Gen Z clip exposes big Aussie culture change
A very simple clip of a bunch of Gen Zers hanging out has exposed a big cultural shift that is happening in Australia.
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Young people aren’t club hopping, instead, they are doing something much more wholesome with their weekends.
Instead of “let’s do shots”, they are buying cardboard cups and filling them up with frozen yoghurt on a Saturday night.
Carla, a Millennial Aussie who runs the social media account Go Woke, Go Broke, posted a clip of a bunch of Gen Zers gathering at frozen yoghurt shop, Yo-Chi, over the weekend.
The 34-year-old said she spotted all the young people hanging out when she was heading to the eastern suburbs of Sydney to grab some food, and she thinks Gen Z is missing out by forgoing partying.
“Every Friday it is just packed, and there’s lines coming out of the shop,” she told news.com.au.
“It is so different. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, there would be something on every Friday and Saturday.”
Carla explained that she spent her twenties at bars and clubs and certainly not yoghurt shops.
“Why are the younger generation shunning pubs and clubs?” she asked.
Once Carla posted the clip online, a massive conversation started about how Gen Zers don’t party like Millennials did.
Some were claiming it was a really positive change and a sign the youngest drinking generation wasn’t interested in entering Australia’s infamous “piss up culture”, and others thought it was a sign that Gen Zers don’t know how to have fun.
One called it a “welcome change” another said that the reason Gen Zers are eating yoghurt instead of partying is because pubs and clubs have “priced themselves” out.
“This is very good to see. These frozen yoghurt or custard bars are bringing young people together and talking face-to-face,” someone praised.
“A generation of self-entitled wimps,” someone else wrote.
“They can’t afford to go out and drink,” another wrote.
“I’m so proud of this generation,” one praised.
“I’ve seen this and it makes no sense,” someone else wrote.
“Pretty sad,” one claimed.
Someone in their late thirties commented that they used to live at clubs back in the day and found the clip “sad”.
“What is wrong with these kids?”
Carla explained that she believes Gen Zers are chowing down on yoghurt instead of doing shots because of a cultural shift.
Firstly, there were the lockout laws in Sydney, which ran from 2014 to 2020.
These laws required venues in the CBD to have 1.30am curfews for entry and 3am last drinks at bars.
Then there’s the fact that wellness culture is on the rise and clean living is a big part of the conversation for young people.
Carla said that it was a “rite of passage” for Millennials to spend their youth going to bars and clubs, and that was seen as the “cool” thing to do, but Generation Z is taking a different approach.
“Older generations have maintained the lifestyles of going to have a beer. The younger generation haven’t followed through,” she said.
For instance, once Carla passed the packed-out frozen yoghurt shop, she walked past a pub filled mainly with Gen X and Boomer patrons.
Carla said she doesn’t think this is necessarily a “bad thing”, just a change worth pointing out.
“When the lockout laws came in, it killed the night-life, and this younger generation have never had it, and they don’t know what they are missing,” she said.
“There’s way more focus on wellness and health now.”
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