Gen Z Vs Millennials: A Petty Internet Beef or Passive Aggressive Ageism?

Okay full disclaimer: I am not picking any sides. This is a very non-threatening debate, and actually, it is kind of a fun one!

So here is a thing, I am at the crossroads when it comes to generational division. I am not a millennial so I would be considered a Gen Z (if we go by the books, but who does?). I was a 1998 kid (ooof, Gen Z is already eyeing me aren't they?). But wait, I am not exactly pre-historic. But for the sake of argument, let's say that people like me who were born in LAAATE 90's are kind of mediators between both of these generations. They are a neutral party, which honestly they are. Call us Gen N/A (LOL). So my perspective on the situation comes from a very objective lens. Anyways enough about me, this is about the intervention between Gen Z and Millennials. 

Now, why do we need an intervention? Good question. Almost every year, an internet drama between young vs. older generation surfaces in the mainstream media i.e., James Charles and Tati Westbrook's "hello sister" tea; or literally any clash between baby boomers and everyone else. The generational gap is a real thing and it does have real implications. However, the divide between Gen Z and Millenials is kind of very different. That is, in a sense that both of these generations don't have that much of an explicit behavioral division like all the preceding generations, for example, baby boomers v millennials. 

These generations are kind of pretty similar, except for the fact that Millennials were born in 90's so they get perceived as kind of "very old," and Gen Z that were born in "2000s" (mostly), get perceived as kind of very "young." Now, why would I dare proclaim that they are not inherently different is due to the fact that they have seen almost the same level of economic and technological innovative prosper and shift in the society. That wasn't true for generations before them because technological destruction (in Schumpeter's ideology) separated millennials from the previous generations significantly.  

But sure, both of these generations are still not "similar"; Gen Z is Y2K, KPOP, TIKTOK kinda generations, and Millenials are well...Anti-yes men kinda corporate girl/boyemployees. But they do have the same core and one would (arguably) agree with that. However, we see a divide and it is usually driven by their hypersensitivity to age. Like mind you, Millenials are not exactly "old people" but most arguments that I see from Gen Z always include the "fact" that they are just so "ancient". 90's couldn't be any closer to 2000BC.

Fun fact: 1999 and 2000 are just one year apart. 

I get it though, it is the beginning of a different century, but it's the exaggeration of the divide that I don't get. But wait, Gen Z isn't the only one culpable here, Millenials would often boost their credentials paired with being the pioneers of smart adulthood. And that is where it all goes sideways because, at the end of the day, age (which we ALL agree is just a number) gets highlighted to a holy level. And the arguments just become superficial. Realistically, it doesn't matter if you were born in 1990 or 2000; you are still pretty much experiencing the same world at the same time. Sure 90's kids weren't born with an iPad in their hands but who even remembers what they did when they were toddlers?

At the end of the day, both of these generations are just as boring as any other, and the fact that one is slightly older (and vice versa) than the other doesn't exactly pose as good enough grounds for division or a "beef." I mean, I would rather not make it about a superficial marathon on whose parents went to a pork-town first (or last). The truth is that we are all living on the same dying planet which is almost on its brink and Taylor Swift's jet fuel emission is the sole proprietor of it all (as told by Twitter).