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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation 

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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation 

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In this Article it says how colleges are making themselves more appealing to Generation Z. It is showing how colleges are welcoming Gen Z and making them more enjoyable. Colleges are said to make big changes for Generation Z

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Credit... Henning Wagenbreth

The newest students are transforming the way schools serve and educate them, including sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter.

Credit... Henning Wagenbreth

They are, of course, super connected. But on their terms. Which is why college-bound iGens (Gen Zers, if you prefer) present a challenge to the grown-ups on campus eager to reach and teach them.

Consider orientation season. Katie Sermersheim, dean of students at Purdue University, has a mother lode of information and resources to share (including wellness initiatives and a new mindfulness room). But getting iGen's attention?

"It can be frustrating slash extra challenging to figure out how to get the word out, whatever that word is," Ms. Sermersheim said. "I do get discouraged."

A generation that rarely reads books or emails, breathes through social media, feels isolated and stressed but is crazy driven and wants to solve the world's problems (not just volunteer) is now on campus. Born from 1995 to 2012, its members are the most ethnically diverse generation in history, said Jean M. Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University.

They began arriving at colleges a few years ago, and now they are exerting their presence. They are driving shifts, subtle and not, in how colleges serve, guide and educate them, sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter.

They are forcing course makeovers, spurring increased investments in mental health - from more counselors and wellness messages to campaigns drawing students to nature (hug a tree, take a break to look at insects) - and pushing academics to be more hands-on and job-relevant.

They are a frugal but ambitious lot, less excited by climbing walls and en suite kitchens than by career development.

Most critically, they expect to be treated as individuals. Students raised amid the tailored analytics of online retailers or college recruiters presume that anything put in front of them is customized for them, said Thomas C. Golden of Capture Higher Ed, a Lexington, Ky., data firm. He sees group designations evolving into "segments of one."

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Ingrid Koester, 19, center, and other Princeton University students shooting a video, based on the Taylor Swift song "22," that welcomes the class of 2022. Orientation leaders and staff members from the office of the dean of undergraduate students were extras in the video. Credit... Mark Makela for The New York Times

Students want to navigate campus life, getting food or help, when it is convenient for them. And, yes, on their mobile devices or phones. "It's not really technology to them," said Cory Tressler, associate director of learning programs at Ohio State University, noting that the iPhone came out when most were in grade school.

It is why Ohio State this year, rather than battle device use, issued iPads to 11,000 incoming students. The school designated 42 fall courses "iPad required" (21 more will be added in the spring) and is building an app that in addition to maps and bus routes has a course planner, grades, schedules and a Get Involved feature displaying student organizations.

In the works is more customization, so when students open the app it knows which campus they are enrolled at, their major and which student groups they belong to.

Speaking to students on their terms just makes sense, said Nicole Kraft, a journalism professor at Ohio State who takes attendance via Twitter (she has separate hashtags for each of her three courses). She posts assignments on Slack, an app used in many workplaces. And she holds office hours at 10 p.m. via the video conference site Zoom, "because that is when they have questions."

Dr. Kraft does not use email for class, except to teach students how to write a "proper" one. "That is a skill they need to have," she said.

While these students are called "digital natives," they still must be taught how to use devices and apps for academic purposes, Dr. Kraft said. She's had students not know that they could use Microsoft Word on an iPad. "We make a lot of assumptions about what they know how to do."

Campuses also have been slow to recognize that this age group is not millennials, version 2.0.

"IGen has a different flavor," said Dr. Twenge of San Diego State University and author of "iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy - and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood - and What That Means for the Rest of Us."

It is tricky to define a large part of the population. But Dr. Twenge said big data sets revealed broad psychological patterns shared by those coming of age amid defining social, cultural and economic events.

The difference between growing up in the prosperous 1990s versus seeing family members lose jobs and homes during the 2008 recession alters one's perspective, she said. It is why iGens are so focused on debt and insist that they get skills and experiences that will lead to a career.

The prevalence of school shootings and domestic terrorism has also shaped them.

"This generation defies the stereotypes of young adults," in terms of risk-taking, Dr. Twenge said. They are "more receptive to messages around safety" and less eager to get driver's licenses, and they come to college "with much less experience with sex and alcohol."

They are also more cautious when it comes to academics, fear failure and have learning preferences distinct from millennials, said Corey Seemiller, professor at Wright State University and co-author of "Generation Z Goes to College," who queried 1,200 students on 50 campuses.

"They do not like to learn in groups," favor videos over static content and like to think about information, then be walked through it to be certain they have it right.

"They want a model" and then to practice, said Dr. Seemiller, who posts samples when assigning a paper. "I'll say, 'Let's look through them and see what works.'" Having grown up with public successes and failures online, she said, students are hungry to have a big impact, yet "worry they will not live up to that expectation."

And despite their digital obsession, Dr. Seemiller's research shows this generation favors visual, face-to-face communication over texting. They are not always good at live social interaction, but they crave it. "They want authenticity and transparency," she said. "They like the idea of human beings being behind things."

As a generation that "has been sold a lot of stuff," said Dr. Seemiller, iGens are shrewd consumers of the tone and quality of communication. That's pushing colleges to focus not only on what they say, but also how they say it.

Which is what orientation leaders and staffers in Princeton's office of the dean of undergraduate students - known on social media as ODUS - have tried to master in the way they welcome the class of 2022.

Mayra Mateo of Columbus, Ohio, an incoming freshman at Ohio State University, working on the iPad given to her by the university, which issued the devices to 11,000 incoming students. The college designated many fall courses "iPad required." Credit... Jessica Phelps for The New York Times

A brainstorming session in March generated what became a Princetified cover of Taylor Swift's"22," a video with orientation leaders and ODUS staff members as extras, a cappella groups singing the score and Nicolas Chae, a sophomore, directing.

Cody Babineaux, an incoming freshman from Lafayette, La., whose video of his acceptance to Princeton has 4.6 million Twitter views, appreciated it, especially the Harvard shirt sniffed and tossed out in the first 20 seconds. "It was hilarious," he said. "It didn't try too hard."

Getting student attention and keeping it matters to administrators trying to build excitement for campus events, but also in prodding students about housing contracts and honor codes. "We are an office that enforces university standards. We can't be firing off," said Thomas Dunne, deputy dean of undergraduate students. "But you have to be animated and human-sounding. Our voice is very personal."

