For Gen Z, the world doesn’t knock- it crashes in through their phone screens. One minute it’s a meme, the next it’s a mass protest. Court rulings, climate disasters, political drama, it’s all happening now, and it’s all happening online.
But when every scroll feels like a crisis, and every notification is a new burden, being informed starts to feel less like empowerment and more like emotional overload.
This hyper-connected generation lives with the world in their pockets. News, politics, economic crashes, everything is just one scroll away. But as their awareness rises, so does a new kind of fatigue: activism burnout. The result? A generation that’s informed, vocal, and deeply exhausted.
Welcome to the Scroll Era
Unlike past generations who waited for the evening news or the morning paper, Gen Z has grown up with real-time everything.
They don’t just read headlines, they share, retweet, live-stream, and campaign. Their phones are classrooms, their feeds are battlegrounds, and their voices echo louder than ever.
Tired of Trying: The Rise of Political Fatigue
It’s not that Gen Z doesn’t care-they care a lot. But caring has started to feel like running on a treadmill. You share a post, sign a petition, march in a protest, and then watch nothing change.
This phenomenon, now dubbed “activism fatigue”, is spreading fast among young people who feel their efforts are falling into digital black holes.
Viral campaigns trend for a day, only to be replaced by the next crisis. Meanwhile, policies remain static and change feels distant.
As social media continues to dominate the way young people interact with the world, Gen Z finds itself at a critical point. They’re more connected, more informed, and more passionate but also more drained, disillusioned, and doubtful of their impact.
So the big question remains: Is social media empowering a revolution, or just exhausting its most passionate generation?
Gen Z might be the generation that never stops scrolling- but maybe, just maybe, what they need is to stop, breathe, and find new ways to turn awareness into real change. Because behind every viral post is a tired heart hoping that this time, something actually shifts.
