I'm not an adolescent anymore, but I'm a Gen-Z'er who definitely thinks about these things a lot more than is healthy. Firstly, the age of technology was seen

I'm not an adolescent anymore, but I'm a Gen-Z'er who definitely thinks about these things a lot more than is healthy. Firstly, the age of technology was seen as a godsend for a lot of us to connect more quickly and easily. In the beginning, it seemed great! I remember a lot of mid to late 2000s social media was user-focused. But we know that nowadays the value given to us was clawed back and monetized in an effort to generate returns due to the massive reliance on VC funds. And nothing generates engagement, clicks, and usage more than internet fights. I hate to say it but even just last week I found myself in a Twitter argument that had me checking and scrolling Twitter every 5 minutes. That's not healthy to anyone, but Twitter got more ad views out of me that day than any other day before or since. And because of that, my algorithm is absolutely f*ked and only shows me content that makes me angry so they can drive another internet argument out of me. I know Twitter isn't intentionally doing this, but the algorithm is built to prioritize engagement, and arguing was the most engaging thing I did. Included with this is the proliferation of 24/7 news. My parents only saw the news on newspapers or on TV, which would typically only air it for a few hours a night. If you wanted to avoid the news, it was 100% possible and fairly easy. Nowadays, if you use the internet, you're going to encounter news. And, of course, news sites have to generate income through ads or subscriptions, so create clickbait articles, showing rage bait articles to drive traffic and arguments to further increase ad revenue. I can't even scroll through my friend's Saturday night Instagram stories without seeing someone post bloody bodies from the Gaza/Israel conflict. Lastly, there's a lot of resentment in the younger generation. I'm not even 30 and I've experienced two recessions, a pandemic, wages have stayed stagnant since I started working while rent has tripled in that same timeframe, the city I grew up in is sinking due to climate change. My friends right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are discussed on TV like they don't matter. I guess the concise way to boil it down is: No matter where we look or what we do, we are inundated with anger, rage bait, consume consume consume, if you want to rent a place then work multiple jobs, everything you remember growing up will be gone by the time you're old enough to truly appreciate it, etc. We've internalized that there is no future for us, and it's everyone's fault.