ODUS has become an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter with a vibe that winks, pokes, weaves in memes and slang terms like BAE (before anyone else) and on fleek (flawlessly styled), and applies hashtags with wit (a free ice cream for dropping by the ODUS office with dance moves worthy of Dean Dunne? #GetServed, #GameOfCones).

Mr. Dunne, whose Facebook page began as a student prank without his knowledge more than a decade ago, leans on staff members who include 20-somethings. One, Ian Deas, who favors Snapchat, identifies student "influencers," following them on Facebook and Instagram.

In posts, he looks for "those trendy phrases that help us stay in the conversation." When ODUS staff members respond to student posts, it amplifies their reach. "When we are being interactive, our stuff pops up in other people's feeds" and drives curiosity about "who is behind the voice."

Being social on social media attracts students who might tune out official communication. Mr. Babineaux said he and his friends noted when college posts sounded "goofy" or "like your grandfather trying to say swag."

He also notices that his generation is criticized "because we are always on our phones," which gets interpreted as being disconnected. In fact, he said, "we just have more connection with everyone all the time."

It is also how students like Mr. Babineaux learn and get information.

"Social media has helped me get a lot more prepared for Princeton," he said, adding that he has scrolled through old posts of campus ("I have never seen snow") and watched videos, including of graduation. "I thought, 'That will be on my Instagram page in four years.'"

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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation (Published 2018)

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The newest students are transforming the way schools serve and educate them, including sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter. Credit... Henning Wagenbreth They are, of course, super connected. But on their terms. Which is why college-bound iGens (Gen Zers, if you prefer) present a challenge to the grown-ups on campus eager to reach and teach them.

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In this article is tells how Generation Z is changing the world.It shows how fashion and other things have influenced there lives.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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In this article it shows how the vape company may be responsible for luring teens to vaping. How the company's have been doing more successful than ever because teens are using them more and more.

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Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth. Credit Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

The e-cigarette company says it never sought teenage users, but the F.D.A. is investigating whether Juul intentionally marketed its devices to youth.

Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth. Credit Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO - The leaders of a small start-up, PAX Labs, gathered at a board meeting in early 2015 to review the marketing strategy for its sleek new electronic cigarette, called Juul. They watched video clips of hip young people, posed flirtatiously holding Juuls. And they talked about the name of the gadget, meant to suggest an object of beauty and to catch on as a verb - as in "to Juul."

While the campaign wasn't targeted specifically at teenagers, a former senior manager said that he and others in the company were well aware it could appeal to them. After Juuls went on sale in June 2015, he said, the company quickly realized that teenagers were, in fact, using them because they posted images of themselves vaping Juuls on social media.

The former manager said the company was careful to make sure the models in its original campaign were at least 21, but it wasn't until late 2016 or January 2017 that the company said it decided the models in all Juul ads should be over age 35 - to be "better aligned" with a mission of focusing on adult smokers. Only in June of this year did the company again change its policy, this time to using only real people who had switched from cigarettes to Juul.

The company recently modified the names of its flavors - using creme instead of crème brûlée and cucumber instead of cool cucumber. Juul said it "heard the criticism" that teenagers might be attracted to the flavors and "responded by simplifying the names and losing the descriptors."

The sales campaigns for Juuls - now hugely popular with teenagers across the nation - are at the heart of a federal investigation into whether the company intentionally marketed its devices to youth. The attorney general of Massachusetts, also investigating the company, contends that Juul has been luring teenagers to try the product and has introduced many to nicotine. Her investigation will examine Juul's efforts to audit its own website and other online retailers that sell its products to see how effective they are at preventing minors from accessing Juul or Juul-compatible products. (Federal law prohibits sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18.)

"From our perspective, this is not about getting adults to stop smoking," the Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, said in an interview. "This is about getting kids to start vaping, and make money and have them as customers for life."

And Cult Collective, the marketing company that created the 2015 campaign, "Vaporized," claims on its website that the work "created ridiculous enthusiasm" for the campaign hashtag, part of a larger advertising effort that included music event sponsorships and retail marketing. A spokesman for Cult Collective declined to comment.

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Examples of Juul's advertising from 2015. The company's current marketing is far more sober-looking, with a less colorful, more adult design.

The company, now called Juul Labs, denies that it ever sought to attract teenagers. James Monsees, one of the company's co-founders, said selling Juuls to youth was "antithetical to the company's mission."

The original sales campaign was aimed at persuading adult smokers in their 20s and 30s to try an alternative to cigarettes, but it "failed to gain traction on social media and failed to gain sales" and was abandoned after five months, in the fall of 2015, said a company spokesman, Matt David.

Mr. David said sales didn't take off until 2017, after Juul had improved its sales and distribution expertise, and, by then, had a more sober online marketing campaign.

The former Juul manager, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition that his name not be used, saying he worried about facing the ire of the company, said that within months of Juul's 2015 introduction, it became evident that teenagers were either buying Juuls online or finding others who made the purchases for them. Some people bought more Juul kits on the company's website than they could individually use - sometimes 10 or more devices.

"First, they just knew it was being bought for resale," said the former senior manager, who was briefed on the company's business strategy. "Then, when they saw the social media, in fall and winter of 2015, they suspected it was teens."

The Food and Drug Administration announced it was investigating Juul's marketing efforts in April. Juuls and other e-cigarettes are regulated by the F.D.A. as tobacco products because nicotine derives from tobacco leaves. E-cigarette users inhale far fewer toxins than do smokers of traditional cigarettes. The nicotine inhaled while vaping is less a concern for adults than these toxins, but it remains a serious health issue for teenagers, whose brains are still developing.

The Juul story highlights a central dilemma in public health. Cigarettes remain the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 people a year. But will it be possible to get people who are addicted to cigarettes to switch to e-cigarettes, which are less harmful, without enticing a new generation or non-smokers to try them?

Juul, in a letter responding to the F.D.A.'s demand for documents, said it had converted one million smokers to Juul, but the company data is drawn from self-reported surveys on its website and is unverifiable.
[Here's how schools are dealing with the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes.]
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who heads the F.D.A., declined to comment on the agency's investigation of Juul. But he has long been hopeful that e-cigarettes or other similar devices, properly regulated, will prove a safer alternative to smoking and help people quit the deadly habit. Before becoming F.D.A. commissioner, he served on the board of directors of Kure, a retailer that sells e-cigarette products.

"Two-thirds of adult smokers have stated they want to quit," he said. "They know it's hard, and they've probably tried many times to quit. We must recognize the potential for innovation to lead to less harmful products."
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But Eric Lindblom, a former F.D.A. tobacco official who heads the tobacco control program at Georgetown Law, said Juul's internal concerns about teenage use demonstrate they are in some ways "no different than the cigarette industry."

