"Small talk can be awkward and boring. It's also a requisite skill to learn to participate as a socially adept person in society-as well as the workplace. But mustering "So, where are you going for lunch?" to that one guy from sales in the elevator might be a no-go for the workforce's youngest members. In a discussion sparked by a viral TikTok, many have dubbed the ritualistic nicety as "cringe"-Gen Z's go-to dig for anything perceived as try-hard or uncool."
""POV: You're trying to talk to people in 2025," the text over the video reads. Off camera, a chipper voice asks the woman on-screen: "So what do you do for work?" "Ummmm . . . stuff," she replies. The skit struck a chord. Some users related to the reluctance to shoot the breeze. "This is what they meant by the Gen Z stare, guys. We do in fact do this," one commented."
Small talk can be awkward and boring. It remains an expected social and workplace skill, yet many youngest workers avoid conventional niceties. A viral TikTok skit portrayed repeated brusque shut-downs of small talk, portraying such attempts as "cringe" and featuring drawn-out "umms" and eye rolls. The video received millions of views and prompted mixed reactions: some users identified with the reluctance and cited a "Gen Z stare," while others and older Gen Zers criticized the behavior as awkward. Subreddit reports and an assistant college teacher described witnessing similar reticence among 18-20-year-old students. Observers speculated about declining small-talk skills.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]