Listening Across Generations
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Conversations That Shaped Insights:
Erin P.
Female, Generation Z
- Post-college graduate
- Behavior Tech working with Generation Alpha
- Turns to social media to find connection & conversation around interests that are not reflected in her offline environment
Karen
Female, Millennial
- Empty Nester
- Works in the higher education industry where social media can determine your opportunities
- Has a review page on BookTok
Erin A.
Female, Generation X
- Mom of 2 young children
- A Licensed Massage Therapist
- Owner of a community-centered business
- Doomscrolls on FacebookÂ
Garrett
Male, Generation Z
- Senior in College studying Data Science with a focus in Marketing Analytics
- Aware of the algorithms
- Posts once a year on Instagram
Wyatt
Male, Millennial
- Father
- Current Masters student studying Advertising & Brand Responsibility
- Graphic Designer
- Avoids social media as much as possible, but liked it in the early days
Jason
Male, Generation X
- Reddit Moderator
- Published Author
- Dream Interpretor
- Utilizes Reddit & Youtube, forced to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends/family
What We Asked:
Each interview explored similar core themes, allowing patterns and contrasts to emerge naturally across age and gender.
Key Topics Included:
How participants use social media day to day.
How they present themselves online versus offline.
Emotional responses to scrolling, posting, and comparison.
Perceptions of algorithms, data, and AI influence.
Changes in communication, empathy, and social skills.
How online behavior shows up in real-world interactions.
Patterns That Emerged
Across gender and generation, social media is no longer seen as a neutral tool. It actively shapes how people present themselves, manage emotions, communicate, and relate to others. While experiences differ, participants shared a growing sense that digital systems are influencing human connection in ways that feel increasingly difficult to undo.
Social Media Shapes Identity in Gendered Ways
Women described social media as a space of emotional performance. Many felt pressure to appear happy, perfect, or interesting, even when that image conflicted with reality. Posting often became a form of emotional masking or validation seeking.
Men were less focused on emotional presentation and more concerned with practicality and control. They viewed online personas as transactional tools for status, career, or influence, while expressing strong concern about data privacy, surveillance, and platform exploitation.
Emotional Use Versus Functional Use
Women frequently used social media as an emotional outlet or distraction. Scrolling functioned as a way to decompress, avoid difficult feelings, or maintain lightweight connection when deeper interaction felt exhausting.
Men largely rejected passive scrolling and described it as unproductive or meaningless. Their use was more intentional, structured, and task-oriented, such as professional development, information gathering, or tightly controlled leisure.
Communication Feels Colder & Less Human
Across interviews, participants agreed that online communication has degraded tone and empathy, but they identified different causes.
Women emphasized increased judgment, reduced compassion, and the loss of attentive listening. Men focused on disinhibition, noting that anonymity encourages bluntness and abrasiveness that increasingly spills into offline interactions.
Generations Experience Algorithms Differently
Awareness of algorithmic influence varied sharply by generation.
Gen Z demonstrated high technical fluency, actively curating feeds and managing algorithms, yet still spending significant time within them. Millennials were more critical of platform design, recognizing how systems exploit attention and influence behavior. Gen X expressed the greatest alarm, framing algorithms as socially dangerous systems that reinforce beliefs, distort reality, and threaten democratic processes.
Engagement Patterns Reflect Life & Trust
Gen Z used platforms heavily for entertainment, niche interests, and cultural participation. Millennials minimized mindless use and favored functional or professional engagement. Gen X showed more compulsive checking habits while simultaneously expressing distrust and actively reducing participation where possible.
Social Skills Changing Across Generations
Participants across all age groups reported a decline in real-world communication skills, but framed the issue differently.
Gen Z noted increased efficiency and control online, paired with weaker face-to-face confidence. Millennials described the need to constantly manage tone through emojis and qualifiers. Gen X focused on the erosion of social boundaries, where online aggression normalizes harsh behavior offline.
Why These Conversations Matter
Taken together, these interviews point to a larger societal shift unfolding in real time. Differences in gender and generation do not simply reflect personal preference or platform choice. They shape how norms are formed, how values are transmitted, and how people learn what connection is supposed to look like.
As social behaviors are increasingly learned through digital environments, patterns of emotional expression, authority, empathy, and attention are being redefined. Gendered experiences influence who feels pressure to perform, who feels permitted to disengage, and whose voices are amplified or muted. Generational experiences influence whether algorithmic systems are accepted as default, resisted as flawed, or feared for their long-term consequences.
These dynamics matter because they quietly influence how future workplaces function, how communities respond to conflict, and how collective responsibility is understood. When communication becomes optimized for visibility rather than understanding, and efficiency rather than presence, the consequences extend beyond screens and into everyday social life.
By examining these conversations side by side, this project highlights that the impact of AI-driven platforms is not just technological. It is cultural, relational, and developmental. Understanding these differences is a necessary step toward designing, using, and questioning digital systems in ways that support healthier human connection.