"They are going to maximize their sales and profits any way they can," he said. "They are going to do that within the law, but they are going to press the gray areas as much as they can."

Over the last three years, Juul has had a meteoric rise. It has become the dominant seller of e-cigarettes, now controlling a remarkable 72 percent of the market, according to Nielsen data. In July, the company completed a round of fund-raising for $1.2 billion, putting it in rarefied air. From a virtual standing-start in 2015, it is now valued by investors at $16 billion.

Across the country, Juuls have become so popular that "Juuling" has indeed become a verb, and officials from several state governments have sent alerts to schools warning them about the problem.

A survey of adolescent drug use last year found that 11 percent of 12th graders, 8.2 percent of 10th graders and 3.5 percent of eighth graders had vaped nicotine in the previous 30 days.

Juul's other co-founder, Adam Bowen, said that he was aware early on of the risks e-cigarettes posed to teenagers, and that the company had tried to make the gadgets "as adult-oriented as possible," purposely choosing not to use cartoon characters or candy names for its flavors.

The F.D.A. has ordered Juul to turn over the company's research and marketing documents, including focus group data and toxicology reports, to determine whether it intentionally courted the youth market.

The day after receiving the F.D.A. letter, Juul announced it would spend $30 million to combat underage vaping and recruited Tom Miller, the attorney general of Iowa, who helped lead the multistate 1998 master settlement with tobacco companies, to run an advisory board to counsel Juul on its efforts. Mr. Miller said recommendations might include more controls on social media marketing and better surveillance of retail outlets, but the ultimate decision on how to spend the money remains with Juul.

Mr. Miller says he sees huge potential in e-cigarettes. He believes Juul and other e-cigarette companies have already helped lower the adult smoking rate to 13.9 percent in 2017 from 16.8 percent in 2014. "The only plausible explanation is e-cigarettes," he said.

A report from Citigroup, citing Nielsen data, said that sales of traditional cigarettes dropped 6 percent in the first quarter of this year and "it's impossible to say what has caused the change for sure but the most obvious case is Juul."

Juul recently deleted months of social media posts, including ones with images of cool-looking young people vaping Juuls. This spring it made major changes to its website, which had prominently displayed a Juul surrounded by luscious-looking images of fruit and the words "Mango, it's back." The site is now a more sober-looking affair, featuring video of adults vaping with a tagline "For smokers. By design." Across the top of the page, visitors are invited to "learn about our youth prevention efforts."

Mr. Bowen, 42, and Mr. Monsees, 38, the company's founders, met in 2003 in a graduate product-design program at Stanford University, bonding over brainstorming sessions and cigarettes. Both had been smokers since their teens, and both have since quit; Mr. Monsees regularly uses a Juul.

The culmination of the program was a masters thesis, and both had struggled to find a worthy subject. In 2004, about six months before the thesis was due, they got to talking about their smoking habits and, within days, were excitedly sending emails back and forth about developing an alternative to cigarettes.

Big tobacco companies were experimenting with e-cigarettes, but there was no real market for them until around 2010, when NJoy, an Arizona company, became the industry's first darling. By 2013, e-cigarettes were a $1.7-billion-a-year business, still only a small fraction of the $90 billion cigarette business.

But then NJoy gambled on an e-cigarette that looked virtually identical to a cigarette. It was a mistake, said Craig Weiss, the chief executive who pushed the so-called cigalike strategy and now consults for Juul. As NJoy's fortuned flagged, he said he realized that people didn't want a product that looked so much like a cigarette that it still left them with the stigma of being a smoker. NJoy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, later re-emerging.

Juul initially developed a product in 2010 that looked like a fountain pen and distributed it in specialty vape shops. Its sales grew to a modest $30 million by 2015.

Then the company found its current design, a sleek stick that looks like a flash drive, and largely stumbled onto a new way of delivering nicotine: it mixes nicotine with a chemical called benzoic acid. The result is that when Juul users inhale, they get a very quick and powerful burst of nicotine. This gives smokers a more cigarette-like experience, but medical researchers say it also makes the product more addictive for youth.

The company launched its new product in June 2015, with starter kits costing $35, and packs of four nicotine refill cartridges selling for $16 - each roughly the equivalent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes. According to Nielsen, sales in the first month were roughly $1,500 and reached over $1 million that December. It began a steady climb, and then experienced explosive growth in the beginning of 2017, with sales rising 627 percent in the four weeks ending June 17, 2017, according to Nielsen and Wells Fargo Securities.

The company said that toward the end of 2016 and around the beginning of 2017, it changed its social marketing campaign and guidelines to require all models to be over the age of 35.

In the last two months, Juul has removed the flavor focus and now uses only "real people" who have used Juul to switch from smoking cigarettes, the company said.

Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that he was prepared to be a fan of a product like Juul if it is responsibly marketed and shown to help adults quit smoking. But he cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that in 2017 2.1 million high schoolers and middle schoolers used e-cigarettes - "and the reports about high school students using Juul are rampant," he said.

Mr. Myers observed that Juul "delivers nicotine so much better than any comparable product on the market," and so its popularity means that "both the hopes of the e-cig fans, and fears of those concerned about e-cigs and kids, rise exponentially."

On Jan. 23, The Boulder Daily Camera published a front-page story about the growing concerns of local educators in Colorado about student use of Juuls.

Five days later, Carrie Yantzer, the principal at Nederland Middle-Senior High School, received an email that immediately struck her as suspicious. The writer introduced himself as Bruce Harter, a former educator working with Juul to develop an anti-vaping curriculum for schools.

[Here's why public health experts believe vaping may lure teenagers into smoking.]
"I read about the challenges you're having with Juul," Mr. Harter wrote. He offered a free, three-hour curriculum provided by Juul to discourage teens from using e-cigarettes by teaching them about their brains and giving them mindfulness exercises.

"What we've found from focus groups with teenage Juul users is that young people don't understand the dangers of nicotine addiction," the letter read. "They sometimes feel 'pushed' by friends to use e-cigarettes. We also found that they don't have operative ways to deal with stress and the emotional ups and downs of their lives right now."

Ms. Yantzer was angry. "It sounded preposterous," she said, and the company "deceptive."

She wasn't the only school administrator to get such a letter. The Boulder school district and, ultimately, the state of Colorado condemned the offer as a brand-building exercise that was tone-deaf at the very least.

