Gen Z Is Sharing The Things About Older Generations They Love The Most, And I Can't Get Enough

In a recent fit of inter-generational solidarity, I decided I was getting tired of all the inter-generational hate on the internet. So, I turned to the Gen Z'ers in our very own BuzzFeed Community and asked them to tell me some of the things from older generations they actually love. Here are their answers:

1."The seeming connectedness of everyone. Phone calls, events without tons of videos or photos of them... just living in the moment with the people they want to be with, instead of trying so hard to try to appeal to everyone."

2."I really like the music of the 1980s, especially the synth-pop, goth, post-punk, and new wave genres. Examples include Depeche Mode, Kino, Sisters of Mercy, and Siouxsie and the Banshees."

Frederic Meylan / Sygma via Getty Images, Steve Rapport / Getty Images

"There’s also something about anime and manga from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s that I like, but I can’t quite put my finger on what that is."

—Anonymous

3."I love the music they grew up with, not everything back then was just a quick cash grab. And also the fact that people used to — and still do! — dress up to go to the movies, grocery shopping, and work."

4."I’m pretty lucky that I (a 15-year-old girl), was able to experience this, but playing in a neighborhood, with no phones. We made lots of stick forts. Last I checked, they were still there!"

5."Old ORIGINAL rap music from the '90s and 2000s. I will always take old rap over new rap. Everything today sounds exactly the same."

6."I absolutely love '80s pop culture. All of the iconic movies, the music, no internet, big blown-out hair... one of my favorite things to do in my spare time is watch old WWF matches. From someone who didn’t live in that decade, it seems like it would’ve been a great time to be a teenager."

7."Early 2000s scene culture and cartoons, '80s-2000s music, [and] '90s boy bands. Telephones had the cords to twirl around, and REAL flip phones could snap loudly so you could hang up on someone with sass. MySpace was awesome, video games were cooler (and arcades had actual arcade cabinets), there wasn't as much celebrity drama, cereal boxes had prizes still, I could go on forever."

Jeffrey Mayer / WireImage, Paramount Pictures

—Anonymous

8."Older generations read so much more than we do! It makes me sad whenever a friend tells me, 'Oh, I don’t read that much. I’m more of a movie fan.' Reading is an art that is being lost due to zapped attention spans. I truly admire the amount of literature that my parents and grandparents have read."

9."This is random but I love those '80s exercise videos where everyone looks like they either had a ton of coffee or did hard drugs to get their energy. From the clothes to the music to their facial expressions, the videos look made up to me, but I realize that it's real people who are probably still alive today."

William Nation / Sygma via Getty Images, Nik Wheeler / Getty Images

—Anonymous

10."I love old people's candies, and their humor."

Photoplus Magazine / Future via Getty Images, Maskot / Getty Images/Maskot

—Anonymous

11."Physical media, clothes not being 100% polyester, malls felt more alive, fashion trends were around for more than a week, physical media (again), I’m guessing everyone’s parents were a lot less strict, the Hollister lifeguard models and celebrity heartthrobs on magazines, everything felt more customizable, old food packaging for popular things like 1D or video games, nothing was as expensive so people actually hung out with each other."

12."Going out and being social. I like going to the record store with my friends, or going to the movies, or just hanging out. Lots of people my age are either doom scrolling or playing video games. Social media was a mistake."

13."I wish I got to experience a culture not influenced by social media. '80s culture was so cool. All of my favorite bands and movies are from the '80s. Nowadays, culture is just so cringe and lame. Social media was a big mistake."

—Anonymous

14."I absolutely adore '90s and '00s R&B. It has such a distinct flavor that most modern R&B just does not have. [That era of] R&B had so much RHYTHM, not just autotuned sample over sample over sample, and you actually had to be able to SING. I miss when the girls were belting!"

Malcolm Ali / WireImage, Harry Langdon / Getty Images

"I also ADORE Cher. Her voice, her cheekbones, her hair, her everything is just so '70s. The '70s seem like such an amazing time for music, as well."

—Anonymous

15."They had great music and TV shows! I’m currently marathon watching Beverly Hills, 90210, but I love the shows The Brady Bunch and The Twilight Zone."

—coolkid97

"I love Glee and Grease and all the older singing shows! They feel less sugarcoated, and a lot funnier!"

—pinkchair777

16."Definitely the music — [so many] musicians in the past actually had soul, skill, and could sing without autotune. Nowadays far too much music is just the conveyor belt of plastic shite from reality shows. 'The next best thing' is often one hit album, one flop album, one 'best of' album (the same hit album with a new song added), rinse, and repeat."

Express Newspapers / Getty Images, Olle Lindeborg / AFP via Getty Images

—starcrossedloversagain

17."The quality of everything, and how color was incorporated and made fun. Now, I'm stuck with nothing but modern black-and-white looks (and stainless steel, because NeNe Leakes made white refrigerators embarrassing.)"

18."[I love that people] used to enjoy events in the present and live in the moment it was happening. I hate the way phones are now shoved in people's faces because how dare you miss something and not be able to document it. Some memories are meant to be relived in your mind."

19."Fashion styles. And music 100%."

Amy Graves / WireImage, Harry Langdon / Getty Images

—jasminehembrey

20.And finally, something not from Gen Z: "I’m a 62-year-old woman. Right between [the boomers] and Gen X. I think we had more freedom to roam around because there was no way to track us on our phones. It made me feel confident as a kid to be on my bike somewhere in the neighborhood, with 'be back by the time the streetlights come on' as the main curfew. However..."

What do you think? Agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments below!

Note: some comments may have been edited for length and/or clarity.