (Robin van den Akker, Alison Gibbons, Timotheus Vermeulen)
The Isolation & Absurdity of Gen Z Humor: culture.affinitymagazine.us/th...
What’s Up with Gen Z’s Quirky Social Humor?: www.millennialmarketing.com/2...
The Shocking and Absurdist Humor of Gen Z: / the-shocking-and-absur...
The global events that separate Millennials from Generation Z: signpost.mywebermedia.com/2020...
Pre-Ironic Memes Retrospective: Understanding the Conception of Irony Cycles: • Pre-Ironic Memes Retro...
Eric Andre, Pioneer of Absurdist Humor: • Eric Andre, Pioneer of...
Why Is Millennial Humor So Weird? 👀: • Why Is Millennial Humo...
Post-Irony, Meta-Irony, and Post-Truth Satire: • Post-Irony, Meta-Irony...
tags: gen z humour, gen z humor, gen z memes, zoomers, gen z tiktok, tiktok, tiktok compilation, absurdity, absurdism, absurd humor, absurd memes, nihilism, nilhistic dark humor, millennial, millennial vs gen z, millennial humor, millennial memes, post irony, meta irony, ironic humor, cringe content, boomer, generation z, pov tiktoks, the age of irony, random quirky humor memes, reddit memes, twitter memes, tumblr memes, social commentary, internet analysis, social media

[@milk6982]

"kissing the homies goodnight" is a good example. just the one sentence can either be sincere, ironic, post-ironic, meta-ironic or schrodinger's irony all in the same sentence with no additional words.

[@agatainventio9464]

i am thinking about each one and me brain broken now

[@dapperfob6194]

how is this funny ? gen z humor is pure garbage imo

[@carseatheadrestenthusiast6663]

@@dapperfob6194 L + ratio + gen z humor > your entire bloodline

[@jerm_]

how is this no different than millennials "no homo" jokes in the early 2000s? oh yeah yall just barely started existing.

[@milk6982]

@@jerm_ no homo implies you wanna do it without being gay. Gen z doesn't say no homo. We keep the line between irony and reality very blurry

[@ezekiellaww2524]

Gen Z humor is an inside joke, but it's an inside joke that's never been explained

[@MatsYoo]

Its an inside joke that nobody understands and everyone is constantly changing it so it stays that way😂

[@sxmplyblossom8048]

im r 69 like, your welcome

[@aarepelaa1142]

Yeah i could just add something only i know like having my dick stuck in an elevator door and it wouldn't change.

[@r0sie.t3a]

The strongest form of “you just had to be there”

[@orangequill1645]

Yeah deadass,Eventually youll figure it out but be unable to explain it

[@Chimera6297]

1970s humor: "I hate my wife!" 1990s humor: "I hate my life!" 2000s humor: rickrolls 2020: "you ever be eating C O F F E E"

[@daanstrik4293]

Why did I laugh at this

[@shadowchasernql]

@@daanstrik4293 A perfect example of the point we're trying to make.

[@theuscivicsnerd7070]

“Hell yeah”~ My gen z brain reading the 2020 humor

[@leonivanka6656]

😂😂😂😂😂😂Gen z memz are too hilarious bro!!!

[@stpdfknbch]

Y'all feel like y'all are trying too hard to be gen-z

[@VivBrodock]

by showing memes in a completely serious and genuinely educational way this video is in fact an example of post-irony

[@efp7247]

Lol it's too complex at this point

[@ymmis03]

i'm confused?? wouldnt it be just sarcasm/irony because showing memes in an informative way is the opposite of what memes are for. could u explain???

[@jesther2575]

​@@ymmis03because genz humour is already ironic and absurd in itself

[@ymmis03]

@@jesther2575 ohhh thank you

[@maddypape]

can't wait until Gen Z people make up the majority of stand up comics, it's gonna be an absolute clusterfuck

[@aditi4455]

As a gen Z stand-up comic I can assure you that most of our shows will be at funerals of fellow Gen Z comics :)

[@mental263]

as an older gen z i cannot wait for that as well.

[@michaelkoyiet5684]

i just hope mfs is actually funny and not regurgitating memes though

[@Kiritomens]

@@michaelkoyiet5684 maybe funny, maybe not

[@flamingaish]

💀

[@beverycarefuljohn586]

Millenials weren't the first generation with self depracating humor either. Dark jokes were popular in almost every society that endured some kind of big tragedy.

[@Vastilious]

the jokes in russia in the 90s are a example of this

[@soobinsolos]

@@penetrasean well, u were first at creating memes because u were born first lol it's not a race. just enjoy the memes and shut up.

[@nerasomnia]

@@penetrasean ??? Didn’t you get offended first? ilovepizzayk’s comment really boiled down to “chill out”.

[@nerasomnia]

@@penetrasean No, just confused

[@thepooaprinciple5144]

@@penetrasean We Millennials are being overlooked, just like our parents did when we started being forced to understand and basically transform how the web functions.

[@sn33py]

I would say Gen Z humor is more absurdist than nihilistic, and understanding the role absurdism plays in how Gen Z approaches the world, as well as humor, is something interesting to think about.

[@AwesomeCadecraft]

As a member of Gen Z, I'd agree: the nihilism thing is one facet of our humor, while absurdism is sorta everywhere. Take some popular memes or videos from recent years: bread falling over, spinning rat, etc. That's what I find most unique: humor in the past always seemed to have a *point*, a message, and that's why people laughed. Now, when I laugh at a low-resolution spinning rat, it's purely because of the absurdity

[@geometerfpv2804]

​@@AwesomeCadecraftThat's not a "gen-z" thing, absurdism of that nature was around throughout my youth (age 33). There is always a certain kind of person that is into that. Novels have been written in that kind of style for decades.

[@sm1purplmurderedme583]

i’d say it’s both

[@GOTHPUNKLESBIAN]

@@geometerfpv2804 it being a gen z thing is in reference to the scale of absurdism, not the existence of it. i guarantee that Mongolian warriors on the Steppes in 300 AD would laugh their asses off at stupid, absurd stuff all the time, we're human. we just kinda do that. what makes gen z humor special is the scale in which it happens, the sheer amount of absurdity. absurdist, surrealist, and dark/nihilistic humor is much more widespread amongst us than really any other previous generation due to the global connection on the internet.

[@SaikiKFann]

​@@geometerfpv2804someone's jealous they didn't get a video 😮

[@AidZz]

my favourite part about gen z humour is that i am now physically incapable of taking something incredibly serious actually seriously because it just feels like part of the bit

[@19ars92]

That’s just you being mentally immature, has nothing to do with humor.

[@AidZz]

@@19ars92 good job, you got the joke 👍

[@19ars92]

@@AidZz right right ...

[@rexx2338]

​@@AidZzyeah man lacking the ability to know when to take something seriously is really interesting and cool thing about you

[@South-uh5wu]

​​@@rexx2338the response to the original commentor was ironic in that he was saying that he cant take things seriously, to which the reply responded in a serious manner. That is the irony.

[@supereggtartersauce6464]

Gen z humor is just “no think, just see”. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s unpredictable. Which is ironic. Because something being unpredictable all the time is also pretty predictable. Like that humor is randomly generated meme from a while back. We just want our brains to consume something without thinking about it. We just want to be mentally stimulated. Things that are abstract and absurd are pretty stimulating.

[@lemurluver12]

Big agree. Lots of shock value involved, lots of making light of dark topics. I feel like some humor makes me so uncomfortable that it’s somehow funny? especially if it’s relatable

[@johnindigo5477]

I always felt the best comedy should be unpredictable. Not random just always catching you by surprise.

[@johnindigo5477]

@@lemurluver12 I see that too. Making an audience uncomfortable, feeling uncomfortable at a joke, or seeing someone else this way usally adds great comedic effect. Cringe humor, taboo subject matter, and shocked reactions are most of the content I see people my age being interested in.

[@johnindigo5477]

Basically gen z wants to be entertained. Compilation videos are a great example. The best scenes, the editing, captions, the comments.

[@nadiaishimwe3663]

The "no think" part made me break out in laughter, wtf😭😭

[@fishfinnns]

Gen Z humour is really just one big inside joke.