"The way we see this is a fox guarding the henhouse," said Alison Reidmohr, tobacco communications specialist for the Colorado Department of Public Health. "A company that stands to profit from, and currently profit off, youth using a product can't be trusted to prevent use of this product."

Ashley Gould, Juul's chief administrative officer, said the company, because it has not built management around former tobacco-industry employees, was unaware the tactic had been used by cigarette companies. However, Juul's board of directors includes experienced investors, including Nicholas Pritzker, a billionaire whose family controlled one of the country's largest chewing tobacco companies, Conwood, which was acquired in 2006 by Reynolds American for $3.5 billion.

For its part, Juul said it was still deciding what to do with that school program. Ms. Gould said the company did not realize the curriculum would offend or that the idea harked to a tactic big tobacco companies used decades ago. "We didn't know," she said. "We should've known."

Juul has a new innovation in the works, a Bluetooth-enabled version of its e-cigarette that it hopes could push more smokers to switch without risking youth uptake. Mr. Monsees called it a "smart" e-cigarette.

The Bluetooth-equipped Juul might provide a way for adult vapers to measure their nicotine use. It also might discourage teen use by disabling the device unless it's in the presence of its adult buyer, perhaps by linking it to the buyer's cellphone. The solution would still require effective controls on sales to minors at brick-and-mortar stores and online retail outlets.

Juul officials contend their ability to offer such innovations is hamstrung by regulatory policies. The company is building a high-powered operation in Washington to help it navigate such issues. It's run by Tevi Troy, a political strategist who worked with Dr. Gottlieb, the F.D.A. commissioner, at the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush and who wrote an opinion article with him for The Wall Street Journal.

The company has also hired Jim Esquea, who was an assistant secretary at the health department during the Obama administration, and Gerald Masoudi, a former F.D.A. chief counsel.

The company is also ratcheting up its lobbying efforts. It has reported spending $450,000 on lobbying so far in 2018 - substantially more than the $120,000 reported spent for all of 2017. It also recently started a political action committee, although no donations have yet been reported. In June, Kevin Burns, Juul's chief executive, gave $50,000 to the Republican congressional leadership fund.

The centerpiece of Dr. Gottlieb's tobacco control strategy is a plan that would potentially greatly benefit e-cigarette companies, including Juul. It would require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in traditional cigarettes so much that they were no longer addictive. The proposal is still in the early discussion phase, with the tobacco industry strongly opposed. But it would potentially make Juul, a potent nicotine delivery device, far more appealing to smokers.

Mr. Monsees, a Juul co-founder, says he believes that e-cigarettes are a key to reducing smoking, and can be profitable without sales to teenagers.

"Yes, I want to make money," he said. "I'm on the board with a fiduciary duty that obligates me to make money."

But he added, "The best investor return in the long term comes from more adults turning away from combustible cigarettes."

Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks contributed reporting from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Investigators Ask if Vaping Ads Tried to Hook Teenagers for Life. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Did Juul Lure Teenagers and Get 'Customers for Life'?

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The e-cigarette company says it never sought teenage users, but the F.D.A. is investigating whether Juul intentionally marketed its devices to youth. Juul is under federal investigation for marketing its discreet, flash-drive-resembling e-cigarette product to youth.

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In this article it says what Gen Z is taking away from other generations and making them horrible. It shows what Gen Z thinks of things older people think of.

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As a millennial, I've helped kill a LOT of things: doorbells (we can't afford homes, duh), napkins (we're slobs???), the entire oil industry (the world is literally melting)...the list goes on and on.

But millennials aren't the only ones with blood on their hands. Gen Z, it seems, has been on QUITE a killing spree too, and its victims are everywhere.

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Here Are 14 Things Generation Z Is Killing

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As a millennial, I've helped kill a LOT of things: doorbells (we can't afford homes, duh), napkins (we're slobs???), the entire oil industry (the world is literally melting)...the list goes on and on. But millennials aren't the only ones with blood on their hands.

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In this Article it shows how marketing is changing because of Gen Z. Also Gen Z how they are changing marketing for there own use.

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It seems that on a regular basis, we hear about Millennials, their habits, likes and dislikes, and how businesses can best market to them. But believe it or not, it's time to start looking at the next generation. Generation Z , who were born approximately between 1995 and 2014, are the first truly digital generation. They have grown up with technology from day one, are very adept to communicating on social media, are tech savvy, and have always had high-speed internet (how lucky).

Whether you refer to them as iGeneration, Net Gen, Digital Natives, or simply Gen Z, their presence as consumers and in the workforce is changing online marketing as we know it.

Marketers are spending millions across all of the major social media platforms to gain followers and increase brand awareness. And just a couple of short years ago, that was the way to go because it worked. However, with Generation Z coming up economically, the old strategies just aren't cutting it. Or if they are still working, it's costing a lot more to make the same impact.

With an extremely saturated online marketplace, the competition is stiff, making it tougher to stand out.

So how can you grow your audience, increase brand awareness and turn online users into leads without spending a fortune in this new age of Gen Z digital native buying power?

Make it easy for the younger audience to engage.

On average, Gen Z spends between six and nine hours per day consuming media. And they use an average of five screens - smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and tablet - switching among them for different purposes. As a comparison, millennials use three screens on average.

This could be why they lose interest very quickly, no matter how good your content is. If it takes more than a step or two, you'll lose the attention of most younger people. And that means that they won't opt in, they won't share your post and they may not come back to visit your website. So, the goal is to make it easy for them to engage.

"Add social sharing buttons to everything, and add a bunch of them. Facebook, Whatsapp, Telegram, Twitter, the list goes on. Give your Gen Z audience the option to share to any and all the platforms they may use, because that's what they are inclined to do. When it otherwise would take a lot of effort to share your content, these buttons only take two steps. Now everything from your blog posts to paid offers can be shared easily, which means they will be shared more often," says Vin Clancy, online entrepreneur and influencer who recently released a new eBook, Ace the Game . Hisbook includes online marketing strategies that entrepreneurs at all levels can digest and easily implement.

"Only add one strong call-to-action. If you add a bunch of links or ask more than one thing of your visitors, you will lose them. Make it simple and let your visitors know exactly what you want them to do, whether that is comment, reply, purchase or opt-in," adds Clancy.

Gen Zs are in a hurry and typically don't spend much time reading an entire email or article. That's why it's important to keep headlines, titles for blog posts or webinars, and offers, clear and catchy. They need to be attention-grabbing and let readers know exactly what they will get for investing their time.

