What does OK Boomer mean?
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The meme arose in a wider context of Boomer blaming.
The OK Boomer meme and others like it allow young people to partake in a form of intergenerational politics.
Young people use youthful parlance and lingo, pop cultural references and emojis to shape their collective political culture.
React via duet: @kyuutpies duet to @irishmanalways who had challenged Gen Z to not use technologies.
Craft activism: @peytoncoffee painting OK Boomer.
The video received more than 5 million likes.
Similarly, the OK Boomer meme has been deployed to discuss various controversial and contentious issues.
Around 40% of the posts we examined focused on young peoples lifestyles and well-being.
Boomer shocked: an #OkBoomer meme video from @ditshap.
Gen Z TikTokers also expressed frustration towards the dismissive attitude that Boomers adopted towards their mental health.
Unreasonable criticism from Boomers is a common them in videos such as this one from @themermaidscale.
About 10% of our sample demonstrated issues around gender and sexuality norms.
In these cases, Gen Z felt their identity explorations and expressions were criticized by Boomers.
Gender and sexuality are a common topic for #OkBoomer videos, such as this one from @timk.mua.
Why do OK Boomer memes matter?
Somescholarsandcommentatorshave criticized the OK Boomer meme as divisive and discriminatory against older people.
From this viewpoint, OK Boomer is a consequence of existing intergenerational discord, not its cause.
Gen Z face growing threats such as climate change, political unrest, and generational economic hardship.
The retort of OK Boomer offers a counter-reaction and expresses indignation.
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