I just discovered I'm a Zillennial, sandwiched between two generations I don't identify with. Here's what that means.

In case you missed it, we’re in the middle of a war. The war between Millennials and Gen Z. 

To recap, it all started with a few Tik Toks going viral about how Gen Z think Millennials are, well, a bit lame. They think it's very out of fashion to part your hair on the side, wear skinny jeans, or use this emoji: 😂 

It was all just some innocent fun. But once Millennials heard about this, they became a little... defensive. 

On TikTok Gen z is telling everyone side parts & skinny jeans are out of style & this girl really just said “I’m sorry but I’m not going to let the generation who ate Tide pods dictate where I part my hair or what kind of jeans I wear.” And I’m ✨deceased✨

— Kaci Campbell (@Kaci_Breanne) February 1, 2021

if you were born 1995-2001ish you r elite because you're not embarrassing yourself like the younger gen z kids who never used tumblr & are recreating tumblr cringe vibes on tiktok, but ur not so old that u care about gen z kids not liking ur skinny jeans

— jenny craigslist (@crazyfrogfan420) February 19, 2021

Now, I'm technically a Gen Z (born in 1996). And I was automatically seen as the enemy among my older colleagues. But somehow, I was also the enemy of my younger sister, who knows that I secretly own and love skinny jeans. 

Confused by this entire situation I did a little bit of research to determine what camp I belonged to.

How to spot a millennial. Post continues below.

The answer? 

Both. And also neither.

I'm a Zillennial.

Zillennials are born roughly between 1996 and 1999, and are stuck between Millennials and Gen Zs. There are parts of both generations we relate to and parts we don't recognise at all. 

Most of our conversations with Millennials start strong as we discuss Gossip Girl but then trail off when they bring up Gilmore Girls. 

Similar to Gen Z, we can talk about how much better the Snapchat filters are than any other app, but just stare at them blankly when they ask us how many streaks we have…

Basically, every conversation we have with either generation results with us either lying about things like “oh yeah I remember dial up :) ????” or “of course I know all the members of BTS :) ??????” 

WHAT IS ANYONE EVEN TALKING ABOUT. 

Due to not many people knowing (or caring) about the Zillennial struggle, I thought I’d break down some other, less common popular trends from each generation and explain where we stand.

GEN Z: Embracing the ugly

Gen Z don’t wear any “coverup” makeup. Meaning the makeup that they do wear is fun and fresh and also shows off their blemishes. They announce to the world that they’re embracing their true selves and taking the ugly back. 

Zillennial are also starting to experiment with makeup. We rarely wear foundation and don’t care if our adult acne is showing BUT PLEASE for the love of God don’t call us ugly. We will probably think about every single day for the rest of our lives and will cry. 

MILLENNIAL: Eating avocado but not owning property

I don’t really understand this one. But Millennials love to bring it up any chance they get (they don’t really have a lot going on). I’m guessing it’s something to do with avocados being so expensive that they will never be able to own their own place but they also won’t stop eating avocados???

Zillennials also eat avocado but they don’t brag about it because it’s embarrassing. We also don’t see the point of owning property because f*ck capitalism. 

Listen to The Undone, the podcast for women in their 20s. Post continues below. 

GEN Z: Snapchat

Gen Z are frequent snap users. They have streaks that last 4 years plus and it’s their main form of communication. 

Zillennials left Snapchat in 2017. Some of us still have snapchat groups for lols, we also sometimes use filters on Snapchat to upload to Instagram stories because they’re way superior. 

MILLENNIAL: Facebook

Millennials love scrolling through Facebook. They have their little Facebook groups and their feeds are filled with engagement proposals and first baby photos. Facebook messenger is their main form of communication with friends. 

Zillennials do also use Facebook Messenger but they prefer Instagram DMs. We don’t actually use Facebook anymore because that’s where our parents are and we’d rather die than see the ugly photos they’re uploading of us. 

MILLENNIAL: Adulting

This tweet explains it all:

Why do millennials love to be like “Adulting😝”???? like yeah you’re pushing 30 I’d hope you’re adulting

— Joey (@SJoey79) November 17, 2020

Zillennials just kinda go with the flow, we don’t make anything we do a big deal. We make dinner but won’t tell the world about it. We still don’t really know how to put a duvet cover on though…

GEN Z: Dancing

Gen Z really don’t care what people think of them, and that is shown through their embarrassing dance moves. Gen Z dance everywhere they are and will break it down at any time (yes this includes in the middle of a conversation). 

Zillennials are confident dancers but we’re pretty strategic with our moves. You’ll see us dancing on a dancefloor or vibing out when a playlist is lit but rest assured, you won’t see us making a routine down the cleaning aisle in your local Woolworths. 

MILLENNIAL & GEN Z: Taking selfies with the arm

Both these generations take selfies like this and we hate it so much. Every time we see a selfie on Instagram we think “oh cute” but then we also see… THE ARM. If you’re confused, the arm is when you’re taking a selfie and you also have the arm that’s reaching out holding your phone in frame. Making it very obvious that you are, in fact, taking a selfie. It’s horrific and needs to stop now. Taking a selfie is already embarrassing, please stop making it so obvious that you have no friends to take a photo of you. Here are some personal examples of taking a selfie with NO ARMS visible (yes I’m very proud of these).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by em (@emilyvernem)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by em (@emilyvernem)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by em (@emilyvernem)

Thank me later. 

So basically, Zillennials are stuck in the middle of a generational battle. And, as always, the Gen Zs and the Millennials are getting all the attention.