A somewhat one-sided debate erupted on TikTok last week, as Gen X seemed to be “declaring war” on Gen Z, with a silly post going viral that seemed to be a Gen Z overreaction to Eminem’s new album. Slim Shady’s DeathWhile it may be hard to tell which members of the “rising” Generation X on social media platforms are being sarcastic and which are serious, the whole furore has produced some confusing yet hilarious content.
Online tensions between Gen X and Gen Z have been rising for months. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact tipping point, but many signs point to a since-deleted video in which a young TikTok user says, “Generally speaking, we can all agree that Gen X is the worst generation.” The video sparked a variety of reactions, many of which made their way to FYPs across the platform. In an early May video, user @robhomecook warned users not to “make fun of Gen X under any circumstances,” and it has been viewed nearly 5.5 million times.
“Generational tensions are being exaggerated on TikTok. We’re talking about tensions between the parent generation and the kids’ generation,” said Sonia Livingstone, a professor of communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who added that what’s happening on the platform is a symptom, rather than a cause, of the tensions.
Eminem released it earlier this month. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Glace)eliciting a range of reactions from Gen Z, with some viral videos escalating into what Gen Xers have called full-blown online “wars.”
One of Most controversial lyrics death The phrase was first heard in the song “Houdini,” when Eminem rapped, “My trans cat’s a Siamese cat/I identify as black but act like I’m Chinese.” After the lyric went viral, some Gen Zers took to “cancelling” the rapper in TikTok’s comments section. But beyond those comments, Gen Zers seem less interested in the rapper’s lyrics than in poking fun at Gen Xers’ dramatic digital reactions.
One example is TikTok user @moustacheman23, who garnered over 1 million views with a mock apology to Gen Z. In his follow-up video, which had over 4 million views before being taken down, he borrowed the lyrics from Eminem’s “Trouble,” “Are you trying to cancel me? Are you trying to Gen Z me?” One user commented that “nobody’s trying to cancel Eminem,” adding that all of Gen Z “grew up” with the rapper.
“We’re used to seeing younger people attacking older generations,” Livingstone said. “This is the opposite. It’s very unusual for an older generation to attack a younger generation.”
The amount of engagement on these videos — views, likes, comments — has multiplied in recent weeks, drawing attention through TikTok’s algorithms. “It’s because it’s attractive to us,” says Anjana Susala, a professor at Michigan State University who specializes in social media analytics. “It’s the same reason why the cancel culture filter bubble exists. It’s the same thing we’re seeing with this generational war.”
