Millennial pause

The millennial pause is a pause in speaking that is present at the start of some recorded videos, especially on short-form video app TikTok.[1][2][3][4] The practice of including such a pause is generally ascribed to millennials, a group often defined to include people born in the 1980s or 1990s.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The phenomenon is an example of the digital generation gap between millennials and younger generations.[11][12]

Singer Taylor Swift (top) and actress Jennifer Coolidge, both said to include millennial pauses in their videos[lower-alpha 1]

Observation

The practice was first observed as early as 1 March 2021, when a TikTok user questioned "why [millennials] pause so long before speaking", and mentioned that they should "hit record and GO".[13][14]

The term "millennial pause" is attributed to TikTok user nisipisa, a millennial who posted a TikTok video on 26 November 2021, pointing out that Taylor Swift, a millennial singer, includes such pauses at the start of her videos.[1][15][16][lower-alpha 2] Kathryn Lindsay of The Atlantic, a millennial herself, stated that this pause is becoming more noticeable as short-form videos are becoming more prevalent on social network Instagram, instant messaging app Snapchat, and online video platform YouTube.[1]

Videos by people other than millennials have also been described as exhibiting a millennial pause; Parade reported that singer JC Chasez included one in his TikTok debut video, and James Factora of Them mentioned how actress Jennifer Coolidge included one in "a perfect TikTok" during her debut.[18][19][lower-alpha 3]

Theory

It has been conjectured that the reason why people older than zoomers[lower-alpha 4] tend to include a pause at the start of their videos is to make sure that the device they are using is actually recording before beginning to say anything.[1][23] In contrast, younger users are said to trust that the devices are working correctly, and begin speaking immediately after the recording begins.[1]

Another theory for the pause's prevalence is that the habit may have first been adopted when earlier recording devices commonly took a split second before beginning to record.[24] Although newer devices do not exhibit the same delay, this habit has proven hard to break.[24]

Gen Z shake

On 18 January 2023, a Gen Z user of TikTok posted a video describing how members of Generation Z often start recording their videos right before placing their cameras on a stable surface.[25][26][27] As a result, the video shakes at the start of these recordings before the camera is set down.[25][28] The user dubbed the behavior the "Gen Z shake", and called it "the Gen Z equivalent to the millennial pause".[25][27]

Lindsay reported that she has also found videos that begin while the recorder is in the middle of a task, such as finishing a bite of food, so that it may take some time before the recorder actually addresses the audience.[25] She stated that, like the Gen Z shake, doing this gives the audience the sense that the video begins in medias res.[25] Lindsay added that the Gen Z shake is "a performance" rather than an unconscious act, and points out that although this phenomenon, like the millennial pause, could be edited out, neither is.[25] Another social media content creator has theorized that, because zoomers live their entire lives online, the Gen Z shake is an act of rebellion, and is done ironically.[25]

Awareness

Becoming aware of the phenomenon has made some millennials notice that they are "getting old".[10] People have also noted that, once they have been made aware that their recordings include millennial pauses, they find their own habit embarrassing, but also have trouble breaking the habit.[24] Some people have stated that, without the pause, the start of their dialogue would be cut off.[29] Users have also stated that, once one is aware of the phenomenon, it is difficult to ignore its presence in a video.[23]

The phrase has been used untranslated outside of the Anglosphere, including in Brazil,[30] Chile,[31] Denmark,[32] France,[33] Germany,[34] Indonesia,[29] Italy,[12] Mexico,[35] the Netherlands,[36] and Spain.[37][lower-alpha 5]

See also

Notes
  1. The term "millennial pause" is attributed to a millennial who discussed how Taylor Swift included such pauses in her videos.[1]
  2. The social media user actually used the phrase "millennial obligatory pause" in her video post, though the title of her post included the phrase "millennial pause".[17][16] The post also included a snippet from a video in which Swift exhibited this pause before discussing the re-release of her album Red.[17][16]
  3. JC Chasez was born in 1976.[20] Definitions of "millennial" often include people born in the 1980s, but not those in the 1970s.[5][6][7] Jennifer Coolidge was born in 1961.[21]
  4. A zoomer is a member of Generation Z, the generation following that of millennials.[22]
  5. Spanish newspaper El País used a Spanish translation, calling it "la pausa millennial", though it also mentioned the English-language hashtag "#MillennialPause", and used the phrase untranslated in its English-language edition.[37][38]

