Episode: 748

Episode Name: The Opposite of a Phone

What’s the opposite of social media? I think it’s a warm, genuine, personal human connection and here’s why, next on The Perna Syndicate. 

Ep 748 show:
Welcome to The Perna Syndicate today! If someone asked you the one thing that Gen Z has to have today, what would you answer? Maybe, their phone? 

They do spend a lot of time online—more than any other generation, in fact. But this may be why the one thing that they MUST have is not their phone, or their social networks, or any of that. In fact, in many ways it’s the opposite of their phone.

Generation Z—the young people in our homes, classrooms, and places of business—are the first generation in history that requires, as a non-negotiable, a human connection. Or they just won’t move forward. 

This type of connection is more than a like or follow on social media. It’s an eye-to-eye, belly-to-belly, purely human moment where you see the other person for who they are and express a warm, genuine, and personal interest.

Kids today are asking us three unspoken questions: do you see me? Do you hear me? And do I, in fact, matter to you? If they feel that the answer to any of these questions is no, we’ve lost them. 

They have to feel that connection with us. This is true at home, at school, and in the workplace. In our digital age, Gen Z are digital natives—and that is why they are so hungry for a connection that is not through a screen. 

Can our phones help us connect with people? Of course. But screens can never replace the power of an in-person human connection. Because when young people feel seen, heard, and valued, they’re all in. 

Next time: what is the one thing that Gen Z considers in every decision that they make? We’ll talk about it tomorrow on The Perna Syndicate…see you then!