[@Eorzat]

This is the perfect synopsis.

[@dream.5708]

This!!

[@rockaria11]

YEssS

[@muroojmokake8620]

finally someone who gets it

[@jusvibe_]

and whenever u try to explain to a millennial they just never seem to get it

[@moltenink9137]

Honestly I think a major source of the meta-irony humor is the constant state of attack younger generations are under and the realization that you can't change people's minds, so mocking their attempts at ridicule is the apex response because the target of the meta-irony doesn't understand and has no response to it.

[@jessicam3707]

In my day Millennials called this “trolling”

[@lou3806]

@@jessicam3707Lmao

[@an3_omx]

Idk man I don’t feel under attack I just find this stuff funny

[@geometerfpv2804]

You CAN change peoples' minds...but not by doing the thing you're describing. That just serves to confirm their expectations. In my experience in the workplace, gen Z tends to think they have a lot to bring to the table even when they are entry level, which is false. Yes, enthusiasm and inspiration is good, but compared to a person with a decade of skill and experience, you're basically just getting in the way. That's how all of us started our careers. Gen Z seems not to accept this position. That's the biggest problem I run into. People aren't trying to "attack" them, they are just treating them according to the reality...but gen Z feels attacked and disrespected. Things like shutting down their ideas, not being open to their criticisms, telling them they will get it when they're older and so on feel like attacks...but once you have a decade of work experience, you realize they were right about you. I think gen z takes this harder than prior generations for some reason. I think they just had great expectations about their impact on the workforce. They respond by "quiet quitting", which I think is kind of just "adjusting to reality" like we all did. I think the thing that would change peoples' minds most effectively would be just to accept whatever circumstance your superiors install you in, and listen to the people who claim to know than you...they do! Try to do what they want. This can actually work. You CAN get to a place where you have control and autonomy and the ability to be creative...it just takes time, and careful strategy. Certainly you don't go straight there out of college. You'll have plenty of time to implement your own creative vision later in your career.

[@ariezon]

@@jessicam3707 tad bit of tomfoolery.

[@GeoX_Boss]

Just the unpredictability and randomness of Gen Z humor make it hilarious and the fact that we laugh at it senselessly makes it even funnier

[@black369ace7]

I remember seeing a post that categorised the generations like this: Silent Gen = denial Boomers = anger Gen X = bargaining Millennials = depression Gen Z = acceptance This could explain why a lot of Gen Z humour is based on the fact that they’re facing the harsh reality of now whilst reacting in a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ kind of way.

[@sukiymo6284]

Interesting how those are the exact five stages of grief; in order too. I wonder what theme will define the next generation.

[@normanclatcher]

@@sukiymo6284 It'll just move on down the ladder. Boomers in denial, Gen X angry (or just grumpier), Millennials bargaining, Gen Z depression, and Alpha... will amusedly become the new meta.

[@InfamousHate]

this doesn't make sense. every generation understood the bleakness of life and the way people approached the nihilistic view of the world depends on the person, not the generation. its completely ridiculous to say that gen z understands the idea of fleeting happiness and grimness of the future more so than other generations. furthermore, from my understanding, i feel as if this video conflates nihilistic humor with meta-ironic humor. nihilistic humor has a purpose: to show the nihilistic aspects of life in a humorous way. the joke has an audience, an author, and it is meant to make a point. on the other hand, meta ironic humor has no purpose. there isn't suppose to be an audience. the humor itself isn't suppose to exist for an audience. its not even suppose to be a joke. the author doesn't even know what they made. it is both nothing and something. because of this, neither the author nor the audience are suppose to "get" meta ironic humor. for example, there is no such thing as a meta ironic persona. if the creator understands there is a persona, then it is just irony. meta irony would only make sense if the creator himself doesn't understand whether or not the person in the video is himself or the persona. because of this, the idea of meta irony having its "self inseparable from the comedic product" doesn't make sense at all.

[@normanclatcher]

@@InfamousHate You basically just admitted to not having watched Jreg content. The ambiguity exists, and there is space for a performer and persona in there-- distinguishable, irreconcilable, and thoroughly, _authentically_ irony-poisoned comedy.

[@InfamousHate]

@@normanclatcher um, no? the key idea is that something can't be meta ironic if the performer knows what they are doing. jreg clearly understands what he is doing. jreg is playing a character who is uncertain of his beliefs, ideas and personality. this character is the one displaying meta irony, not jr egg. because of this, jreg's content is not authentic meta irony. jreg's content is summed up as, in literary terms, pseudo meta ironic humor because jreg is ironically playing a character who is meta ironic. comprende, norman?

[@JREG]

Let’s analyze some memes sometime

[@crake9510]

I was so confused when she mentioned you. Jreg has transcended

[@oliSUNvia]

i feel like i'm dreaming, call me descartes or whatever

[@Jreg2]

@@oliSUNvia The Gods collab :D

[@al3ph35]

This feels like a meta-ironic pickup line

[@nostalgicgirrl6053]

I just read the video title and I was like - THATS JREG! only to find your comment here. P.S. a rabbit hole down your videos is super depressing for a turbulent politically confused dialectic personality like me 🥲

[@jaelleouapou4578]

I always get confused when ppl say we grew up with social media. I feel like it didn't become a part of my life until middle school which is still young but definitely different from having it around as an actual child.

[@boredrat2573]

I feel like most of us had KZbin as kids and that’s a social media just not as social as say instagram.

[@lai7469]

i think what people mean by this is primarily youtube. although, gen alpha are going to get it much worse than we did - they’re fed youtube as babies, and then most are on tiktok, instagram, snapchat, by the age of 8 or 9.

[@Sunnysideup420]

@@lai7469 I think it’s more we grew up with the internet than social media. We also had our own sites to go to. I know a lot of people who used to go on their school computers and would go on coolmathgames or club penguin. Now, a lot of us still went through seeing content we shouldn’t see, but we still had these websites that were made FOR everyone. Unlike gen alpha that only has Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Flash games are now dead. Websites like Club Penguin are also dead. The kids don’t have a website to go to anymore that is appropriate for them

[@jacobbartlett331]

In all fairness I’ve known multiple people who have received phones as early as elementary school

[@dashaa6174]

@@jacobbartlett331 jeez. I got my first phone when I was like 13

[@maiii420]

as an autistic person, this helped me to understand more of my own generation. amazing essay!

[@G59forlife.]

Ye

[@Mmmkaramel]

The best way I can explain our humor is a giant inside joke that we all know makes no sense and have accepted at this point

[@irenecentelles3676]

Like life?

[@dragonblade4125]

@@irenecentelles3676 Exactly

[@JimDodahday]

So life?

[@dragonfly6347]

No life?

[@NuMaiStiu69]

@@dragonfly6347 yes life

[@alienatedlibrarian5017]

I think the millennials' dark humor has that bitter edge because we were born into a world that promised us everything and didn't deliver. Gen Z was born on a burning planet. They accept hopelessness as part of the human condition.

[@Copyright_Infringement]

I literally saw someone say exactly this 5 years ago about Millennials, as compared to Gen X. Perhaps these two generations are not so different from each other

[@dynawesome]

Yeah honestly in many Gen Z circles believing in the American Dream is a fringe idea

[@gregpaul882]

That’s because gen x and millennials were all raised by boomers. The only difference is young millennials were steeped in internet culture from their formative years. Gen Z has always been online. I think most of the humor is really directed at the constant flood of media consumption.

[@alienatedlibrarian5017]

@@gregpaul882 Certainly the shape of the humor has almost everything to do with the internet.

[@mr.wonder4629]

Things are not that bad. Zoom out. It is a miracle.

[@lizan1993]

1993 Millennial here, i absolutely adore gen Z. I don’t always get the humor and am not on tiktok. But me and my 30y/o friends tend to be in this state of passive negativity. We are bitter because we don’t own a house and will likely never be able to afford one. My 20-23y/o friends will be like “why would you need a house? I’m gonna live in a van” and I’m like ‘??’. There is this lightheartedness and creativity that helps me change my perspective on negative stuff in society. My youth in the 90s were great and careless, but that time has past, we need to find the carelessness in ourselves to stay hopeful in this time

[@owiwie]

Honestly, I think that despite everything olivia just said and a gen z myself, another key difference is that there's a lot of underlying hope. Most people I know are gonna go chase their dreams regardless of whether or not they think it will work out, which leads to a kind of fearless individuality that usually we have a hard time doing in regular day to day life, like the way we dress or joke for that matter

[@jonny-dp2qr]

Good on you for not wanting to live in a van. I don’t think it’s a good thing

[@kalla103]

exactly! this lightheartedness is much needed!

