I was on TikTok when I first came across the phrase. Digital creator Dante Elizabeth James acted out a scene between a customer and a server labelled as a member of Gen Z (someone born between 1997-2010).

“How are you?” their customer character asked, before being met with what the creator termed a “Gen Z stare” – a blank, wordless gawp – eventually accompanied by mumbling, brief responses.

It showed what the TikToker thought was a lack of ability or willingness to engage in small talk among younger generations, especially in customer service settings.

I’d heard of the “Millennial pause” (waiting too long to talk in a video) and the “lead paint stare” attributed to Boomers. But this was the first time I’d seen the younger generation implicated.

Here, Tam Kaur, a self-help expert, author and podcaster who is Gen Z herself, shared her thoughts about the phenomenon.

I’m used to being stared at but Gen Z’s hits different