‘I burned you a CD?’: Gen Z daughter fails mom’s ’90s, early 2000s technology test, makes everyone feel old
Nostalgia plays a powerful role on TikTok. Users seem drawn to content that compares life before the internet to today. From the simple joys of the Scholastic book fair to revisiting ’80s and ’90s home videos and “gaudy” Christmases before neutrals took over, there are a variety of things about which many people like to reminisce.
And now some of those people have kids who don’t have any idea what they’re talking about.
30-something influencer Brittany Xavier (@brittany.xavier), who has 5.2 million followers, shared a video quizzing her Gen Z daughter, Jadyn Xaiver (@jadynxavier), on elements of the ’90s and early 2000s. Her daughter knew very little about the life of Limewire, burning CDs, instant messaging and answering machines, which shocked viewers.
“What is a Walkman?” Xavier asks her daughter in a TikTok viewed 5.7 million times.
“Was it a talkie? Like a talkie-walkie? A game?” the daughter guesses incorrectly.
Xavier continues, “What is AOL? What is AIM?”
The daughter replies, “What are all these abbreviations? A-I-M? AIM? I don’t know, I don’t know,”
In total, Xavier’s daughter fails to identify anything from the ’90s and early 2000s, including being unable to name a “really popular girl group in the ’90s” that “all wore platform heels,” not knowing what Pogs were — “Something with clothing?” — or what bootlegged music from Limewire was.
“What is bootleg music? Like country?” the daughter asks.
Xavier’s daughter also had no idea what it meant to give someone a “burned CD,” an iconic millennial symbol.
“If I were to say, ‘I burned you a CD’…?” Xavier questions as her daughter looks confused.
“What? I burned you a CD? I effed you over,” the daughter replies as Xavier bursts out laughing.
Those who watched the ’90s pop quiz go down had mixed reactions, with some claiming they were a similar age to Xavier’s daughter but were still familiar with the terms.
“I’m 20 and knew almost all of them,” claimed @gracie.lindell.
“I’m gen z I grew up with all of this,” added @_stinkybum.
In a follow-up video, Xavier also quizzed her daughter on 2000s culture, even showing her a picture of “MySpace Tom,” whom she also didn’t recognize.
Many mourned how quickly even mainstream devices, language and pop culture figures can quickly lose relevancy as the internet seems to make everything move so quickly.
“I really thought spice girls would be immortalized and girls everywhere would always know them,” wrote @kfitz789 with a sobbing emoji for emphasis.
“Im only 28 and this made me feel like an ancient tombstone,” said @xxxkkxxx28.
In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News — follow us here!
The post ‘I burned you a CD?’: Gen Z daughter fails mom’s ’90s, early 2000s technology test, makes everyone feel old appeared first on In The Know.
More from In The Know:
What is the Kibbe body type scale? Gen Z rediscovers popular 1980s style guide
Young Swifties debate how to open a CD case, making even Gen Z viewers feel old
What is the 'Gen X Soft Club' aesthetic, and is Gen Z reviving the look?
How you can tell if someone is Gen Z or Millennial from their group photos
