Is the party over? How Gen Z is killing big booze
Has Gen Z really killed fun, or just changed the game?
In this episode of Decomplicated for The Independent, we dive into why younger generations are ditching booze-fueled nights for wellness, gaming, and digital hangouts.
With pub culture struggling and club closures rising, Gen Z's drinking habits are shaking up the alcohol industry.
Generations before them claim this means Gen Z is boring... but, is that accurate, or are they just redefining fun on their own terms?
Watch more Decomplicated on Independent TV.
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Gen Z are ditching iPhones for this retro classic - and it's not a smartphone
Gen Z have been showing off their retro phone finds - but as doomscrolling and social media makes more of an negative impact on our lives, the reason may lie in something more serious Gen Z have been recycling fashion looks from the early 2000s and now they're reclaiming old phones too: from clunky Nokias to iconic flip-phones. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the now-discontinued BlackBerry is becoming the ultimate symbol of retro cool. You may remember BlackBerry 's as the original statement phone. First dropped in 1999, the BlackBerry 850 was a squat digital device, somewhat reminiscent of a school calculator. It went through several revolutions, with the Blackberry Curve, which debuted in 2007, BlackBerry Flip 8220, released in 2008, and the BlackBerry Key One, a smartphone featuring a keyboard, which dropped in 2017. Unfortunately, the times moved on without them. Physical keyboards fell out of favour and were replaced by touchscreen smartphones and scrolling. Eventually, the BlackBerry discontinued servicing their classic phones in 2022, taking their misplaced-but-retroactively-beloved keyboards to their digital grave. But this isn't where the story ends. The BlackBerry is being made relevant once again by none other than Gen Z, who have been sharing their retro-phone finds on TikTok - ironically, given many of these old phones can't actually support the app. Currently, the hashtag flipphone has almost 35K posts on the video-sharing app, while the hashtag for Blackberry also boasts close to 125K. These feature videos, often accumulating hundreds and thousands of views, documenting their return to more basic phones. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you! A video by gaming and tech influencer @notchonnie garnered over four million views after she posted a video of her white, aesthetically-decorated BlackBerry Classic Q20. 'Is it practical? No. Is it fun to me? Yes," she captioned the clip. It's hard to deny that flip phones, which require a very definitive and fierce wrist flick to open, and their related text culture (i.e. 'c u l8r', 'wbu') have a fun, 2000s nostalgia appeal. But it's not just aesthetics drawing younger users back to these phones. There appears to be a deep desire to get away from social media apps and, ultimately, doomscrolling. In fact, according to poll by More In Common, almost two thirds of Gen Z Brits believe social media does more harm than good, while half admit they wish they'd spent less time on their phones growing up. This can be seen most clearly in the 'flip phone challenge', which has become a hugely popular trend on the app. While the parameters vary, it generally involves people trying to use a flip phone for a period of time extending over weeks to a few months – or even attempting an indefinite switch. A TikTok by @shozi_055 quickly gained over 2.7 million views after she posted her BlackBerry phone unboxing. Her caption read: 'My phone addiction is getting way too out of hand, I'm trying to take my life back.' In the video she added: "POV: you bought a blackberry in 2025 [because] your iPhone is ruining your life." Commenters were eager to share their own experiences with logging in far too much screen time. 'I had a BlackBerry Torch and if I could find one right now, I'd put down my iPhone in a heart beat,' one user wrote. 'When life was soooo simple,' another added. Of course, it's undeniable that nostalgia appears to be also playing a role in the BlackBerry's allure. After all, it's the very first phone that many Gen Z have memories of being told they couldn't have. As one commenter said: 'I'm gonna buy it just because it was a childhood dream to own it.'
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Explain it to me quickly: What is aura farming, and is it cool or cringe?