When social media strategies get popular, they also lose effectiveness.

While Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are among the social networks with the most users, they also have a lot more competition and aren't the only options out there.

The younger generation (and potential followers) are on other social media platforms and websites that aren't as well known. In fact, only 10% of Facebook users are under 24 years old. If you are trying to reach the Gen Z consumer, Facebook would not be your best option.

Pinterest users are not only slightly younger, but it's a great platform for marketing because one image can keep working for you time and time again.

You can also head over to Quora, a site where people ask questions about anything they want to know, and answer questions related to your industry. "Quora has proven to be a great way to not only gain followers but to also boost your credibility and brand," says Clancy.

The key is to analyze many different social networks to determine where your target customer spends their time and develop a strong marketing strategy for that platform.

Optimize your content the right way.

There is so much content pumped out on the internet these days, it's important to optimize that content so it gets widely read. In fact, you should spend 80% of your time promoting your content, and only 20% of your time actually creating it. There's no point in publishing content if no one ever comes across it. Make sure you are driving traffic to your site or blog through all available means.

"Most people are familiar with how to use Google, but few really understand how it works. You need to understand it and then optimize your content for it. In order to do that, you need to understand what your potential followers are looking for online," says Clancy.

Once you've analyzed what your target customers are searching for, use that search data to come up with long tail keywords, which are three or more highly targeted words, and optimize your site for those phrases. This will get you more web traffic, and as a result, more potential clients.

When marketing to this generation who are high on likes, were too young to actually remember 9/11, and who see no difference between friends they've met in real life or only know online, it's important to consider their unique upbringing and relationship with social media so you can deliver a marketing message that resonates.

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Online Marketing As We Know It Is Changing With The Rise Of Generation Z

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It seems that on a regular basis, we hear about Millennials, their habits, likes and dislikes, and how businesses can best market to them. But believe it or not, it's time to start looking at the next generation. Generation Z , who were born approximately between 1995 and 2014, are the first truly digital generation.

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Generation Zs reveal their 100 favorite brands

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Generation Zs reveal their 100 favorite brands

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In this article its shows what Gen Z loves and will love forever. Their favorite products and how it benefits them. How Gen Z makes use of them

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Generation Zs were born after 1997.

They prefer brands that are healthy, socially conscious, and connected with influencers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.

But many of their favorite brands are shared by older generations too.

Millennials, move aside. There's a new generation advertisers are vying to reach: Generation Z.

Gen Zs are people born after 1997, and their short lives have been already been marked by the advent of mobile technology, social upheaval, and the Great Recession.

Ypulse, a New York youth-marketing firm, interviewed 8,494 Gen Z consumers on 332 brands this year for its Ybrands survey. Then the firm ranked those brands based on the consumers' awareness, past purchase, and loyalty, as well as their perceived personality and influence.

Bobby Calise, vice president of Ybrands, said these brands won over Gen Z because of their ability to convince young adults of their coolness and momentum.

More unique to Gen Z, Calise said, is their preference to buy from brands with expressed stances on social causes.

"In the past, brands might have considered playing it safe for fear of alienating some of its customer base," Calise told Business Insider. "But in today's social and political climate, it's arguably riskier not to take a risk - even if it's a calculated one - when it comes to brands taking stands."

Ypulse shared the final ranking with Business Insider. Here are the top 100 brands that Gen Z adore:

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Generation Zs reveal their 100 favorite brands

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Generation Zs were born after 1997. They prefer brands that are healthy, socially conscious, and connected with influencers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. But many of their favorite brands are shared by older generations too. Millennials, move aside. There's a new generation advertisers are vying to reach: Generation Z.

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How Generation Z Will Change The World According To Experts

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How Generation Z Will Change The World According To Experts

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In this Video it shows how Gen Z is changing the world in Business and other topics. It shows hoe Gen Z has it Pros and Cons

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How Generation Z Will Change The World According To Experts | TIME

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Gen Z Is Officially Here. How Will We Manage?

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Gen Z Is Officially Here. How Will We Manage?

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In this article it shows how elders are managing with Gen Z. How People can handle with Gen Z and can make use of them in Marketing.

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We've all been there. You're chatting with a younger colleague about popular music, movies or sports, and you wistfully mention Michael Jordan scoring 55 in his comeback game against the New York Knicks, or the twist ending to The Usual Suspects, or seeing Dave Matthews Band tour their debut album. This is when your counterpart says something along the lines of, "No, I actually don't remember that, I was born in 1995."

Oof. What a gut punch! But beyond a clarion sign of your own impending mortality, these moments are good reminders for leaders that while these young professionals comport themselves well and are often very impressive, they come from a different time.

There's a danger in generational reductionism. Publications are often guilty of overgeneralizing and assigning common characteristics to entire generations based on decontextualized data points. "Gen X is disaffected, bitter, and likes flannel. Millennials won't buy houses, get married, or eat mayonnaise."

These blanket statements sell magazines and generate clicks, but people are far more than the years they chanced to be born. Still, it is important to understand the times people exist in. For the Gen Z professional that you, a brand leader, will need to manage, the times they've occupied have been complex and likely will inform their behaviors as workers.

Kathryn Dill's 7 Things Employers Should Know About The Gen Z Workforce is required reading for leaders, but at almost 3 years old it is already a bit dated-which says more about the dynamism of this group and how quickly their expectations are shifting. When Dill authored the piece, most Gen Zers were still in high school. This fall, the first fully-Gen Z crop of grads is hitting the workforce. I personally have interviewed several in recent months.

The most crucial thing that separates this group from their Millennial forbearers is their expectations. Graduating in the midst of the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression with the memory of 9-11 fresh in their minds, Millennials (and many of us Gen Xers, as well) carry a nonspecific sense of dread about our economic and social conditions. They and we toiled during a particularly dour moment in the country's history, one where we were told that recovery would be slow, that we should be happy just to have a job, and that we probably would not enjoy the same quality of life our parents did.

That has an affect on you. As the economy slowly improved, Millennial wages remained mostly flat. More opportunities came, and today if you weathered the worst of it and came out with 5-10 years of experience in your profession, you have your pick of jobs around the world. But if you joined the workforce between the years 2008 to 2014, you're likely still wearing some scars.

Conversely, Gen Z did most of its "grown-up preparation" during a time of unprecedented growth-couched in the recovery that led to a current streak of 94 consecutive months of job creation. They've heard the horror stories from their older siblings, but the reality for them has been the opposite.