[@owiwie]

@@user-ox7uw2lu8d agreed, I think it's important to recognize our problems which is why I made it a point to say I agreed with Olivia on most of her comments about gen z. If that wasn't clear in my original comment, I apologize :)

[@zelowatch30]

Gen z is too hive minded.. they spam comments saying the same thing and think repetition is funny

[@ruoye7]

What i also find interesting about gen z humor is that you genuinely have to be near chronically online to understand all the jokes. I deleted tiktok for a long while and redownloaded during the grimace milkshake memes era and I literally had no clue what the hell was going on😭

[@MG-SM]

bro, not even the ppl watching know what is going on.

[@allosaurustime]

Yeah, and memes “die” really fast too which doesn’t help. There’s this idea that you always have to be relevant with the memes, so if you leave an app and come back later it’s an extra weird experience. I went inactive on Instagram a few years ago and came back while the amogus sus sussy memes were in full swing and it was nuts. I didn’t even know what among us was even though it had become popular

[@Im0nJupiter]

I think there's a significant link being missed here, which is that a lot of Gen Z was raised by Gen X. Gen X is also infamous for their absurdist humor, largely due to A) boomers being their parents and ruining the planet B) Vietnam and 9/11 C) living through two recessions which wiped out their hopes of retirement. We have a front row seat to the misery of our parents and adopted some of their coping strategies, but are so desensitized to misery by now that everything is a big joke--no matter how terrible. I feel like Gen Z is carrying the torch for Gen X, Gen X which was beaten down politically, never really stood up for themselves. I think a lot of us want to change that. It's also why boomers are such a target for our humor and Gen Xers mostly avoid our ire.

[@ariquarius2939]

isn’t the silent generation born around WWII?

[@Im0nJupiter]

@@ariquarius2939 Fuck, you're right lol, it's corrected now

[@jgr7487]

Gen X is the only one so far that gave rise to 2 Gens: Y & Z!

[@anshi5098]

I love Gen X so much. While my parents dont get the gen z humor they dont find it that absurd either.

[@peoplespoet1974]

@@anshi5098 Yeah, I am Gen X and my son (10) is Gen Z. His short crazy Tik-Tok funny videos I laugh at as well. Understanding the humor in English 80's irony reminds me of this as well. My mom,....a Gen boomer, finds his short videos bright, loud and horrifying. They don't seem to like the mic distortion scream effects they like to use at the spazzy end of a short clip. I get it. Funny sometimes. Like the two black brothers who beat each other up then one's mouth turns into an alarm siren? Mom comes in and beats everyone up. Ha ha ha.....funny....

[@lemurluver12]

I don’t know if gen z is hopeful, I think we kinda collectively just know that everything shit but we’re just taking it day by day and trying to be happy in the midst of the chaos…. idk tho

[@lemurluver12]

great video tho :) I learned a lot and I’m glad I found u!!

[@mojojojo4726]

yeah

[@pancake4027]

I think it's more of a desensitization to bad things from our overexposure to all the shit going on in the world via the internet. We don't even care anymore. We see people dying and people being persecuted and war crimes being committed on a regular basis thanks to the internet, so instead of doing something about any of it, we make fun of it, because we're used to it. We don't take it seriously. She brings this up at the end of her video: the dangers of irony. Nothing matters anymore zoomers get the feeling that shit going wrong is the norm. So people joke instead of act

[@leaderoftaehyungnation9766]

@@pancake4027 yep.. i think this sums it up perfectly lol. for example the ww3 memes 😭 (but i’m sure lots of millennials participated in that too)

[@TTTups]

there is something to it in poland it's kind of a joke that people you wouldn't expect to be nice are nice like it's funny that there are people who help hedgehogs and friendly ask people about their gender to not misgender them and these people speak in a way that guys you would expect to be bigoted and angry speak so it's kinda like haha see there still are good people and love

[@zahubshahid7944]

Olivia's point about Gen Z joking about really messed up subjects is on point. There was a meme I saw recently that had two guys sitting in a classroom looking directly into the camera. And the caption was "me and my homie looking at the quiet kid loading up a M16A4 with carbon fiber suppressor but we can't say anything because we're mewing." That meme had me laughing hard for 2 minutes. It's terrible but like... the absurdity of two people not warning a classroom full of people because they're mewing had me dying laughing.

[@inanis6707]

We were born in dark humor, molded by it. Millenials merely adopted it

[@omerabouzeid4484]

Can’t tell if this is meta irony or not😭

[@miovi123]

@@omerabouzeid4484that means they did it right doesn’t it

[@_sayan_roy_]

Yes, thank you. Millennials are equivalent to the Batman and you Bane. You will die soon with a peak happening but no one will remember your villainy like the iconic Joker. A good villain or anti hero but that's it. Nothing noteworthy and significant.

[@Hoodie_HD]

@@_sayan_roy_ lmao okay

[@zoc2]

Three thoughts mainly went through my head: 1. I forgor 💀 2. I feel bad for future history students dissecting political memes 3. 🚁

[@dominikweber4305]

Helikopter helikopter

[@dobbysrightsock]

adding ussy to the end of every fucking word 💀

[@dominikweber4305]

Zacharussy

[@zoc2]

@@dominikweber4305 lol

[@dobbysrightsock]

@@dominikweber4305 WHY

[@helldeirch]

I wonder if Gen Z kids will still find Gen Z humor funny when they're 30 years old

[@uboa8060]

Judging how "sus" is an integral part of my vocabulary, I feel that it won't ever go away

[@MarcusCollins69]

@@uboa8060 E A sports

[@jdcsiahaan]

@@MarcusCollins69 BEANS

[@MarcusCollins69]

@@jdcsiahaan BA ba boy

[@wouldbegood]

@@uboa8060 "Gay" used to be an integral part of millennial vocabulary.

[@Banex01gosha]

My problem is when I try to explain post and meta humour to my elderly relatives they think that gen z made these types of humour up, but in fact at some point in my life my humour naturally evolved into post/meta irony and only after several years I learned about post/meta irony

[@eges72]

I observe that more depressed and stressful people laugh at this type of humor harder than lesser ones

[@whatdadogdoin_]

"jkjk. unless..." is probably the embodiment of meta-irony lmao

[@zulthyr1852]

I will sacrifice the entire Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine so that I can conduct genetic experimentation to create the perfect waifu. Jk, unless...

[@whiteface513abandonedchann8]

Fr tho

[@omgitzpaige2013]

“are you kidding?” “only if you want me to be”

[@arogueburrito]

it's apathy in a way, like "wanna go out? Jk... unless?" As in, that would be desirable, but whateves

[@iantaakalla8180]

So “what if we kissed … Jkjk unless” is Gen Z humor?

[@Mr0nknown]

I think Gen Z is really all about absurdism, from their meme formats to the lighthearted jokes about bad events. I think they have simply heard so many "bad news" that they simply started to find it funny how everyone is constantly overreacting, and it started to appear "absurd". They lost their seriousness about these kind of things. And this bleeds into their humor as well. Well, that's just my take on it :)

[@flow1465]

It's not just Gen Z though. It's going on for a long time. When tragic struck, people try to make fun of the tragedy as it's fun and people can relate to it. Yeah, the means of saying it are different, but to be honest there's nothing to be proud of it here.

[@flitefulwantssubs402]

It's not that people are overreacting about problems, it's that we are constantly exposed to faults in the world that we grow numb to them. Our heightened awareness also closes our awareness of issues in a sense

[@Atmnoah]

i think its a way to cheer us up from the constant input of negative news coming from social media

[@joez6235]

Not only that, the memes give meaning to the absurdity. It's refreshing to be able to accept that something isn't supposed to make sense

[@EKIANandWolvesGaming]

that's Horazonki Japan in a nutshell

[@itrashcant7947]

I feel like Gen Z is simultaneously in despair and willing to make a change. Like “nothing in life matters” but instead of seeing it as fruitless struggling, seeing it in a way to create our own meaning.