Bertin and Luca. You're young people. Why are all the kids on my feeds suddenly talking about aura farming, and what does it have to do with Timothée Chalamet? Who has more aura than the Dune saga's prophesied leader Paul Atreides? Since that role, Chalamet has become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Aura farming is all about cultivating the coolest version of yourself. Think well-tailored suits, lots of grayscale, serious stares and sharp angles. When Chalamet, playing Atreides, leads an army of hardened warriors in the sci-fi blockbuster, delivering a powerful speech and declares himself emperor of the known universe, he's aura farming. Kids have always wanted to be cool – now they get to farm for it. I'm guessing this farming does not involve a tractor. How exactly does one do it? By the simple act of being cool or mysterious: striking a cool pose, or performing great feats of coolness – a strike when you go bowling, flawlessly landing rubbish in the bin from 5 metres away, or completing a new personal best at the gym. OK, so aura farming is the same as earning aura points. But why is it farming? Like so much Gen Z and Alpha slang, it emerges when the world of video games and anime collides with TikTok. In many video games, to farm is to endlessly grind at a digital task to gain experience, currency or items (wow, art imitating life). Some examples – such as World of Warcraft or more recently, Fortnite – are notorious for sucking hours, days, maybe even months from people's lives as they farm in pursuit of these things. TikTokers count the aura points earned when they do something cool; players of games like Elden Ring farm aura by performing spectacular game play moves, or standing against a backdrop of cool scenery and wearing all their their cool gear – to share with viewers on a stream, or social media followers, or just for their own satisfaction. Just as there are video game streamers and entire YouTube channels dedicated to playing a game quickly or skilfully, there are others devoted to mastering the art of playing stylishly and smoothly. Of course these worlds were going to cross over. Back in my day, spending hours playing video games wasn't exactly cool … If the number of television adaptations of video games are any indication, maybe the definition of cool has changed. But you do have a point. Aura farming refers to a sense of cool that is very specific to video games and anime. The most famous examples of aura farmers – you could start with Piccolo, Gon, Sangwoo, to name a few – all come from that world. Can you aura farm in real life? Yes. There's always riding your bike with hands in your pockets down the main street of your university campus. Or pretending to be so famous that people want your autograph. On election day in Australia, one dedicated aura farmer walked past polling booths signing how to vote cards as if he were a celebrity – a riff on the existing trend of autographing receipts and pieces of paper you dropped in front of celebrities on purpose. This doesn't sound that cool, honestly. The main difference between aura farming in a game and in real life is that if you're doing the latter, you're running the risk you'll be made fun of. Where there is cool, there is also cringe. They are two sides of the same coin. And trying too hard to aura farm is not cool. If someone from Gen Alpha or Z says you're aura farming, pay attention to the tone. If it's accusatory, they're mocking you. If they're laughing, they're mocking you. Just hope that if someone says it to you, it's in sheer awe of your presence … and aura. OK, so to put it in terms my calcified millennial mind can understand, that time I saw Chloë Sevigny smoking on the dancefloor at a New York fashion week party, she was aura farming in the cool way. But then when my friend lit a cigarette right afterward and we were told it was a no-smoking venue, we were aura farming in the cringe way? You're aura farming just by telling that story.
Daily Record
17 hours ago
- Daily Record
Netflix's Adolescence is now second biggest English-language show on streaming platform
Netflix's Adolescence has hit a huge new milestone, surpassing Stranger Things, as the second most watched English-language TV series, but which show holds the top spot? Netflix's Adolescence has officially became the streamer's second most-watched English-language TV series, surpassing Stranger Things, which previously held the crime drama mini-series, co-created and starring Stephen Graham, arrived on the streaming platform on March 13 and recently reached a huge milestone of 141.2M total views, putting it above the fourth season of Stranger Things, which initially held the title at 140.7M views. It follows the dramatic aftermath of a 13-year-old boy Jamie, portrayed by Owen Cooper, who is arrested for murdering a classmate. Each episode is remarkably shot in one take. In first place is the debut season of the platform's Addams Family spin-off, Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega, which racked in a jaw dropping 252.1M total views within its first 91 days. In comparison, season one of the streamer's popular Korean psychological thriller Squid Game is Netflix's most watched non-English language TV series, bringing in a whopping 265.2M views in its first three months. Adolescence, which is likely to land several Emmy nominations next month, recently swept at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards. It was awarded the prize for Breakthrough Limited Series, as well as two acting awards for Graham and young newcomer Owen Cooper for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited Series and Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series, respectively. In his acceptance speech, Graham said: 'We're overwhelmed for you to embrace us the way you have. "This was a small colloquial piece that was made with love, respect, humility and dignity, and we treated the subject with a lot of passion, but a lot of care.' Speaking to The Independent in March about the struggles of shooting each episode in one go, director Philip Barantini admitted: 'It was quite difficult, but it was fun as well. It was meticulously planned. '[Tech rehearsals] would be an opportunity for the sound team to put the booms where they needed to be. "And, we had all the support and the runners and ADs all dressed in police uniforms in the first episode and teachers in the second episode so they could be on camera and cueing things. 'It was technically challenging, but a huge collaboration.' It comes after 15-year-old Owen from Cheshire in England recently appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and boldly revealed "one thing he hates about America". Host Jimmy had asked the teenager what he didn't like about America as Owen spent some time there promoting the Netflix drama which is now in talks for a second series. The young actor replied: "One thing I hate about America - the chocolate and the sweets, everything is just terrible. It's just Cheetos and all that nonsense. Honestly, I hate it." Whilst slating US confectionery, he even brought out some classic British snacks to prove his point that they are better. Owen lifted up a basket of snacks to reveal his favourite treats to Jimmy, which included the classic Maltesers. He asked the host: "Have you ever had a Malteser? Right - I'll bring the whole basket up. So this is what I brought [Monster Munch, Maltesers and Fruit Pastilles]"