To manage them, leaders must keep this context in mind. The freedom these workers feel manifests in their work decisions. This is a shared trait with Millennials, who are famously generalized as " following their passion " in their work. Accepting that no work conditions are ideal, they're attracted to opportunities where they nonetheless have a chance to do what they want. Good managers must foster this instinct, and point it in constructive directions. Make rote tasks mean something; illustrate exactly what the big picture is, and how their role is helping it become realized. Remember, a sense of purpose is paramount.

Generation Z has also come of age in the shadow of Millennials who prize hyper-competence (or at least the appearance of it), which, in my experience so far, has manifested in a strong desire to learn. Specifically, I have noticed that recent grads are less likely to think they "know everything" and are instead keenly interested to know more. More than the preceding generation-or my generation, for that matter-they are seeking out opportunities to add or sharpen skills.

And you need to reward that instinct. Sure, it means they're likely going to take those skills on the open market, and if they don't leave they will likely cost more to retain. But would your rather that motivation wither away? Rather, make the investment in internal multimedia training (this is the first native YouTube generation) and the secondary investment of dedicated time in their schedule to actually do it.

Finally, don't believe the generational generalizing hype. Like almost all generations before them, the ascendance of Gen Z is coming replete with "Gen Z is too _____"-think pieces. This type of bloviating opinionating is almost always wrong.

Already, some "experts" are tagging Gen Z as a cohort of introverts who struggle to make personal social connections. This echoes all manner of assumptions made about "these darn kids" for decades-maybe longer.

Forget the trend pieces and assumptions. When managing your new influx of Gen Z employees, consider the context, and react to that.

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Gen Z Is Officially Here. How Will We Manage?

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We've all been there. You're chatting with a younger colleague about popular music, movies or sports, and you wistfully mention Michael Jordan scoring 55 in his comeback game against the New York Knicks, or the twist ending to The Usual Suspects, or seeing Dave Matthews Band tour their debut album.

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Gen Z: What To Expect From The New Workforce

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Gen Z: What To Expect From The New Workforce

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In this Article is says how Gen Z is going to change the work force. How the work force is going to shape Gen Z

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When you hear the word "millennial," you probably think of people in their 20s eating avocado toast and dominating social media. However, the oldest millennials are now actually in their late 30s, with Pew Research Center defining the generation as anyone born between 1981-1996. With most millennials now well into adulthood and transitioning into leadership roles, a new, younger generation is now taking over the workforce: generation z.

Pew Research Center has now turned their focus to g eneration z after over a decade of research dedicated to millennials. But why is g eneration z suddenly so important?

The generation is defined as anyone born from 1997 onward, which means the oldest members ofg eneration z are graduating college this year. While millennials still dominate the market, outnumbering any other generation, we will soon see an influx ofg eneration z workers entering the workforce. Andg eneration z are made up of approximately 61 million people in the U.S. So what can we expect from this new generation in terms of the job market?

Generation z's life experiences affect the types of jobs they seek, and what's most important to them. They highly value success, with professional and academic achievement ranking as most important. Generation z is perhaps even more success-oriented than any other generation, due to the shifting demographics over the years. Baby boomers were more likely to cite family and religion as "central to their identity," whereasg eneration z is all about that personal success.

You may have heard the stereotype that millennials are chronic job-hoppers who can't stay settled down in one job. Don't look tog eneration z for similar habits. They're interested mostly in "future-proof" jobs and job stability, according to studies conducted by Indeed.com. Having grown up in a tumultuous time for economics and politics (they were only four when 9/11 occurred, and grew up during the Great Recession),g en zers are incredibly focused on finding stable jobs, mostly in tech and health-care.

And they're learning from previous generation's pitfalls... Only 11% of gen zers said they'd take on debt in order to cover the costs of higher education. In fact, they aren't even that focused on higher education to begin with. 75% said they didn't consider college the only path to a strong education, and many are choosing to go straight into the workforce. After watching their parents deal with the Great Recession, and seeing the student loan issue play out, it's no wonder gen zers are determined to find stable jobs as quickly as possible, while getting into as little debt as possible.

But companies will still have to put the effort in to hiring this new generation. Studies showg eneration z workers are invested in positive work environments, with 77% saying a company's diversity would be a deciding factor. Company marketing and branding is also crucial, as 70% of prospective employees look at company reviews on sites such as Glassdoor, and 69% are more likely to apply for a specific job if the company manages its brand well.

As the workforce changes, so will the ways in which companies seek out and hire employees, and how these employees engage with the job market. With fewer gen zers prepared to shell out for higher education, we can expect a surge of new employees sooner rather than later. We can also expect a new sort of generation, one more interested in workplace atmosphere and job fluidity ( 75% of gen zers expressed interest in inhabiting numerous roles within a company).

Get ready for generation z - the new workforce is here.

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Gen Z: What To Expect From The New Workforce

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When you hear the word "millennial," you probably think of people in their 20s eating avocado toast and dominating social media. However, the oldest millennials are now actually in their late 30s, with Pew Research Center defining the generation as anyone born between 1981-1996.

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How Generation Z Will Shape American Politics

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How Generation Z Will Shape American Politics

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In this Article it shows how Gen Z has an opinion on American Politics. Also how Gen Z is going to change Politics in a couple of years.

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Generation Z could impact American politics in several ways.

Harley Austin | United States

In American politics, age groups have always been a major demographic, with every group leaning towards different ideologies and having unique values. These differences, along with other cultural aspects, have led to the generalities associated with certain generations, most notably millennials and baby-boomers. For many years, millennials were considered the newest and youngest participants in American politics. However, a newer generation is taking that title: Generation Z. Gen-Zs are already engaged in politics and activism, and are finally able to vote. We can now accurately assess Generation Z's political standpoints and how they will most likely affect America's political landscape.

In most cases, generations tend to be relatively balanced in terms of political views. The amount of progressives within a generation tends to roughly equal the number of people who lean towards conservatism. Along with these two major belief systems, there are other factions, such as those who support libertarianism. These smaller groups remain relatively stable across each generation. When left on their own, these beliefs will stay in balance. However, abnormalities, notably major historical shifts or events, will cause an imbalance, which leads to a generation leaning towards one specific ideology.

In the case of the baby-boomers, America's Cold War, and the massive amount of conflict, propaganda, and anti-communist sentiments that came with it led to strong feelings of nationalism and American exceptionalism among that generation. This resulted in the baby-boomers' favoring conservatism that is generally associated with them today. Events such as America's economic troubles of 2009-2010, the growing anti-war sentiments that came as a result of George W. Bush's foreign policies, the increased social tolerance in the post-Counter-Culture era, and the appeals of Barack Obama led to Generation Z's progressive attitude. However, for Generation X, the lack of major political shifts and events in America during the mostly peaceful 80s and 90s led to that generation being more balanced in terms of political views.