[@Biglight127]

That's happened with every generation.

[@dreamingofthemoon]

This!!

[@takebacktheholyland9306]

Sisyphus

[@moafwaz5563]

shit posting on the internet isn't creating your own meaning.

[@cory9820]

this is why we invented ~ tone indicators ~ bc being autistic is harder than ever rn i personally love them

[@thunderbirdx7173]

I fear for what the NEXT generation of humor is going to be.

[@Pollicina_db]

Minions will have a comeback

[@Gotze_TH]

Being born in a quarantine must be pretty interesting, there are already videos of little kids not knowing what a dog is, i don't i feel like they are gonna be even weirder than us.

[@rockypikmin4493]

It doesn't go any lower from here. The next generation is going to loop back to "Fire look funny. Fire dance."

[@lilac_reed]

Bold of you to assume there will be a next generation

[@kirstein6564]

@@lilac_reed OMG

[@naomibelet]

hot take: the "✨c h a o t i c e n e r g y✨” of gen z humour is parallel to the "i'm so random rawr XD" part of millennial humour.

[@unes8766]

history repeats itself lol

[@naomibelet]

@@unes8766 exactly. Same thing with “politically gen z is actually hoping to change things” - that’s just young people in general. In 2007 before Obama got elected everyone was hopeful for change and they were fighting for it. I sound like a pessimist hahaha

[@ilianmandev]

lol and on top of that, now gen z also makes fun of the "chaotic energy" "omg im such a crackhead" type of humor. the amount of layers is endless.

[@ayatoculus]

not a hot take, this is just a fact.

[@naomibelet]

@@ilianmandev the internet has always been a never-ending game of oneupmanship - everyone’s just tryna prove they’re ahead of the curve so as soon as something’s popular, it’s lame. Once we accept that deep down we’re all lame, we find ourselves on the only true path to peace ✌️😩 🕊 💯

[@cookiestyleguy5886]

As a member of Gen Z, one who is less in tune with its humor, I’d also like to point out an interesting thing I’ve noticed. It seems that with Gen Z being so enthralled by post-irony and meta-irony, not only is sincerity less prevalent, but so to is single layered Irony. I’m a very sarcastic person who in some degree enjoys irony of all forms. But when I make a simple sarcastic statement, I am often baffled by how many of my peers do not pick up on or understand such simple irony.

[@troll_486]

its because there is already too much irony in our jokes/memes that often we don't even recognize what is and isn't irony its like irony-meter went over the limit and its starting from the beginning again and again and we have no idea if its 105% ironic or just 5% as she said, the important part is the source of the joke, if you read your friend's joke, you will always get it right, because you know that person and what he means by that, but when you meet a random internet person, you lack context and you try to guess based on previous expieriences with the topic

[@Ragdoll161]

Yeah, there's so many instances where someone says something, and I can't tell if they're joking or genuinely upset or WHAT I've seen things like "can you recognize how someone's feeling by body language and facial expressions" And like- I know what they're SUPPOSED to look like, but we've developed the habit of saying things so deadpan and not expressing our intent outwardly that I just- I can't tell I do the same thing, because I love deadpan humor and it's gotten me in trouble because my dad doesn't understand it 😭

[@Biglight127]

It's funny, gen z will grow out of all of this and realise how stupid they sound.

[@dashaa6174]

@@Ragdoll161 literally! Everyone just says everything deadpan. My friend said Oh I want to die in the most unemotional way possible but somehow I knew she was joking. It's pretty weird

[@Tt-qm2xg]

I'm a millennial, and I've been a youth worker for around 4 years now. I can say whole heartedly that I've never felt so out of touch than when the kids are joking (with me, at me, because of me in spite of me.... I don’t know - yeah yeah irony). Its actually refreshing and I'm so glad I'm getting older so I don’t have to keep up anymore. Its fucking exhausting, and you all do it so much better than us. But you'll never pry the step brothers quotes, gifs or emojis from my cold, dead millennial hands. 😂😂😂😅 Plus the knowledge and introspective you have is impressive. Just like this video, it makes me hopeful for the future. Every chance I get, when speaking to other millennials, gen x and boomers, I like to argue with them about zoomers. You lot are hilarious little sincere weirdos, and have such an amazing, free spirit, one I haven't seen since the 90s. Ignore the old farts, you'll all do fine. ✌️

[@samanthakittle]

I believe alot of Gen Z humor is an evolution of Tumblr humor, Ive noticed that alot of memes Ive seen are just recycled tumblr posts or could plausibly be tumblr posts.

[@thepastaprogenitor851]

That, vine humor, and whatever leftover remnants of 00s humor in 2015/16 are definitely the starting point of modern meme culture

[@whiteface513abandonedchann8]

Think of it like... a single celled organism repeatedly splitting and growing. Pathetic at first, Boomer humour. Recognizable and appreciatable on some level halfway through, Millennial humour. A tumorous cancerous mess growing and spiraling out of control consuming many completely unrelated things as it assimilates absolute havoc into itself, Gen Z humour. Classic Tumblr humour is somewhere between the 2nd and the 3rd and modern Gen Z humour is now the 3rd

[@App.ollo_]

Most of them are now, also Tumblr posts

[@DaviRenania]

Tumblr and 4chan. It's the doomsday fusion.

[@donniedewitt9878]

You mean 4chan posts

[@khaledfaisal5192]

15 years later and this will be dad jokes

[@zulthyr1852]

God I wonder what those mfs born in 2014 or something would come up with

[@user-du9on6wr8e]

@@zulthyr1852 I don’t even want to think about it

[@qqq3494]

@@zulthyr1852 idc and i don’t want to know because their generation is called generation alpha which automatically makes them absolute assholes

[@zulthyr1852]

@@qqq3494 yeah theyre gonna send vr gore doujins to gen z

[@alvinsmith3894]

Stop I'm already meta cringing.

[@BardovBacchus]

I'm a history geek, so your comment about, "Gen Z weren't the first generation to make self deprecating humor. Millennials were!" This makes me think of The Lost Generation after World War One, and I chuckle in Gen X. Modernity started about 200 years ago, but it does change with every new generation, because technology. I love young folks. The kids are alright

[@superevilvillain]

I think my favourite kind of memes at the moment are those that take ideas so far from meme culture and recontextualise them into meme/social media formats as an absurdist contrast. For example, most often they are things from childhood (iconography, imagery & language from books, film/TV/games and 2000s culture), think "wizardposting" or funy monke memes. A meme I love is "party rockin with a mouse tonight", which is so childish, but has no discernable level of irony, it simply embraces the pureness. I also love when memes will use words that are far from intenet language, such as the [ "bro... the ramifications" "I forgot about the rammys bro" ] meme, or when Twitter replies will be full of people saying "bro's discombobulated💀💀" Often they will also emulate online culture of the past (if it's old enough), or the way children use social media. I feel like the humour comes out of repurposing that which is pure and childlike and devoid of irony, and embracing them whole heartedly, in a kind of freeing way. There's so many memes from my LOL!!! folder that i'd attach if it could.

[@zahubshahid7944]

You explained my favourite style of humour so eloquently.

[@deaa.9292]

I believe a general explaination for what Gen Z humor is like is the fact that we made these emojis "😭" and "💀" expressions for when something is funny. If you give it enough thought, it makes SO much sense.

[@Tri-otus]

I’m trying to figure out how it couldn’t make sense :/

[@whatelsedoc2604]

Wrong, that's all x, you z's would call this an "L" or a "newbie" fail

[@freya6921]

@@whatelsedoc2604 nobody ever says “newbie” anymore.

[@whatelsedoc2604]

@@freya6921 No they just coined it

[@randomnoob101flyhightweek]

@@freya6921 idfk mah dude

[@meis18mofo77]

I feel like most Gen Z memes only contain the punchline which is why they are so confusing whenever you don't know the, often very scattered and obscure setup. I'm Gen Z and even I have to sometimes google what the fuck some memes are about and sometimes I stare at a reddit add for a couple of seconds, trying to understand the joke before noticing it's not some uber absurd meme but an add.

