“During the pandemic, there was a lack of consistency,” says Joyce Chuinkam, research manager at the Los Angeles-based market research agency Talk Shoppe.
she interviewed millennials (born between 1981 and 1995) and young people from Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010) about their friendships during the pandemic.
Several surveys show how much the pandemic has affected Gen Z youth's sense of connection. Thus, this scarcity of relationships can harm anyone's well-being, however, the timing could not be worse.
Currently, they face periods of immense life changes: graduation from school, moving to new cities, starting new jobs, entering the job market.
According to the Talk Shoppe survey, Chuinkam concluded that Generation Z is more open than millennials to making new friends online through friendship apps.
Gen Z feels that they are “more likely to make friends” if they meet each other in Facebook groups, says Chuinkam.
These social networking groups often attract people with common hobbies and also provide a “more comfortable way to meet people” than the in-person experience of an app.