So where does this leave Generation Z? While many polls have tried to answer this, they have failed to realize that the answer comes from more than just numbers. To analyze Gen-Zs, we must look at the political landscape they grew up with and their responses to it.

The Political Realm of the 2010s

Soon after the election of Barack Obama in 2008, which for most Gen-Zs was their first introduction to the world of politics, identity politics started to plague America's political discourse. This led to the heavily divisive, intense, and hyper-partisan politics that have been around ever since. Growing up with this extreme partisanship, Gen-Zs saw politics as a ruthless battle that was fought tooth-and-nail between the two parties: Democrats and Republicans. For most this meant joining the chaotic battles on the side of one of the two parties, especially through the internet during the rise of internet memes and social media. This chaotic and combative interpretation of what politics is supposed to be, along with the two-party dichotomy, has led to the balanced, but very passionate and loyal, political views of Generation Z.

This fiery political spirit continued through the 2010s and peaked during the 2016 election. In 2016, Gen-Zs, with all their built-up political passion, were very eager to witness the first election of their adolescence. This bottled-up intensity was then directed at 2016's highly controversial yet popular candidate, Donald Trump, which resulted in a highly combative and divisive election year for Gen-Zs.

For the Gen-Zs who sided with the Democrats, Donald Trump was the embodiment of everything they had been taught to hate: racism, sexism, and nearly every other "ism" or "phobe" imaginable. To them, Donald Trump meant the end of what American progressivism had been working for and the end of Obama's progressive attitudes and policies that they had known for most of their lives. This belief that they were defending their way of life instead of a political ideology led to the major growth of identity politics and hardcore progressivism. For the Democrat Gen-Zs, Donald Trump winning would mean the end of everything they politically knew and loved, and they were determined to stop him.

For Gen-Zs who sided with the Republicans, Donald Trump was the embodiment of everything they were taught to glorify about Pre-2000s America: patriotism, nationalism, American strength, tradition, and Christianity. To them, Donald Trump meant the end of what they viewed as Obama's weak leadership and the return to the American glory days they had heard so much of but were born too late to see. This belief that they had been born after the American "Golden Age" meant that "Make America Great Again" wasn't just a catchy slogan about fixing America, it was like a rallying cry that would lead them to political salvation. For the Republican Gen-Zs, Donald Trump winning would mean the end of the Democrat leadership they had lived with their whole lives and the start of a new, prosperous America, an America that Gen Z was determined to see.

Luckily, the 2016 election was the peak of Generation Z's political infatuation. After the election, many became fed up with politics, choosing to either become more apolitical or to abandon the two-party system entirely and become libertarian. Gen-Zs were now older and more mature, allowing political discourse to become more civil. Gen Zs became dedicated to the truth and began to think for themselves instead of believing what they had been told. In the aftermath of 2016, Generation Z has now returned to its more stable political balance.

Modern Political Activism

Despite the increased civility, Gen-Zs are still very interested in politics and making their voices heard, either online or through activism. Because of their young age, many Gen-Zs do not want to feel overlooked, which has led to a desire for activism, protesting, and other political messaging.

Activism has been especially popular among progressive Gen-Zs since it gives them a way to voice their disagreements with the Trump Presidency through what many call "resistance." The first major example of this was the 2017 Women's March, which many progressive Gen-Zs attended as a way to advocate for social equality and to protest Donald Trump and his policies. However, the largest Gen-Z movement has been the March For Our Lives protests. Unlike other causes, this movement was created by Gen-Zs, for Gen-Zs, because of the school shootings of 2018. This is a major example of how Gen-Zs are both willing and capable of engaging in politics and related activism, something we will surely see more of in the future.

While protesting and marches have been popular among progressive Gen-Zs, conservative Gen-Zs have chosen a more laid-back approach: online activism. Because of the extreme negative social stigma associated with those who support conservatism or Trump, conservative Gen-Zs prefer the more anonymous approach of using the internet to spread their views. These range from simple methods of social media pages and boards, a tactic they have used for years, to more complex internet activism, notably the interest and controversy surrounding QAnon.

Online activism is also very popular among libertarian Gen-Zs. Because of the two-party system's stranglehold on conventional methods of spreading political views, libertarian Gen-Zs have taken their message online. Their methods also consist of social media pages and, unlike other Gen-Zs who are less interested in dealing with political parties, libertarian Gen-Zs are also willing to show strong support for Libertarian candidates and sometimes the Libertarian Party.

Generation Z's Impact
To support 71 Republic, please donate to our Patreon, which you can find
While the progressive Gen-Zs' marches have caught the most media attention, leading to many wrongful assumptions that Gen-Zs are "the new millennials," Generation Z is a very politically balanced generation that is very passionate in what they believe. The years to come will likely see plenty of activism from this new generation, but major political shifts are less likely than many might assume.

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How Generation Z Will Shape American Politics · 71 Republic

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Generation Z could impact American politics in several ways. Harley Austin | United States In American politics, age groups have always been a major demographic, with every group leaning towards different ideologies and having unique values. These differences, along with other cultural aspects, have led to the generalities associated with certain generations, most notably millennials and baby-boomers.

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Move Over Millennial's, It’s Gen Z’s Turn to Kill Industries

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Move Over Millennial's, It’s Gen Z’s Turn to Kill Industries

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In this Article it shows how some company's are going out of business because of Gen Z. Also it says how Gen Z will take over Industries, and make there own.

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If You Want To Know What Matters To Gen Z, Just Ask Them

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If You Want To Know What Matters To Gen Z, Just Ask Them

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In this article is has 3 Gen Z's who are diverse and what really matters to them.How they are going to change the world

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Things I was doing at 19: working at a department store part-time and attending college classes toward my journalism major.

Things I was not doing: amassing 159,000 followers on Instagram, creating my own streetwear line, dropping my second album, joining with the ACLU in the trans bathroom case, and walking in New York and London fashion week shows.

That's just some of what the remarkable young women I met Monday at the School of Doodle have on their resumes.

School of Doodle is officially a "space for girl/gender nonconforming artists and activists looking to change the world." Their motto is "DIY for world domination," or as Molly Logan, the cofounder, put it to me: "Tell a girl that she matters and that you will pay her for her ideas."

