As a Millennial, I can’t help but enjoy the onslaught of news takes and hit pieces my Gen Z brethren are currently experiencing. As someone who was once maligned for liking avocado toast and coffee, I will gladly sit back and watch the punches roll in.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the “Gen Z Stare,” which accuses Gen Z of giving off “deadpan” looks to strangers in public, and this week, I might have the answer as to why they do it. Drumroll: They’re highly self-conscious about how they’re being perceived in public.

As noted in an interview with NBC News Australia, American author and educator Ocean Vuong thinks Gen Z is being crippled with cringe. Voung, who has been a teacher for 11 years, believes the younger generations are “more and more self-conscious of trying.” He claims there is a “surveillance culture with social media” that has crippled Gen Z with the fear of being “cringe.”

And he’s totally right, of course.

So next time you see a young person in public, make a funny face at them, let them film you, do anything to show them that we, the olds, don’t care if people think we’re losers.

We probably are, and that’s okay! 

@abcnewsaus Author Ocean Vuong says he finds it "unsettling" to see how "cringe culture" is holding young people back. He talks to 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson. #ABC730#OceanVuong♬ original sound - ABC News Australia