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Gen Zers have been making fun of the early 2010s ‘millennial optimism era’ on TikTok this week, highlighting the naivety of the time. Compared to the cynicism of our modern world, it makes for a jarring case of cultural whiplash.
Anyone heard of ‘millennial optimism?’
A new trend has been making the rounds this week in which Gen Zers and millennials remember the hopeful romanticism of online spaces in the early 2010s. TikTok and Instagram posts are poking fun at typical traits of that era, sharing memes and jokes of coffee in mason jars, vegan baristas, selfie sticks, skinny jeans and pseudo pop-folk songs.
If you’re a younger Gen Z social media user, it’s likely that you weren’t yet old enough to fully appreciate the optimistic, inclusive, progressive momentum that was in the air during this time. It was the Obama era, baby; our pop music was all EDM, corporations were heavily invested in diversity and inclusivity, and twenty-somethings truly felt they were inheriting a better world from their parents.
In the five years or so that followed on from the financial crash in 2008, technology and social media evolved rapidly. New avenues of communication were opening up and the possibilities of the internet were still in their infancy. Young people could make content independently, share it with peers, and even make money doing so.
This was before influencer culture really took hold and algorithms changed the way we consume content, meaning that most of us were authentically sharing moments between friends online and having fun without stressing over personal branding or advertising opportunities.
All that might seem mundane today, but fifteen years ago it was innovative, exciting and fresh, though the semi-delusional positivity surrounding everything was to be short-lived. As we descended further into the 2010s, conversation around misinformation, bot manipulation, polarising political discourse, Silicon Valley supervillains and negative effects on mental health started to dominate.
Fast forward to 2025, and Gen Z are currently battling to stay afloat amidst a sea of AI content and short-form video.
They’re a deeply cynical generation who’ve come of age during a particularly turbulent time. With a pandemic, multiple economic recessions, climate change, failing capitalist systems, gun violence, impossible housing markets and a whole lot more on their plate before they even turn thirty, those rose-tinted millennial times of yesteryear seem like a particularly naive and ludicrous period, all things considered.
It’s interesting to see that specific time period be romanticised online today, especially from Gen Zers who didn’t experience it originally as adults. Could the Y2K fashion moment be fading? If we all start wearing skinny jeans again I’m officially using my ‘I’m too old for this’ card.
Optimism and hope feel like they’re falling out the back door and being left behind. As right-wing politics sees a resurgence across the US and Europe, and as climate change talks continually fail to reach any meaningful agreement, the idealism of those Obama years is a distant memory. Maybe that’s why it’s such a fascinating era to look back on – it all feels so alien today.
NOTE: We’re taking a short break over the Christmas period at Thred, so you won’t see The Gen Zer pop up for a few weeks! Don’t worry though, folks, we’ll be back.
See also:
- It’s a Wrap(ped): analysing Spotify’s Gen Z success
- Examining the rise of Gen Z’s global, digital rebellion
- Spending this festive season: a Gen Z dilemma
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