The Brief: #NotMyGeneration TikTok memes imagine teen life in the 20th century.

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DEEP DIVE

Gen Z TikTokers are romanticizing their parents’ generation in retro throwback videos. ‘Not My Generation’ memes envision what it would be like to be a teenager in a previous decade.

#NotMyGeneration TikTok memes mostly focus on the 1970s and 1980s but some videos reference the 50s, 60s, and 90s as well. Perhaps they’ll be combined with #HistoryLesson memes soon and we’ll see what teenagers live’s might’ve been like in the 1770s or in 200 BCE.

Many of these videos show people getting ready for school or to go on a date. It’s clear that some kids have been looking in their parents’ closets for videos with titles like “trying on my mom/dad’s clothes.” Look out for rotary phones, cassette tapes, and crimped hair, along with way too many Converse and denim jackets.

Not My Generation meme videos are typically set to the song “New Flesh” by Current Joys. As at least one TikTok user pointed out, although many of these videos take place in the 70s, this song actually came out in 2013.

Over 143 million videos have been tagged with the hashtag #NotMyGeneration on TikTok.