Related: How School Of Doodle Is Paving The Way For Gen Z Women

Three members of the school gave a group of professionals from the Fast Company Innovation Festival (all of us millennials and gen-Xers) an insight into exactly how they are changing the world with their creativity.

Hunter Schafer, 18, is a trans rights activist and model. She shared her coming out story and challenged our notions of public perception vs. self identification. Here's something she's already figured out that took me years to: "Our binary world is not sustainable. Gender is a construct, not a foundational. We are on the brink of a transformative change."

Dounia is in her early 20s and identifies herself as a "social media influencer." She's garnered her hundreds of thousands of followers by, as she says, "not cultivating a persona," something that Instagram stars typically do. For her, success in fashion, social media, and music comes from being unconventional and authentic. She's been in the pages of magazines like Teen Vogue but doesn't view mainstream validation as crucial.

Arianna Gil is founder of the high-end streetwear line/feminist skate group Brujas (featured in , GQ Style, and the New York Times), and, like the other two women, social justice is at the core of her identity as both a consumer and a creator. She can smell disingenuousness from brands a mile away and helped a collection of professionals at our workshop troubleshoot how brands can respond to a PR crisis in ways that turn teens into advocates instead of detractors.

In short, here's what matters to gen Z, according to Hunter, Dounia, and Arianna: authenticity, transparency, and individuality.

Want to know more? School of Doodle published their first-ever " Irregular Report" Tuesday. It's a trend report on gen Z created completely by School of Doodle'sglobal community of more than 10,000 young women. As Logan calls it, "it's Teen Vogue meets Pew-if you want to know about gen Z, just ask them."

Yes, these three young women made me feel like it has taken me decades too long to accomplish anything noteworthy, but they also made me feel hopeful. If these three are an example of what gen Z will do, we are in good hands.

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If You Want To Know What Matters To Gen Z, Just Ask Them

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Things I was doing at 19: working at a department store part-time and attending college classes toward my journalism major. Things I was not doing: amassing 159,000 followers on Instagram, creating my own streetwear line, dropping my second album, joining with the ACLU in the trans bathroom case, and walking in New York and London fashion week shows.

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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In this Article it shows how peoples opinion on Gen Z and how phones and social media are taking Gen Z lives away. A

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CLOSE

The loneliness of Generation Z reflects not just rising social media use but a broader decline in interactions with neighbors, co-workers and church friends.

At a time when we're supposedly more connected than ever, there are an awful lot of lonely people.

"Nearly half of Americans report sometimes or always feeling alone or left out," according to a new survey from health company Cigna. One out of five Americans has no person they can talk to.

And the loneliest generation? That would be Generation Z, defined in this survey as those 18 to 22. Their average loneliness score is nearly 10 points higher than the least lonely generation - the Greatest Generation, those 72 and older.

While it's tempting to blame Gen Z's reliance on smartphones and social media, the data don't bear that out: The survey didn't find a significant difference in loneliness levels between those who used social media often or infrequently.

More: Aziz Ansari lesson: Women should feel free to hurt the guy's feelings

More: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is right that Millennials are key to #MeToo

Given the worrying consequences, the loneliness of Gen Z - and other generations - should be taken seriously. In fact, Cigna, citing a 2010 Brigham Young University study, says "loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity."

One initiative to encourage Gen Z should be #WalkUpNotOut, a movement that urged high school students to reach out to students perceived as socially isolated after the tragic high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Regardless of your position on gun control, it can only help to have students focus on being kind and welcoming to each other, particularly when the pervasiveness of social media has made it increasingly easy to bully both on and off campuses.

Plus, this encourages face-to-face interaction - and the Cigna survey found a huge difference in average loneliness scores between those who had daily meaningful in-person encounters and those who didn't. (Astonishingly, one of five Americans surveyed reported having such encounters less frequently than once a week.)

It's also important for Gen Z - and other Americans - to take "social capital" seriously. Thanks to the erosion of neighborhood communities, the fracturing of many families and the decline in church attendance, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for finding new friends or developing meaningful relationships. And that puts even more pressure on students. Imagine being unhappy at school and having no other community to turn to.

According to a 2017 report prepared for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, several factors show the decline in our interaction with each other:

► Monthly church attendance fell from the early 1970s to the present, with 50% to 57% attending in the past compared with 42% to 44% now.

► In 1974, a third of Americans spent time socially with their neighbors several times a week. Now, only 19% do.

► We're also spending less time schmoozing with our co-workers, going from an average of 2.5 hours a week in the mid 1970s to just under an hour in 2012.

► Families are also becoming smaller, and the percentage of children raised by a single parent or no parent has doubled, from 15% to 31%.

More: Liberals need to close the Millennials funding gap
POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media
Given these declining numbers, it makes sense that more Americans are falling through the cracks, losing ways to get to know other people.

And if Gen Z is using phones instead of in-person interactions, that could be contributing to these young adults' loneliness. In an Atlantic article last year, psychology professor Jean Twenge highlighted how teens were less interested in driving and getting out of the house than past generations.

Describing one unnamed 13-year-old, Twenge wrote: "She spent much of her summer keeping up with friends, but nearly all of it was over text or Snapchat. 'I've been on my phone more than I've been with actual people,' she said. 'My bed has, like, an imprint of my body.' "

That's not healthy - and if these are the habits Gen Z is developing in these crucial years, it doesn't bode well for this generation becoming less lonely in the future.

The American writer Flannery O'Connor, a Catholic, was fond of a prayer that included these lines, "Raphael, lead us toward those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us: Raphael, Angel of happy meeting, lead us by the hand toward those we are looking for."

You don't need to be religious to realize that we both need - and are needed by - others, and that our own lives grow in meaning through many of our interactions with others.

It's easy to toss out opinions on Facebook or on bumper stickers, but at the end of the day, one of the most powerful things many of us may do to change the world could be our "hello" to someone, our reaching out to that person who seems in danger of being on the fringe, making eye contact and sharing a smile with a homeless person even if we don't have change. Let's look up from our phones a little more often - and start acknowledging the people right in front of us.

Katrina Trinko, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is managing editor for The Daily Signal. Her views do not necessarily represent The Heritage Foundation, her employer. Follow her on Twitter: @KatrinaTrinko

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2I9a6wO

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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CLOSE The loneliness of Generation Z reflects not just rising social media use but a broader decline in interactions with neighbors, co-workers and church friends. At a time when we're supposedly more connected than ever, there are an awful lot of lonely people.