[@dreamingofthemoon]

Yess exactly

[@arfamaul6326]

the,

[@etherealstars5766]

@@arfamaul6326 Spunchbop?

[@Illessan]

Yeah this does bother me a lot, because most people won't do that google. So many times I've had to step in and moderate meme channels because someone's posted some crypto fash shit that they just thought was abstract absurdism

[@buggalo]

there have been soooo many times I've tried to figure out what the joke could possibly be on ads. sometimes that alone will make me laugh lmao

[@purpleknight043]

I love how analyze everything and yet try as much as possible to stay unbiased, you are freakin awesome for showing the world your research

[@Charles-472]

Gen Z humor's ability to laugh at the darkness exposes a fundamental hope for the future that the generation holds. No matter how bad the world becomes, Gen Z isn't convinced it can't be undone.

[@kevinduliesco5468]

Gen Z humor is mostly satire,we've accepted or kinda know what's been going on and just convert it to humor,it's kinda an inside joke,in which you will only get it if you know the topic or the meme template

[@dreamsalongthepath7377]

It’s why boomer memes aren’t seen as funny.

[@emilv.3693]

I don't like inside jokes that much, mainly bc I'm never on the inside of them

[@gudinesangelicau]

Y e s-✨ but sadly no one of my school friends understand mine, even though I got into memes back in middle school- and I had friends throughout the year-

[@kira-lilym6363]

"look at this graph" absolutely NEVER fails to knock me out i wasnt expecting it and i splurted

[@NonaMoreau]

I don’t get it please explain 😭 I know explaining a joke is not it, but still

[@doraaaa0613]

no cuz i was dying 😭😭😭

[@Purplesquigglystripe]

@@NonaMoreau he’s holding up a graph

[@halaman9500]

😂

[@evil_bnuuy666]

@@NonaMoreau the original lyric is "look at this photograph", which by itself isn't funny because it's intentionally sentimental. Transformation of the snippet into the "into look at this graph" is non-sensical and unexpected cuz "i don't remember that being in the song lol" and who tf cares about graphs so much to write such a song about them? ig that's why initially it was funny. Even tho the original vine had some meaning in it, it has been converted into a meme classic that people use as a reference. Vines have become their own entity so don't dig too deep into it

[@autumncortright]

This is an AMAZING video, thank you so much for taking the time to make this!

[@L0rar3]

Ngl, your videos are so interesting on a social, philosophical and historical level Thx for creating your videos! I'm honestly really interested but also scared of what our society might become and what my generation makes of it. I definetely think that we are a generation more aware. Maybe thats because many of us never had to actually fight for survival, part of it probably also comes down to globalization and the rise of the internet. But honestly I'm happy that most people of our generation at least try to be aware and also think a lot about morals and each others feelings and all consequences. Other generations might see it as "lazy" behaviour or so, but I think it's one of our greatest strengths to acknowledge our weaknesses and whats currently going wrong.

[@iseetheendisnear2416]

I’ve noticed that embracing cringe and sincere ironic enjoyment are a big part of it. Where once we constantly made fun of “cringy” behavior, now we admit that we’re all cringe, that it even should be celebrated. But this may loop back around into being “quirky” and “chaotic” and therefore too sincere to be appealing

[@supersucks]

who needs to be based when u can be cringe 🚀🧎🏻‍♀️🍗

[@tink6225]

cringey people live happier tbh

[@sampalguita]

im cringe but im free

[@The-Devils-Advocate]

Doktor, turn off my cringe inhibitors

[@landonkam6727]

This explains why I unironically enjoy cringy fanfictions, they are enjoyable because they make me cringe, but also I can see the admirable amount of dedication they put into something they like.

[@rchow8051]

I’ve seen gen-z humor memes of the most random ass images and words slapped together and it’s the funniest shit ever. Idk why it’s so great, but I find myself crying from laughter.

[@elmaxo1591]

But when its always random is also predictable, so i dunno

[@someonewithandwithoutthoug3414]

Shocking!!

[@thomasluffman8605]

L E M O N

[@hentai6582]

Short attention span.

[@eep_eep]

Yeah I there was this flag with the face on this anime character I like alot on it, and I stood there for FIVE MINUTES laughing at it humor is broken

[@stankydummy5846]

filthyfrank/joji was a big thing that shaped my humor as a late 2003 girl

[@jackiehedges320]

I think it's difficult for Gen Z to see how their humor and ideas are an extension and progression of millennials, as is probably true for most generations. Especially in your late teens/ early 20s, people think theyre on some new, different shit, but then as they age they start to able to see the larger context.

[@sharkattack2903]

I’ve never seen someone be this serious while showing a slideshow of memes on a screen before and it’s making me laugh even harder

[@tistachowdhury2920]

That's pro meta irony

[@rimiy]

@@tistachowdhury2920 😂

[@georgiasomething2064]

I had to switch my laughing smiling face with my stern listening/ concentrating face like a light bulb 😂

[@umopapisdn.]

im ur 2k like

[@dreamsalongthepath7377]

@Georgia Something lol that itself sounded like a gen z meme.

[@safala]

Personally, I think gen Z humor is just us laughing at the randomest (I know) shit we can't explain why it's hilarious.

[@len0_069]

* inserts bread slice falling video*

[@safala]

@@len0_069 You. I like you.

[@alaskabane5340]

It's also like accepting all the shit thrown at Gen Z, like the worst that can happen? Death? Yeah we are fine with it

[@safala]

@@alaskabane5340 Definitely. The fact that we are living in a planet that is burning, a economy that is spiraling down and with people whose ignorance is reaching sky-high is worse than death.

[@alaskabane5340]

@@safala Honestly, it also makes sense that this is the generation with all time high rates of depression and anxiety, since we are constantly exposed to these things via internet (which admitedly was not something millenials had)

[@Ari-qw9ec]

This video is being mliked for every penny I'm 1/2 way through and I have been interrupted by ads 6 times

[@astromos]

What a great comprehensive video on this obscure topic!

[@nookers]

as an older millennial born in the 1980s, I was considered eccentric and even crazy/insane for some of the meta humour I tried to pull in the 2000s... but now I thank the youngers for doing it and doing it well. I feel better.

[@nookers]

and I'm not taking credit for Gen Zs unique brand of meta humor.

[@nookers]

Just appreciating it.

[@sebdapleb1523]

@@nookers we can tell that your from the 80s cause you don't know how to edit a comment

[@johnnyzain2072]

@@sebdapleb1523 ur so rude for what?

[@dr.alphys]

nice!

[@casuallavaring]

I wonder if Gen Alpha’s humor will be built around total face-value sincerity. If you’re born into a world where irony and postmodernism is the norm, rebellion means being completely earnest

[@randomnoob101flyhightweek]

but anti-memes are also funny, sincerity is funny and all the levels of irony are funny. everything is funny if theres no context, funny, if there is context 50/50 chance of being funny. so ab 75% of things are funny

[@randomnoob101flyhightweek]

and yes, i did a smart and did math lol

[@F4ulpilz]

really good point, I also thought about that

[@rexnemorensis8154]

Exactly, the thing with gen z is that they were born into a loud world, where the entire cultural space was saturated with the madness of the other generations. This explains the desire for exclusivity in their humour, as opposed to traditional humour trying to be more universal. Thus, they didn't develop a sincere cultural voice and instead have become a generation of court jesters, rightly mocking the others, sometimes out of compassion, sometimes out of resentment. The downside of making everything a joke is that it removes the option for sincerity, with no leg to stand on it opens the door for total chaos. Generation Alpha will either return to sincerity, and reclaim truth and authenticity from the ashes of nihilism, turning from technology back towards the state of Being. Or be overcome by nihilism and follow it further still.

[@Some-Rage-Inducing-Provocateur]

@@rexnemorensis8154 ", where the entire cultural space was saturated with the madness of the other generations" If you say that Gen Z has not committed any madness, then you would be wrong. They have been pushing dishonest progressive left-wing leaned politics in the entertainment industry, promoting intolerance of certain things that are part of human nature.

