'POV: You're Trying To Talk To People In 2025': Comedy video sparks debate over Gen Z's poor conversational skills

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 13, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Some say that conversation is a lost art. We're too used to staring into the portals of our phones to look up and see what's happening all around us. We've lost the moments of casual interaction, at the grocery store, on the sidewalk, at the club. So say the pessimists. But are they correct? Is it really that hard to talk to someone you don't know that well? Has society fundamentally changed and left some of us behind? Perhaps. 

Sometimes comedy can illuminate the real problems in our society better than anything else can. We see something eye-catching, we relate to it, and it makes us think about the state of the world. This happens all the time. More than think pieces or watching the news, seeing something that makes us laugh has a way of sparking our intelligence and curiosity more than anything else in the world. That's what happened with this video, which was made by a creator on TikTok who was probably just setting out to make some people laugh. But what she did instead was spark conversation. 

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  • In a skit about what it's like to talk to people nowadays, creator @guyfieriwh*** brought up some pain points. She pointed out an unfortunate trend of certain generations having a lack of ability to spark up discourse with a stranger. Scroll on to watch the video and read through the comments. 

  • via guyfieriwh***
  • SupervillainMustache 6d ago This was very annoying to watch, so this girl did a good job.
    via u/SupervillainMustache
  • DatSleepyBoi • 6d ago I am an assistant teacher at a college and I can confirm half of the students I have that are 18-20 are like this to talk to.
    via u/DatSleepyBoi
  • • BaconAgate · 6d ago This was the majority of my students at a community college when I had them do a group Icebreaker. They had to find three things they had in common and I said that it couldn't be something general like "I like music" almost every group couldn't find three things in common. And one of the groups said "we all like music." Also, I could barely hear what most students said so I kept repeating what they were saying so the rest of the class could hear their responses. I'm only 40
    via u/BaconAgate
  • birdlawyer86 • 6d ago · Edited 6d ago . The Gen Z stare thing is also so strange. We took a wrong turn a while back and I'm not optimistic we're going to find the trail again. Edit: too many people are taking this as a criticism of the generation. It's not. It's just a observation of how they've been socialized by the internet, CO_ID, and our failing systems. I'm not lookin down on anyone, just
    via u/birdlawyer86
  • recognizing the strange results of an unprecedented upbringing that my generation just narrowly avoided. And trust me, we have our own issues, they just show in a different way. Sorry if anyone took that personally.
    via u/birdlawyer86
  • Opposite-Benefit-804 6d ago I'm 18 and many of my peers act like this. Especially the weird drawn out and slurred voice, like "uhhggh yeahhhh I guessss". I complimented a girl and she gave me the weird stare and said repeating "whahht?" till finally saying "ohhgg okay..??". Another thing is many of them don't know "thank you"? Very odd
    via u/Opposite-Benefit-804
  • HardCoreLawn • 6d ago . An entire generation socially crippled with debilitating fear of "cringe".
    via u/HardCoreLawn
  • Horror-Possible5709 6d ago My younger employees act like this. I always chalked it up to just me being their boss and not feeling comfortable. to talk about mundane stuff but it is painfully uncomfortable anytime a mundane subject comes up in a conversation and I feel compelled to provide some
    via u/Horror-Possible5709
  • sort of like obligatory question about what they brought up. But I already know they're going to give the most basic and dry responses that makes me feel like a creep for having ever asked. Mainly this one that just left for school but wanted to come back. Like, I'm shocked she wanted to come back with how uncomfortable interacting with me seemed lol
    via u/Horror-Possible5709
  • labubu_paws • 6d ago . I'm a body piercer on the west coast, so I interact with a lot of people in their late teens and early twenties. It really seems like they're so afraid of each other and everyone else that they throw up this smoke screen of stupidity and ignorance to avoid being seen as cringe or uncool or whatever the slang would be. The effect is that everyone under 25 seems 8.
    via u/labubu_paws
  • Visible_Mall_8940 • 6d ago I work as a flight attendant and the number of people who are like this is astonishingly high. I'm speaking or asking a question, and they won't make eye contact and get
    via u/Visible_Mall_8940
  • extremely uneasy with simple sentences. It's super odd to me, it's almost like they don't comprehend how to handle a simple conversation or how to interact. I honestly worry. It's a huge demographic like this.
    via u/Visible_Mall_8940
