Gen Z & Alpha Could Never Handle These 11 Things That Were Part Of Millennials' Daily Lives
Roman Samborskyi | Shutterstock Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, which means they're now fully grown adults, often raising kids themselves. While much of their daily lives were full of mundane activities that Gen Z and Alpha could never handle, they were the first generation to be raised with internet in their home for most of their adolescence and likely had cell phones as teenagers.
Millennials, the generation Brookings calls "a demographic bridge to America's diverse future," gained a lot from their exposure to information in their early years, but not all of that was for the better. Still, Gen Z and Alpha likely find that childhood quaint, as theirs has been so dramatically different.
Gen Z & Alpha could never handle these 11 things that were part of millennials' daily lives
1. Living without social media
Antonio Guillem | Shutterstock
Millennials didn't have constant access to social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram, and many think Gens Z and Alpha simply couldn't handle it. 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 is also shown to make people feel insecure, stressed and depressed. These effects are especially potent in teens.
As an article in BMC Psychology reports, 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.
2. Memorizing phone numbers
NDAB Creativity | Shutterstock
Gen Z and Alpha likely couldn't handle the daily millennial task of memorizing all their friends's phone numbers. Yes, they used their precious brain space to memorize phone numbers, including their parents at work and likely even their grandmother.
Millennials had to call their friends' landlines in order to make plans. This often meant they had to 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. Some families had a shared phonebook with alphabetized entries.
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. It might drive Gen Z and Alpha crazy, but it's pretty impressive!
3. Burning CDs
Dasha Petrenko | Shutterstock
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) or their friends' CDs. Then, they burned those songs onto a blank CD, and wrote out the tracklist on the CD itself with Sharpie along with a doodle, maybe.
It seems like a quaint practice now, but back in the day, burning a CD was how you solidified friendships or showed your crush just how much you liked them. While millennials devoted much of their free time to burning CDs, Gen Z and Alpha could never handle it after a lifetime spoiled by services like Spotify.
4. Owning a flip phone
insta_photos | Shutterstock
The classic millennial and Gen X flip phone is a burden Gen Z and Alpha simply could not handle. These early-model cellphones flipped open and closed with a satisfying snap of plastic on plastic. They didn't have the internet and only later models had cameras — and the quality of the photos was abysmal.
Flip phone owners could customize their ringtone by paying a fee to pick out a tinny, electronic song and, eventually, could set it to buzz instead of ring. Also included in the joy of flip phone ownership were endless, very simple games like 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
Dasha Petrenko | Shutterstock
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. Once those were read, it was a long wait until the next issue came in the mail.
Millennial magazine readers took quizzes that taught them how to flirt and learned what the best makeup was for their complexion. They also learned to flip to the back, first, to read their monthly horoscopes.
Teen magazines of the late 90s and early 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
DG Fotostock | Shutterstock
Another piece of technology that millennials relied upon in daily lives, but Gen Z and Alpha likely could never stand, were actual alarm clocks. While smartphones 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. And sometimes they didn't work.
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 smartphones has turned alarm clocks into a true relic of the past, and the clunkiness of it all would have driven Gen Z up a wall.
7. Taking photos with film or digital cameras
wavebreakmedia | Shutterstock
Before smartphones made taking selfies easy, millennials used digital cameras to take pictures, which seemed like the height of streamlined technology at the time. By the time millennials were in middle school, 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.
While Gen Z and Alpha have found a new passion for old(er) cameras, if they had to give up their smartphone cameras, they'd definitely be disappointed.
8. Collecting Beanie Babies
maxbelchenko | Shutterstock
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
Gorodenkoff | Shutterstock
Before every home had the internet, and sometimes even after, 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 or filed through drawer after drawer in the card catalog.
This usually required a trip to the school or public library in order to use their public collection of research material. There, 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 is likely something Gen Z or Alpha could not handle. After all, they've had a lifetime of instant access to all the world's information at the very tips of their fingers.
10. Sending chain emails
U_Photo | Shutterstock
Another marker of the Millennial past is the blight of our generation's past: the chain email. This is a scourge Gen Z and Alpha could never handle, and they'd actually be right in that choice.
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. Others promised magical results if you shared it with 20 of your best friends.
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 Gen Z and Alpha would never stand for.
11. Circling items in catalogues for holiday and birthday wishlists
Pixel-Shot | Shutterstock
Receiving the excessively thick Sears catalog was a feature of millennial early childhood. Circling the toys or clothes they wanted for holiday gifts in the winter edition was a rite of passage Gen Z and Alpha could likely never handle. After all, they're used to being able to add things to a list with one click on shopping websites.
Still, Gen X and millennials adored their catalogs. Before the internet, it was the best way to see what was new or to preview what toys you might want. On top of that, there were no smartphones or e-readers or tablets to entertain you in the bathroom, and catalogs were just the right amount of entertainment.
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.
