In the past week, a somewhat one-sided argument has taken over TikTok. Gen X, it seems, is “declaring war” on Gen Z, going viral with shitposts about what they see as Gen Z’s overreaction to Eminem’s new album The Death of Slim Shady. While it may be hard to work out which members of the Gen X “rise-up” on the social media platform are being sarcastic and which are being serious, the entire dustup has made for some confusing, but hilarious, content.
Online tensions between Gen X and Gen Z have been escalating for months. Finding an exact inflection point is tough, but many signs point to a video, which has since been deleted, in which a younger TikTok user says, “I think we can all agree that if we’re generalizing, Gen X is the worst generation.” The video prompted multiple reactions, many of which found their way to FYPs across the platform. One from early May, in which user @robhomecook warned that “under no circumstances do you fuck with Gen X,” has received some 5.5 million views.
“On TikTok what you get is an exaggeration of generational tensions. We’re talking about the tension between the parents’ generation and their children,” says Sonia Livingstone, a communications professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. What’s happening on the platform, Livingstone adds, is not the cause of the tension, but rather a symptom.
All of this catalyzed earlier this month when Eminem released The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), prompting various responses from Gen Z and turning a few viral videos into what Gen X calls a full-blown online “war.”
One of the most controversial lyrics on Death comes from the track “Houdini,” in which Eminem raps, “My transgender cat’s Siamese / Identifies as Black but acts Chinese.” As the lyrics made the rounds, several Gen-Zers took to TikTok to “cancel” the rapper in his comment section. Outside of these comments, though, Gen Z seems largely unbothered by the rapper’s lyrics and more interested in trolling Gen X for their dramatic digital reaction.
Case in point: TikTok user @moustacheman23, who racked up more than 1 million views on the mock apology he gave to Gen Z. His follow-up, which was viewed more than 4 million times before it was deleted, borrowed the lyrics “You’re gonna cancel me, yeah? Gen Z me bruh?” from Eminem’s “Trouble.” One user commented, “No one [is] tryna cancel Eminem,” adding all of Gen Z “grew up” with the rapper.
“We’re used to the younger people attacking the older generation,” says Livingstone. “This is a reversal; it’s quite unusual to see an older generation attacking a younger one.”
The scale of engagement in views, likes, and comments on these videos has multiplied in recent weeks, gaining traction through TikTok’s algorithm because “it’s compelling to us,” says Anjana Susarla, a professor at Michigan State University who specializes in social media analytics. “This is the same reason why you have cancel-culture filter bubbles. It’s the same thing you’re seeing with this generational war.”
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