[wrfitch]

Hi, I'm part of Gen Z. Grain of salt, etc.

You're being a little unfair here, implicitly describing an entire generation as overly materialistic, mentally ill, socially dependent children. Honestly, it sounds like the Gen Z people you know might just be heavy social media users, since people of any generation that use these tools poorly have the problems you mentioned. For those of us that don't use the standard social media channels, growing up around the internet was an absolute blessing, with some minor flaws compared to the benefits it provided.

For examples of people that have benefited from being in this generation, look at the growing climate movement, or maker culture, which is democratising engineering in a way I don't think has been done before. Mental health isn't as much of a concern in this generation either imo; most people of my generation are far more comfortable talking about depression, anxiety, or autism than anyone else I talk to.

[HDMI_Cable]

> Honestly, it sounds like the Gen Z people you know might just be heavy social media users, since people of any generation that use these tools poorly have the problems you mentioned.

Quite honestly, who around us isn't a heavy social-media user? I'm Gen Z myself, and social-media is one of those vices where there is no 'healthy' amount to have, like drinking or smoking.

[wrfitch]

It depends on what you consider social media - I check Twitter and HN a couple of times a day and watch YouTube videos for maybe an hour or so, but I try to be intentional and focus on interesting content rather than mindless doomscrolling, or viewing whatever an algorithm recommends. My friends aren't all the same, and some of them spend more time than they'd like on Reddit, Instagram or Tinder, but actively avoiding social media is a common topic of conversation at least in my social circle. Deleting the apps that want you to use them endlessly (Instagram and Facebook) has caused a noticeable improvement in my mental health, and I'm interested in pushing this further.

To counter your example, the mental benefits of experiencing a good whisky are worth the health detriments imo, but we can agree that chugging down bud light is terrible.