According to many Zoomers, concerning reports of a “Gen Z stare” may be overblown. If it exists, they say, it’s simply a response to the idiocy of their elders.

Somehow, though, the concept — recently articulated on TikTok — gained instant recognition from millennials, Gen X, and boomers, who describe it as a blank, if not worried, look as a response to a direct question or interaction. Sometimes, it can be a lack of any greeting or reply from Zoomers in customer service specifically. Further reports point to a potentially related trend, where the group born between 1997 and 2012 don’t say hi when they pick up the phone.

Any sweeping generational generalization — the millennial “failure to launch,” the Gen X “slacker” mentality, boomers ruining everything — has a way of galvanizing old, would-be foes and bringing them together for a universal tut-tut moment. Now, it’s a new generation’s turn in the barrel, and we’re hearing about their lack of bar tabs, their surprising interest in religion, their tendency to fall for online scams, and their love of baggy pants. Few things unite people as easily as a common point of complaint and judgment.

But the “stare” dogpile is also a reflection of the social skills we value and how we learned to value them; concerns that go beyond eye contact and active listening. In examining our hangups and the backlash, it becomes clear that the Gen Z stare is actually as much about Zoomers as it is the people who are frustrated by them.

Does the Gen Z stare exist?

The most difficult thing about the Gen Z stare is finding Zoomers who will actually admit — on record — to doing it.

In speaking to a few Gen Z people, the main response I got was that they didn’t believe that they or any of their friends were guilty of committing the Gen Z stare. Sam Delgado, a freelance journalist and former Vox fellow, does not relate to giving what she........

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