Young People Discuss The Importance of Intergenerational Friendships

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Sep 22, 2023 8:00 PM EDT

So many people are weird about age. We've got 20-year-olds telling 25-year-olds that they "look good for their age." Middle-aged people are catastrophizing about young people killing various industries. Twenty-somethings claim that a 26-year-old dating a 38-year-old is a predatory age gap. If you're spending too much time online, it might seem like nobody knows how to be normal about age.

Luckily, the internet is not the real world. In the real world, it is not looked negatively upon to have meaningful relationships with people of all different ages. Age gaps are not viewed as inherently predatory by normal people, and age is a way smaller barrier to connection than most youngsters realize. Going from being a student, where you primarily interact with peers or direct superiors, to being a full-time worker can be an odd transition for some young adults, and Twitter users recently came together to demystify intergenerational friendships.