[@nhiem8264]

thx Olivia! this was very insightful as to y we laugh at and make fun of the most unfunny, over-used phrases, and depressing subjects :D

[@deffonotmisty]

i thought I was the only one who found this interesting tbh, ty 4 making this ! :)

[@thepoglin8479]

A way to describe it is that every layer of irony feels like its almost trying to satirise the layer before it

[@usualdosage7287]

All those deep fried screenshotted memes are the perfect example of this, literal layers of editing

[@andrewsoe8374]

@@usualdosage7287 Deep fried memes are not an example of that

[@littlemonztergaming8665]

@@andrewsoe8374 If anything brings you closer to the relative truth of an idea, it's worth considering on the path to truth. It's like explaining school subjects to a child, you need to relate it to their world experience or they won't get it.

[@christopherrayner9392]

@@littlemonztergaming8665 Did you just try to wax philosophical about deep fried memes?

[@conman-sr5md]

​@@christopherrayner9392 they were just being post-meta-ironic, get with the times bozo 🙄

[@skeletonera9869]

gen z dark humor is knowing everything is shit and laughing light-heartedly about it. Im gen z and whenever I watch something sad I laugh even tho its not supposed to be funny,(my mom thinks its really weird) I just dont like everything being so serious so I try to mock what ever I can to lighten the mood

[@yooseul__]

bro same when it’s serious i get hella uncomfortable so i just kinda adapted to laugh when i’m sad

[@skeletonera9869]

@@yooseul__ yea haha my mom thinks im emotionally stunted or something

[@iamdissapointed6810]

@@yooseul__ same when something serious or sad happens i kinda just laugh and get uncomfortable.

[@nickniehaus1763]

@@yooseul__ so you dont really accept anything and remove yourself from real emotions and dont deal with anything at all?

[@yooseul__]

@@nickniehaus1763 what 😟🖐 when things get heated on like politics, race,the world problems, ect i get uncomfortable and turn it into a joke so i laugh to avoid things

[@justmikasu]

i've been looking for this swer for so long now !! i had a hard time identifying the joke from my generation anf i can't tell if what they're saying real or just a joke (i feel such a old person for not be able to identify the joke 😭) tysm for making this video! 🙏🏻✨

[@galacticfrenchfry6582]

She really did an academic level research on this I love it 👌👌

[@anav390]

In my Spanish class, we've recently been learning a lot from the Baroque era. And let me tell you, I could not stop thinking about Gen Z humor. The way that they combined tragedy and comedy was certainly unique and a lot more elaborate than what we could ever do, but just knowing the way in which they compared death to so many things and tried their hardest to make it seem like some sort of masterpiece without being too pretentious, is just gold. I think that in a way, the people in our generation will grow up to be quite similar to the poets of that era

[@entretenimiento3347]

Your comment make me remmeber the pastoral novels of Spain in wich the characters are crude and use this humor in tragedy like some in the Celestine, Lazaro de tornes and others

[@MrThoughtfox]

the difference is the development of media and speed and spread of images and information. Baroque era might have developed tragicomic scenes and scripts in public performances and frescoes over months - gen Z will record and cobble together a video in a day.

[@tiagosobral7139]

Also I'd like to add how ironically philosophers spoke against religion while seemingly supporting it during the renaissance is pure gold, this coupled with the fact that the stakes were super high and you could be burnt alive if caught.

[@dsylexic]

el pepe

[@DaviRenania]

@@entretenimiento3347 Picaresque and Chivalric Novels are generally very funny but with a grim dark undertone.

[@vanessa-iv8qz]

It’s also local. Outside of the west, genz humour is different. I can already see I’ll love this video

[@stavripapaleontiou4384]

It's so amazing to think about this. As someone who doesn't live in the west we also created our own humor for our generation!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@oliSUNvia]

so true!

[@stavripapaleontiou4384]

@AnOriginal Name Totally agree on that

[@vanessa-iv8qz]

@AnOriginal Name maybe the format, I’d argue. But the content is very regional. Socioeconomic politics and local news, in general, influence most of the memes genz does over here. Not so much self deprecating humour per se. But your point stands still tho!!

[@brutus3631]

absolutely, I'm from Poland and a lot of our memes have the same template of metairony and tropes but it's made in different ways making it have a different vibe

[@OmegaMultiplayer]

I'm surprised there was no mention of Poe's Law, since that is pretty related to this Schroedinger's Meme.

[@neozionrodriguez2887]

something about her voice makes me want to listen carefully what she has to say I like the goes to lengths and detail's of what she's trying to talk about love this channel

[@jvno8868]

Gen Z humor is basically 13 jokes quickly told and you managed you laugh at all of them within 2 seconds

[@billygreggory7899]

Xavier renegade angel

[@joelcoll4034]

That's not all gen z humor

[@tuxtitan780]

​@@billygreggory7899that show is a fever dream I love it

[@billygreggory7899]

@@tuxtitan780 Same. I basically have it memorized

[@axelanderson2030]

​@@billygreggory7899 that's not really the same

[@gameinsane4718]

“Look at this graaaaaph” out of the blue always breaks me

[@dominikweber4305]

Look at this giraffe

[@ZacTBH]

it's just so absurd lol

[@erincorcoran5936]

It's always the cut to his just dead eyed smile that kills me

[@HeavyMetalorRockfan9]

@@erincorcoran5936 same here, don't know any other meme that fucking ends me the same way

[@Thaloop255]

Graph goes 📈 📉 babushka

[@Forklift_Enthusiast12]

I love juxtaposing philosophical and/or heavy subject matters and silly cat images :3

[@user-om1zy2rr7q]

my english is bad and it was first time, when I watching video without subtitles. but you explained that so simple and I understand everything!!

[@josephmama5355]

I feel like while gen z’s humor seems random, I don’t think it’s out of a love for randomness exactly. We literally make fun of the overly random cause its just kinda cringey? I feel like what our humor essentially is is an absurdist rebellion against previous ways of thinking. We have gathered online and created a culture that feels very separated from other generations, and we express that in our humor by being anti what is traditionally seen as good or sensical or intelligent. So when something represents this by being so stupid its funny or so absurd its funny we love it. Our humor is more a love of the absurd than the random i think

[@rainbowzzzplayzzz]

a love of making fun of the love of the random in a way, which in itself is a love of the random because the only way to be satirically random is to be random which is the funny part

[@imnottellingyoumyname7122]

I wrote a paragraph somewhere else in the comments section but essentially, I think we have surpassed randomness/absurdity in some way, saying somthing Normal is just that, normal Saying somthing absurd and acting as if it's absurd is the next step, however it envitably becomes unfunny if said enough, to remain funny the tone shifts to Saying something absurd and acting as if it's normal, the joke being that the speaker is unaware of the strange nature of the action and has embraced this action as normal There's probably even more layers than that too

[@codyshelley9022]

your pfp is kinda a perfect example barney is supposed to be round and soft looking but your pfp is super exaggerated/realistic and buff barney and it’s hilarious

[@enjatro6408]

YOUR PFP IM WHEEZINFNGNFF

[@josephmama5355]

@Lauri London I actually think gen z is way more open and accepting then previous generations, though that might just be cause i'm from a super diverse area. I think we'll see a shift once gen z is actually old enough to be in positions of power

[@sofija3349]

In a lot of online spaces, there has actually been a big increase in telling the audience when something is ironic or not! Especially on Twitter, I’ve seen loads of people using tone indicators. This makes jokes with layers of irony more accessible to people who have trouble with reading the tone/context of joke, and therefore makes more gen z humor accessible to more/different kinds of people :)

[@christenp4671]

sadly people won't put it in wide use because it takes away the inside joke feel of stuff. i like using /s tho

[@kita3914]

what if someone uses tone indicators ironically?

[@sofija3349]

@@kita3914 I’ve seen a lot of people speaking up against people using tone indicators ironically, even though it’s bound to happen :( I think the best we can do is make sure it’s clear that it’s a tool and not a joke, even if people still misuse them

[@kita3914]

i mean what's the point of making joke by telling them it's a joke

[@sofija3349]

@@kita3914 for example, you might use it if you’re insulting someone jokingly and want to make sure they know it’s not serious

[@evdrivertk]

Thank you for the excellent video and helping me (A Gen-Xer) understand not only how by why humor has changed. It really helped to know that meta-irony requires knowing the giver of the irony ahead of time. As your top commenter said, it's one big inside joke. Not only a coping mechanism but to jab at "older" generations for not being up-to-date with the current "in" knowledge. Again, a sincere (level-0) thank you.