References
  1. Lindsay, Kate (6 August 2022). "Are You Sure You're Not Guilty of the 'Millennial Pause'?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  2. Kelly, Tiffany (13 August 2022). "What the 'Millennial Pause' Discourse Says About Millennial vs. Gen Z". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. "Taylor Swift's Getting Funnier". Gawker. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. "Tuesday Briefing: What's Behind Angry Protests Against China's 'Deadly' COVID Restrictions". The Guardian. 29 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  5. "Millennial". Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  6. Singal, Jesse (May 2017). "Snapchat? No thanks; I'm an Old Millennial". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  7. "Definition of Millennial". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  8. Rogers, Hannah. "What is a 'Millennial Pause'?". The Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. "For My Birthday, '90s Nostalgia and the Gift of Grief Literacy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  10. "Growing Old Online". Wired. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  11. Lindsay, Kate (18 October 2022). "The End of a Millennial Internet Era". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  12. "Web, The Decline of GIFs is Also That of Millennials". Domani. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  13. Ferrari, Pauline (2 February 2023). "Sur TikTok, la " génération Z " se moque sans scrupule des " millenials "". www.20minutes.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  14. "Like why do they pause so long before speaking babe hit record and GO ... | TikTok". TikTok. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  15. "What Is the Millenial Pause on TikTok? The Answer Is Quite Literal". Distractify. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  16. "#stitch with @taylorswift millennial pause (taylor's version) | TikTok". TikTok. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  17. Lindsay, Kate. "The Millennial Pause". Substack. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  18. "NSYNC's JC Chasez Joins TikTok, Debuts New Mature Hairstyle". Parade. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  19. "This Is Not a Drill: Jennifer Coolidge Is Now on TikTok". Them. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  20. "JC Chasez Biography". Biography. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  21. "Jennifer Coolidge: Movies, Photos, Videos, News, Biography & Birthday | eTimes". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  22. "Words We're Watching: 'Zoomer'". merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  23. Marwah, Srishti. "What Is 'Millennial Pause' On Tiktok? Viral Trend Leaves The Internet In A Frenzy". sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  24. O'Reilly, Séamas (26 November 2022). "Séamas O'Reilly: I've Been Trying Out New Social Media Sites as an Escape Raft from Twitter". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  25. lindsay, kate. "The Gen Z shake". embedded.substack.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  26. "A TikToker Says 'The Gen Z Shake' Is The Equivalent To The Millenial Pause & Now My Brain Hurts". PEDESTRIAN.TV. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  27. "I figured out what's genz equivalent of the millennial pause! ##millen... | TikTok". TikTok. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  28. "TikTok has realised The Gen Z shake is the latest equivalent to the Millennial pause". UK. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  29. "Viral di TikTok Hari Ini, Apa Sih Pengertian dari 'Millennial Pause'? - Semua Halaman - Hai". Hai (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  30. "'Millennial Pause' is the New Talk of Generations". Terra (in Portuguese). 29 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  31. "Why Millennials Are the New 'Dinosaurs of the Internet': And How Gen Z Mocks Them". Radio Infinita (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  32. "Boomers Used to Take the Brunt, But Now It's a Different Generation". Underholdning (in Danish). 28 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  33. "But What Is The 'Millennial Break' That You Are Probably Taking Without Realizing It?". Konbini (in French). 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  34. Willems, Christina (15 November 2022). "Tiktok Phenomenon Explained: What Actually is a "Millennial Break"?". Rheinische Post (in German). Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  35. "Millennial Pause: What Gives Away Millennials on Tiktok?". Universidad Intercontinental (in Spanish). 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  36. "So There is a Second Between 'Camera On' and 'Talk', and That is the Millennial Pause". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 23 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  37. Vázquez, Karelia (30 September 2022). "Millennials Are the New Oldies of the Internet". El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  38. Vázquez, Karelia (3 October 2022). "Why Millennials Are the New Online Dinosaurs". El País English Edition. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
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