  • vwin90 6d ago I'm gonna be honest. I teach high school, and especially after Co id, kids came back so socially awkward that I stopped doing the teacher thing and calling on students to force them to answer and share their thoughts, simply because it was too painful and I was trying to be a sympathetic teacher.
    via u/vwin90
  • I can't help but feel like I'm making the problem so much worse. No practicing voicing your thoughts, no practicing talking in front of others. Students have always complained about getting called on and have always hated sharing out, but now it feels like they actually literally can't, as in talking is a skill they just don't have.
    via u/vwin90
  • I try to get them to do small partner conversations, but even then it feels really stilted. I've heard theories about how it's because this generation is so sensitive about being judged, so they'd all rather just not participate socially. Other theories is about how TikTok has
    via u/vwin90
  • replaced normal face to face interaction and now young people are growing up with a fraction of the communication skills of older generations. I'm never sure what is true, but I am sure that young people now are more socially awkward than ever before.
    via u/vwin90
  • molsminimart. 6d ago This does mirror my experiences with Zoomers who are now in the workforce. It's very odd. I've always had very severe social anxiety and I'm generally awkward. For most of my life people have been fairly sure I'm on the spectrum and now that many
    via u/molsminimart
  • of my peers have been formally diagnosed late in life as having ADHD or ASD, they've very gently told me I have a lot of hallmarks of it. But talking with Zoomers feels far, far more awkward. Interactions usually simultaneously give off disinterest, disdain, and like they're afraid they'll catch cringe off me for existing near them.
    via u/molsminimart
  • Via-Kitten · 6d ago What annoys me most is that asking any kind of question or trying to make a connection feels like a huge inconvenience or burden to them. This creator nailed the snotty, annoyed tone they take and how they act like YOU are the problem when
    via u/Via-Kitten
  • they're the ones not offering any kind of social interaction back. "How dare you talk to me?" "How dare you not remember me after one mindless, uninteresting interaction?" "No, I don't know or do anything, it's cringe to like any specific things or have interesting feelings or thoughts, why would you assume that I did things?". It's mind numbing how utterly boring people have become.
    via u/Via-Kitten
  • Red_Homo_Neck • 6d ago I went to a hotel and the 19 year old woman at the front desk of a FANCY hotel was almost exactly like this, while I was asking if I could see a room for a potential room block. She stared at me for WAY too long then said... "We don't have rooms".... (Blank stare)...
    via u/Red_Homo_Neck
  • I said "are you sold out or... None clean or.. what do you mean?" ... (Blank stare) "Hello"... Oh, "we don't.... Have rooms." (Blank stare) I then said "That's weird, but fine, where is the bar?"
    via u/Red_Homo_Neck
  • (Blank stare) ... "There's a bar..." !? I wanted to slap at least one sensical word out of her mouth, but prison.
    via u/Red_Homo_Neck
  • WKRPinCanada · 6d ago I'm sorry but if I'm talking to an adult & ask them where they're from & their answer is "ummmm I don't know" the conversation ends right there and I'm walking away
    via u/WKRPinCanada
  • . girlwhoweighted · 6d ago My daughter is in Middle School and this is what it's like trying to talk to any of her friends. Like you're a visitor in my house, just want to know if you wanted a water. Don't panic. My daughter does the same thing when someone talks to her and I'm like OMG child just answer their question! Just asked if you wanted fries with your burger!
    via u/girlwhoweighted
  • [deleted] 6d ago It's almost as if growing up on screens and social media will make a person socially inept. Who could have ever seen this coming!
    via u/[deleted]
  • Kind_Swim5900 · 6d ago I had a customer (i am an optician) similar to this. She was with... her father? But she was already 20ish. NO CHILD. A PERSON IN AN AGE WHERE SHE WAS ABLE TO SIGN PAPER AND DRIVE A CAR. AN ADULT. I could NOT talk to her.
    via u/Kind_Swim5900
  • "What are you looking for?" "Uhm... i dunno" "Okay let us start with the frames size, do you like smal sized frames, maybe oversized...?" "I dont know" "Okay maybe what color would you prefere? Or which color would you vote out?" "Uuuh i dont know."
    via u/Kind_Swim5900
  • When I just gave her something, asked her if she likes it, but ShE diDnT kNoW and asked her father who answered "well i wont wear the glasses YOU need to like them!" I was about to just leave. I was so done.
    via u/Kind_Swim5900
  • . plastickytaste · 6d ago On the bright side, if your kid has even a shred of personality and sociability, they're going to dominate their peers in life. These weirdos are going to struggle
    via u/plastickytaste

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chronically online viral videos sketch comedy online skit modern discourse zoomer parody conversation comedy gen z viral young people discourse Video tiktok gen alpha
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