[@JayFlamby]

Touché. I respect the effort and how thoughtful your video is, it was very interesting. I'd just add that in some cases, I'm not so sure wether some of these millenials/gen z differences come from generational culture, or just from age itself. Like the subject of being clear about dark humor: we can't deny that gen z have specific codes and appreciation for it, but i think no matter the generation you tend to become more serious about it while aging and younger people tend to be more lighthearted anyway. I'd even say i feel like gen z today have more depression issues than millenials/gen y 10 years ago.

[@mariaconnell]

in short form, our humor is basically a coping mechanism

[@rowanfroese8577]

Humor has always been a coping mechanism, we just took it to the extreme

[@crazybabuskaman3923]

@@rowanfroese8577 Exactly. Humour is something that makes us laugh even when our days are shitty, that’s the whole point. HUMOR is a way of coping with pain or sadness. It’s a way to feel better in this shitty world

[@gudinesangelicau]

I- ur right 😃

[@thisismahba9935]

I feel like Gen Z's accepted how terrible this earth really is, and they've seen how terrible things are/can get. I think it's pretty obvious that this generation would be filled with activists, since they are in a world where people freely talk about how terrible things REALLY are, which then make them feel hopeless. I like that you emphasized the hopelessness that Get Z and millennials feel. I feel like not much people talk about the "how," instead they blame our overexposure of the internet and move on with their daily lives because there are "more important things to worry about." We are the next generation, how we act is justified. Millennials and Gen Z should stand together, both generations make a powerful duo.

[@creatingvideostobreakmyspe6049]

I feel like this sense of despair is often too much and people are honestly using both memes and this nihilistic ideology to become sort of counter culture, which is ironically becoming mainstream. I guess that sentiment is just as funny as the kind of stuff that passes for humor nowadays.

[@authenticbaguette6673]

I feel as if this nihilism/cynicism has the opposite effect, it's part of a larger cultural trend that is bent on pacifying the people who cannot escape their awareness of the brutality of this late-capitalist, post-Cold-War hell hole we live by pushing these people over the edge and selling them despair. It's evident, although it might not have occured to you, in the way you say "...this earth is terrible" or things along these lines that paint the nature of our civilisation as something far more immutable than it actually is. It's a form of collective, concerted even, amnesia. A few decades ago, nationalised, free healthcare and higher education used to be the norm. Now people are labelling single-payer healthcare as "commie utopianism." Scientists 50 years ago were actively warning us, and had reached consensus about climate change, and now we are "debating" it with right-wingers for smug "gotcha" points and internet cred, as if that's all we are good for. To quote Mark Fischer's "Capitalist realism": "...It's easier [for people] to imagine the end of the world, than to imagine the end of capitalism."

[@Kittycat-fv9tk]

Yeah, there is a big sense of hopelessness and some people have given up, but there are many, many activists trying to actually create change. Personally it's like a "wth have you done with the world it's getting murdered I'm not gonna sit around when I didn't choose to kill the planet" so like indignant and feeling like it's unfair so it creates even more motivation to not take it lying down beyond the "don't want to die" reason because that won't keep me going. We have dark humor that acknowledges the fecked up world we live in and has a way to cope with it while spreading awareness. A kind of light-hearted "world's dying guess we should do something" vibe. At least that's what I think.

[@thisismahba9935]

​@@Kittycat-fv9tk I agree with you!

[@Nezumi99]

i feel like gen z tend to put responsibility on everyone BUT themselves. like...oh my parents did this, my boss did this, my friends...i am like this because men...i am like this because women...they didn't accept it, they basically rather be whiny babies then do something about it. and i say that as an early gen z

[@jillianroselovesfilmandchurros]

This is one of the most intelligent explanations I have heard on the internet about generational differences which I have been trying to learn as a millennial trying to better understand gen z and gen alpha. But I also think that meta humour is not necessarily new, for example norm macdonald was quite meta as a comedian. I think meta humour is becoming more widely normalized with content creators having instant access to creation rather than having to jump through all the hoops that past entertainers have had to. In the past, I am willing to bet that most meta humour would have been shut down before it was aired, because those not making the connections would think the comic was nuts rather than funny. I think meta humour is just a lot more easily validated nowadays since people can easily find their tribes online. One thing I still struggle to interpret the meaning and purpose of is the memes with a bunch of random letters as text. Is it a form of trolling or is there an origin reference to those?

[@jackyhii5655]

oh god i pity the generation that has to study our humour

[@chirulitos_9959]

if the earth doesn't die before they get the chance to 💀💀

[@jaylin9998]

you’ll soon pity yourself for studying your kid’s humour in the future 💀

[@magiveem]

@@jaylin9998 if they have any

[@someone-re7sq]

if there even is a next gen

[@emilv.3693]

@@magiveem that is entirely up to you...

[@vladalexander7489]

Gen Z humor also ranges from extremely absurd humor like the "bogos binted 👽" or "I forgor💀" to what I can call "Optimistic" or "Utopian" humor such as the Gigachad and chad memes. I think that those Gen Z memes are a way of escaping the reality and often boring situations we live in (even the woret stuff that happened in the 2010s+ have just become too common and ppl have grown tired out of it) coupled with the inability to enact meaningful change (ex the bushfires in early 2020 and the ww3 memes). By this I mean that the surrealist humor distract us from the normal life, and the utopian memes show a common goal of an utopia where people wish to identify themselves in it. We see content creators such as Kracc bacc making the most absurd memes using random memes like the "John Xina Bing Chilling video", the "Chinese Eggman Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao" and a strong emphasis on the "Reject humanity, return to Monke" memes, imo a sign of willingness to escape the cruel reality of all the social problems we are faced with -> desire to leave responsibility and just play like the Monkes. We also have on the other hand content creators like Millenia Thinker that make use of the wojack series of persona to show negative traits like simping, thotery and narcissism which provides a solution : The Chad Formula. This is imo the utopian Gen Z idealism, a personification of what so many want to be. Such desire is also explained in many videos created by Meme Analysis (honestly if you don't know these people I suggest you watch a bit, the content is great on all sides) which dwelves into psychology to explain the Chad memes and the "GF series" of dreams. So all in all I believe the two faces of Gen Z humor is a "Responsibility in moderation" where the content produced and consumed ranges from the most radical absurdity to figures of common sense, admiration, and the ideal "Ubermensch". It ranges from the most entertaining content to ground-based addressing of contemporary problems not via fighting those problems directly, but rather making yourself the Chad instead of the simp (throwback to my point of inability to meaningfully change the world except yourself). Thx for coming to my Ted Talk)))

[@ezracarson4543]

Don't know how this affects your thinking but you should know that the chad/virgin meme format and the gigachad meme both started on 4chan and came with all the racist and sexist baggage you'd expect from that website. In fact, a great deal of meme types and formats have a similar lineage. Not that they can't be transformed for other less ugly uses, but it's also not something you can overlook.

[@pangolin0]

@@ezracarson4543 Actually I would say that you could easily look past it. 4chan contains living people that are capable of producing creative works just like anyone else except they are often made with crap smeared over it. All you gotta do is wipe up the mess. A diamond is still a diamond even if you found it in a garbage tip. I think caring about where an idea comes from is limiting. Someone who is regarded by society as bad is able to speak something of value. Someone who is regarded as being good could actually say something that isn't.

[@ezracarson4543]

@@pangolin0 I agree mostly, the only caveat I'd add is that some memes just by their structure can imply certain frameworks that cant be transcended within the format of the meme itself. A chad/virgin meme (just for instance) is pretty much always gonna imply that heiraechies exist, and that they can be identified and labeled.

[@yaboibobby7776]

I forgor 💀

[@eternallyidyll]

@@yaboibobby7776 LMAOAO this is great, very on topic with the video. the typical use of the skull combined with the misspelling combined with the fact that you literally copied that from the comment- this is funny and if you need an explanation watch the video.

