Gen Z or Zoomers are a unique demographic caught in the intersection of looking back (way, way back) and looking forward. Known as 'the most woke and progressive generation' yet, they care deeply about representation, equality, sustainability, and mental health — and they want the companies and brands they support to care. While the social causes they care about directly impact their coming years, their futures are also more uncertain than any generation before them. To escape the discomfort of this reality, they search for meaning in nostalgic comforts that mesh their love for the past with their desires for the future. Gen Z’s interest in all things vintage stems from their drive to live more sustainably, which can explain the spike in thrift shopping on sites and promoting homegrown small businesses to fight fast-fashion consumerism. Pre-teen and early teen years mark a time of growing independence, identity development, and self-esteem issues, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. From the workforce to relationships, the survey data indicate that Gen Z was overall hardest hit by the pandemic. So why is everyone hyping GenZ? Zoomers are digital natives. It is the first generation for whom the extraordinary technological advancements of the last 20th century are just a usual part of life. They see the same huge changes in technology in their adult lives as Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials have done in theirs – but with their early experiences, Generation Z may well be better able to adapt and cope. Generation Z is the most insecure because the world they live in has never felt safe. From terrorist attacks to the onset of Covid-19, they have witnessed everything firsthand. They were also born during or just before the 2007 financial crisis and resulting recession. For some, the earliest memories might well include houses being repossessed, family members losing their jobs, and other signs of massive global monetary disruption. In contrast to the lives’ of boomers and millennials, who were both born in times of prosperity and typically didn’t have to face economic downturns and their consequences until they were well into their teens. No wonder Generation Z has a reputation for economizing and alarm in comparison with the generations that forewent them. Despite such mayhem insecurities they are impressively accepting. The most obvious example is gay rights- GenZ accepts people for what they are and what they want to be. They think that being socially liberal goes without saying. GenZ is a very diverse generation and they’re more likely to be mixed race and hold more than one nationality than their predecessors. They’re also more likely to accept people as they are – including their peers – who are openly transgender. Theirs is a heterogeneous generation, and that’s the way they like it. Unlike the previous generations, Zoomers are more health-conscious and you’d find most of them hitting the gym or going for a daily run out of regularity to lead a healthy life. They're the generation who are vocal about mental health issues and address them with supreme severity. Previous generations have grown up with assorted bad food habits: the fry-ups of the Baby Boomers, the yo-yo dieting of Generation x and the sugar-filled frappuccinos of the Millennials. And as Generation Z have become teenagers, they’ve continued the healthy streak. They’re much less likely to take up smoking than previous generations, and far more of them drink no alcohol, not even in moderation. GenZ students crave autonomy in learning. They desire studying that is self-paced, self-directed, and independent with the freedom of what or how they learn. They have grown up in a world that hasn’t always made them feel financially secure, and they’ve taken that on board in their plans for their future careers. They are pragmatic and money-minded. And their goals are optimistic, but not impossible: They don’t plan on becoming billionaires before they’re 30, but they do dream of inventing an app that lets them graduate without debt. The line between childhood and adulthood is just as unclear for generation Z as it was for their 1950s predecessors but in a different way. GenZ won’t leave education until they’re 18 at least, and a large majority of them will go on to university after that. The number of girls in GenZ having babies as teenagers is likely to be lower than it has been for a hundred years. And as Generation Z has grown up in a world that feels unsafe, they’re unlikely to have enjoyed the freedom to roam by themselves that earlier generations took for granted; they’re also much less likely to own a car or know how to drive one. But GenZ’s awareness of the internet and their privacy means that even as young teenagers, they’re thinking about what they’re saying and how they’re saying it, and even working towards establishing a personal brand online. GenZ might have it relatively hard compared to some of their predecessors, but their strong sense of their self-identity and their perseverance to thrive should see them through.

As we browse in the influence of social media on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter and so, some of us are jealous of couples who boast on social media about how blessed and happy they are with each other’s company. Also, we never know what the truth is, and what is the real thing behind those happy facades they keep on updating. A fake relationship is one with the glowing appearance of a satisfied and loving one. It has the illusion of two devout partners who genuinely try to make the relationship work. Yet, their feelings are not completely in alignment with their words and actions. One might often question, why would someone fake a relationship? Some only do it to distract themselves from their distressing loneliness. Others might have motives that could be far worse. They might be in it for the money, and are primarily gold diggers trying to elevate their status or, are simply together for the sake of bragging. We don’t know what kind of person they are off-camera. I have seen so many couples who keep on posting even minimal relationship development on social media but in reality, the scenario is quite different. They are not only extremely insecure about their partners but they keep on arguing all the time. Some are even together on popular demand but in reality, they lead different lives. They are together solely to profit out of their "relationship goals" photoshoots, stories, blogs, videos, vlogs and posts. It reaches a point that real life is dictated by social media followers. Just to impress people and collect some audience’s attention they live in an act with family, friends and relatives. Often people keep on digging into their relationship and it ends up on a very toxic note. From grandiloquent luxurious gifts to extravagant travels, the social media power couples convince us every day that real life is like a fairytale when it comes to "perfect" relationships. Influencers living their lives on social media are often forcing us to look at things with a coloured frame while we miss their struggle behind the cameras. This facade is changing people's perspectives of viewing a relationship and we often tend to consider the reel to be real. When we “meet” someone through social media, we have the opportunity to interact in real life, we might develop a relationship that creates true friendship but those are few and far between. And as social media gets bigger and more pervasive, this abyss becomes even more challenging to cross. Meeting people just to take pictures and post them on social media to increase the number of likes, comments and followers has changed the whole scenario of interactivity. Since when does a person's character or attractiveness be based on their number of followers? The saddening part is such fake relationships and their posts on social media are making people more and more insecure about their potential partners and increasing the rivalry among couples. By- Namrata Saha