What is TikTok’s Millennial Pause?
Source: Getty Images
“Okay, Boomer!” If you’re still saying this in 2023, you’re probably an ignorant millennial. That’s right, it’s happening. Slowly but surely creeping up on them (they are us). They are falling behind and losing touch with everything hip, cool and trendy. Millennials can wear wide-leg jeans and part their hair in the middle as much as they want (this reference is also outdated), but they’re never quite as ahead of their time as Gen Z.
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And millennials, please don’t mention the words “dog”, “adult” and “small” while we’re at it. for our own benefit).
Whether you realize it or not, millennials follow a certain trend on TikTok called the “millennial pose.” No, it’s not a trend that boosts their “cool” status. It’s even possible that Gen Z is laughing at you when you’re not. we are here to save you.
TikTok user @nisipisa coined the term “millennial pose.”
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What is TikTok’s ‘millennial pause’?
Incredibly, a millennial pause is a literal pause that millennials take before speaking on a TikTok video. Yes, it is. but why? Well, they don’t realize the video has already been recorded. Regular pauses he less than a second, but impactful. It’s giving “Is this on?”
Millennials are the first generation to grow up with social media (such as Myspace), yet they are failing. And yes, Generation Z giggles and croaks.
According to The Atlantic, the hilarious term was coined by Boston-based TikTok user @nisipisa in a November 2021 video.
“I’m obsessed with the fact that even Taylor Swift inevitably doesn’t escape the mandatory millennial pause before she starts speaking on TikTok and confirms she’s actually recording it,” she said. She smiled and called out the Grammy Award-winning artist.
The hashtag #millennialpause has received over 18.3 million views on TikTok.
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Source: TikTok/@kathrynfiona
TikTok user and writer Kate Lindsay, who wrote the aforementioned Atlantic article, talked about millennial suspension as part of a larger conversation in her 2022 video. I made sure I edited all the pauses.)
“I thought this was a very interesting observation and also part of a larger trend I’ve been seeing, which is basically that millennials are aging from the internet.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t use it anymore, or that we don’t belong here, but the Internet that we’ve built and used for the last 15 years is no longer the Internet that we use. But millennials still use a lot of old internet traits, behaviors and tics.”
Kate goes on to say that “millennials are the first generation to grow up on the internet” and “also the first generation to grow old on the internet.”
It’s interesting how a terrifying half-second pause can elicit such a compelling cultural conversation.