[@alabaalala7272]

Subbed for 2 weeks but only watched this video because of the Chinese subtitles lol (my bad) it's super rare to find English speaking videos that don't primarily target Chinese audience to have Chinese subtitles. Keep up the good work!

[@dylancope]

I was born in 1996 and of all the things I've seen discussing this, half put me as a millennial, and half as gen z. I once saw (I think on Wikipedia) that some put my age group as "cuspers" or "zillenials". I think the categorisations are a bit pointless. For the purposes of the discussion in this video it mostly depends on how online you were from a young age. I grew up with a lot of absurd, nihilistic, and "edgy" memes - stuff like KZbin poops, 9/11 memes, climate change memes. I think the part of your analysis that I found most persuasive was that younger people seem to be more willing to have non-anonymous absurd personas. I think this is probably to do with a higher saturation of a person's real life social circles being very online. When I was 15 or so, a handful of people in my class were very online and we shared absurd memes and had these kinds of personas among ourselves. But it wasn't until Vine came along that people really had an online platform to express it (Facebook was/is shit and YT was too much effort for most people).

[@morningmorgan6341]

I’m just stuck on how you described an entire generation with “rawr XD potato” and I feel attacked 🤣

[@christianh2581]

I have now idea what a "rawr XD potato" persona could be (even after googeling for it). I feel old now 😅

[@clowdyglasses]

@@christianh2581 depending on how old you are i don't think it's possible to explain it to you. Not because "bleh you're too old to know this" but because of how convoluted the timeline for the internet's history is

[@catcat4697]

@@christianh2581 in as few words as possible, it comes down to acting childish to appear more adorable.

[@jasmintea8825]

So...is your "😂" emoji sincere or ironic? Or post ironic? Or meta??

[@valenmoshi]

@@jasmintea8825 Ironic emojis 😩

[@JamisonMyth]

I think the young person's urge to categorize their humor as a new misunderstood innovation is just the mirror reflection of the old person's urge to dismiss young peoples humor as childish non-sense. In both cases a generation claims their humor as more advanced and accuses the other generation of not being able to understand their superior humor. Comedy comes from subverting expectations, so if your expectations are sufficiently different from someone else's the same joke won't be funny to both of you. That's why its easier to get jokes from people your age than the jokes of people much older or younger than you. If you saw surrealist humor from the 60s you wouldn't even know it's a joke, just the same way boomers don't get deep fried memes.

[@et5895]

THIS. THIS. THIS

[@pencil6965]

Finally a sensible take

[@possums154]

Wait show me surrealist humour from the 60s you've piqued my interest

[@racermk8759]

@@possums154 yeah I’m interested to

[@FLmanispretty]

Except the gen-z humorists don’t even bother accusing older generations of not understanding, we just don’t care

[@mothdotslot]

the dear sister song is actually called hide and seek! its by imogen heap (:

[@mrowner100]

You are so so cool olivia!! I'm literally planted right between gen z and millennials ('97), but this gave me a lot of context either side of my sense of humour 😅

[@sarahp7748]

I think that Riverdale was actually Meta- ironic and it just went completely over our heads.

[@bethanyblonder]

god i hope this is true LMFAO

[@EliteNormie]

Yeah I honestly think the creators were trying to cash in on the absurdity so that more of those television critic KZbinrs bring more attention to it. Negative reception is still reception

[@rainbowzzzplayzzz]

i see the the world completely differently now. this also makes sense because they completely changed the original story from the comics. it was all to get people riled up.

[@haleyelizabeth5501]

THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS SINCE IT CAME OUT AND NOBODY BELIEVES ME. this is why i like the show. no it's not technically a "good show" but i feel like that was the point because they were being meta-ironic. that's what makes it good. because it isn't good.

[@ketokeko]

if riverdale was just a big ironic show then it would became my favourite, but sometimes it feels like they're really being serious or at least in season 1

[@burstness]

Boomer humor: "I hate my wife" Millennial humor: "I hate my life" Gen Z humor: 🚁

[@_shadow_1]

Boomer humor: "here's the joke" Millennial humor: "I am the joke" Gen Z humor: "The joke itself is funny"

[@eges72]

1980s humor: "I hate my life" Gen Z humor: *kratos falling meme*

[@5391andrew]

Thats funniest shit i ever seen

[@3oddsocks47]

This is so fucking funny 💀

[@ianchrist8281]

ELIKOPTER ELIKOPTER

[@BrassicaRappa]

Great video! I feel like there might be something worth looking at back in the early 20th century to with the existentialists and the dadaists...

[@cybersandoval]

aside: your point and example of how adding layers of irony undercuts what is or not seen as ironic, insightful, casual genius

[@irishempire9811]

Born in 2005, so a Gen Z here. Can confirm random shit and loud noises is hilarious, but i have learned to accept that the world is a pretty shitty place and theres not much we can do about it.

[@Effiesubs]

ur user💪🏻

[@z_bennet4208]

yeah like doing “whatever i can do” is my motto. ive seen too many things to give a fuck about it 😀

[@wildcardjoey4776]

Not much we can do in the short term*

[@Lyonessi]

Naive take but then again you are only 17

[@steveisthecommissar4013]

@@Lyonessi is it not partly true though there is nothing we can really do about it in the short term most of us can’t vote nor make an impact on the road yet

[@Shashu_the_little_Voidling]

As someone born in 1997 I genuinely find myself caught in a void between these two generations, relating more to both with different things at different times

[@selenajarv8763]

Bruh for a second I read 1997 as 1797 Yes I am very stupid

[@zynthio]

Zillenial gang

[@bruce-le-smith]

generations do overlap / it is complex

[@danielhuang2488]

same. i'm 1998

[@otakumangastudios3617]

Also, people like to make these dark lines about generation, but you can't really. Some of us genuinely grew up in environment that really resembled the '80s and '90s, I didn't interact with anyone on the internet I didn't already know until quarantine

[@UrMom-rs1jw]

I recently rewatched some episodes of big time rush, and I’m convinced that part of our feeling for absurdism originates from that (and shows that are like btr)

[@pathic2449]

When I saw that you had all of your sources in the description, I actually said out loud: "oh my god, you wonderful person." Thank you for citing your sources

[@evo2542]

Next gen will probably loop right back around to just "layer 0" sincerity, tired of the crazy random absurdism their predecessors, Gen Z, have defined themselves with. Either that, or it will go another layer deep, making fun of Gen Z humor.

[@RandomAmbles]

Why wait? Serious sincerity is the shit.

[@BD-yl5mh]

I think I’ve actually started seeing sniffs of that started to appear. There’s a bit of a movement of “you know what? I actually really like this thing. Who wants to talk about that?” I reckon there’s already an undercurrent of people really desperately wanting to communicate honestly without 15 layers of meta-ironic, pseudo analytical, partially detached, anti-capitalist, anarcho-pugilist, certified fresh baggage piled on top.

[@FresoVODs]

¿Por qué no los dos?

[@maddie67]

this is likely due to the law of diminishing marginal utility

[@satyakisil9711]

That's what whatifalthist said.

[@firelaf1284]

Being born 1997-1999 is such a weird limbo land. You were old enough to be on the internet during the Tumblr, old KZbin meme era, and you're still young enough to be understand gen z humor.

[@-drome]

truth

[@skyguy8786]

born 2000 and same.

[@ceciliocedonoblocnote]

real

[@thotieprincess7190]

born 2002 and same

[@samp4656]

the layer numbers correspond to french for "degré" of speaking -1. 1st degree is sincerity, 2nd degree is irony, 3rd is irony of irony etc...

[@OfficialWorldChampion]

“Gen Z humor” is something that only really exists online, which is a huge drawback when compared to the type of humor that takes brain cells to create

[@evelynbutler7026]

Ok but imagine how good the memes would be if the internet was around during the cold war

[@cvbattum]

Welcome to March 2022, where you no longer have to imagine!

[@altobonifacio8936]

Noggos in the cold war be like 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶👍🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶

[@thechumbucket8986]

If among us was around during the cold war the world definitely would have ended

[@turmoilbreaker9301]

@@thechumbucket8986 when the east is sus

[@distortedideas9612]

@@cvbattum OH MY GOD LMAOOO