How We End The Gen Z Mental Health Crisis | Episode 7

And I think that this is probably the trend with Gen Z that I just hate the most because it's not just that Gen Z has retreated inward or failed to fly out of the nest in the first place. They are turning away from human connection on a whole for something that is far more superficial and a lot more selfish.
Welcome back to another episode of The Red Cooper Show. Today I'm excited to talk about one of my favorite subjects.
This is a subject that obviously means a lot to me. We need to talk a little more, because I talk about it all the time, but we need to talk a little more about Gen Z.
I know we always say that Gen Z is a very, you know, unique generation. We have all these struggles and problems, but if we're being honest, what generation does not have struggles and problems and unique quirks? That's why we have generations.
That's why we are divided in that way. Every generation goes through different things in history.
But what I will say is that Gen Z's struggles are a little bit different because Gen Z's growth coincided with the growth of technology and social media in our lives. And our parents and our educators, to be honest, just didn't know how to deal with that.
They didn't really know the impact that that would have on our lives, our adolescence, and how we were being raised. And it obviously has caused Gen Z a slew of problems, one of the primary ones being our mental health.
That is something that we talk about in regards to Gen Z constantly. We are so mentally ill, we are depressed, we are anxious, all of these things.
We are gender confused, and we can talk about these diagnoses all day long in Gen Z, self-diagnosing and how that is represented in our society and yada yada yada. But I think to get to the root of the problem, to actually understand Gen Z and what is driving us and driving so many of these problems that make us so unique, we have to go beyond that and we have to talk about Gen Z loneliness because I think that that is what is actually behind all of this.
And of course, if you want ad-free episodes, if you want a weekly Dear Brett advice video, if you want an exclusive newsletter from me, check out Cooper Confidential. We will link it in the description below.
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Now, it's ironic that I just did a pitch to my Cooper Confidential platform, because one of the things that I love so much about that platform is that it gives you guys the opportunity to connect with each other, and you can comment back and forth on the newsletter, and when you're submitting your questions for the Ask Me Anything. And so it's ironic that I pitched that and now we need to immediately dive into loneliness.
But again, like I said, I really do believe that that is at the root of Gen Z's issues. Just a couple of weeks ago in January, a new study from Kitty Bingo found that 72%, 72% of Gen Z experience regular loneliness, which is a huge, huge leap from previous generations.
And guys, these numbers have been consistent for years. This was happening well before 2020.
And I think for Gen Z and millennials and a lot of us, we kind of think of our lives like before COVID and after COVID and everything changed after COVID. But for Gen Z, this has been happening.
Like, for example, in 2019, there was a statusist study that showed that 79% of Gen Z regularly struggled with loneliness. So this is not simply a result of COVID or a result of lockdown.
So when we talk about Gen Z struggling, when we talk about Gen Z mental health or Gen Z self-confidence, we honestly cannot address any of that. We can't even start to think about solutions for any of that without addressing this issue that, again, in my opinion, is the root cause of all of this.

Because if you're just addressing anxiety,

if you're just addressing self-confidence,

that is going to be a Band-Aid solution.

Now, to help me flesh out this episode

and go deeper on this subject,

I called my friend Alex Kazemi.

He is a novelist.

He's the author of the book New Millennium Boys,

which is a novel that gets to the heart

of this specific issue following three boys

in high school throughout the 2000s.

And I asked him to break down the psychological effects of this growing loneliness and this growing isolation that Gen Z has been experiencing. Take a listen to what he had to say.
I think loneliness, desensitization, and I think sort of viewing the world as if you are the sort of only person in the world, kind of your phone is your isolated curated controlled reality and if you're constantly in this like self vortex of the self and the ego you're never gonna look past that if you ever just take a break from your phone like for like a few days or technology for a few days and i've heard so many zoomers say this that they feel this like inner silence they're like where's the noise like I actually can hear my thoughts because you're you're not in that space of being constantly distracted and that constant distraction is not making anyone anyone happy and a lot of the time especially with young boys is they're trying to numb something now I'm getting ahead of myself here but there is something that Alex said that I want to touch on before we move on from this response of his. But he really said something astute about this loneliness and this isolation, making young people feel like they are the center of the world.
And so I want you guys to take that and think about Gen Z's activism. Think about their superficial understanding of issues based on only their experiences, based on only things that they see on social media.
Plus add that to lonely Gen Z desperately wanting to be a part of something, wanting to be a part of anything, all of this activism, all of this community engagement, it starts to make sense. And so in my opinion, Gen Z going so far left is less of a political phenomenon and more like a social one.
Because again, if we're talking about the root of the problem, it all goes back to this. But again, I kind of jumped the gun on that.
We're going to talk about that a little later on, but I didn't want you to forget what he said. And of course, before we can talk about the aftermath and the results of this loneliness, we have to understand how we got here.
Now, I brought this up with Alex as well, and I wanted him to break down just how these societal structures have evolved over the past few decades. This is what he said.
I think what has changed the most from, you know, the 1990s and the 2000s is the practicing of being obsessed with technology. Like people in past generations were forced for face-to-face communication, right? They had no choice.
You know, with like the birth of AOL, right? Instant Messenger, right? That would be happening at home on dial up at your computer. Whereas now you have that everywhere you go in your pocket.
But we've also seen the acceleration of how hyper real everything, everything with technology got became right like so it's like, okay, from AOL to BlackBerry Messenger, to, you know, iMessage on on your laptop and phone-7, right? Whereas you used to be able to clock out, now you can't clock out. You're always online.
So obviously, we all understand that. We experience it.
I have my phone right next to me. We are on our devices 24-7.
We have social media and digital technology in our faces 24-7. It is involved in our social life.
It is involved in our education, our work. We literally cannot escape it.
And I know that I said earlier that COVID is not completely to blame for this, but it certainly is part of the problem. Because for my generation, a lot of us were starting college or still in high school or in the middle of college when all the lockdowns happened.
These are prime developmental years for young people that were just completely stripped away from us. We were sent home.
We were living in tiny dorm rooms just on our computers 24-7, completely isolated, not being allowed to even see our friends, not even being allowed to go to a class and see anybody in person. And I know that there are experts out there who have poo-pooed this and said, that has no impact, this is not going to harm people whatsoever.
Look at the numbers! We now have the evidence that this seriously harmed young people of all ages, Gen Alpha and Gen Z. The depression rates skyrocketed in 2020 because of this isolation.
So it certainly heightened what was already going on. Now, in addition to that, online school has taken off, remote work has taken off.
Think about a generation that was raised online, that went to college or high school in the middle of lockdown, was not allowed to socialize with anyone, and is now being shot out into the workforce trying to get, you know, a job in marketing at a company that has 100% remote work. Obviously, they're going to be lonely.
Obviously, they are going to struggle with social skills. And then, of course, on top of all of that, which is already terrible, we have modern social media, which is just a completely different beast than AOL Messenger or MySpace or texting on your Blackberry.
And with that comes influencers. It comes closer access to celebrities, which actually we just talked about a couple of weeks ago, which obviously induces feelings of isolation, a lack of confidence, FOMO.
And all of this has been extremely well studied at this point. And Alex brought all of this up.
I think the big change was with the influencer culture and social media. And like, think about it.
Think about being a young man today. You could go on Twitch and see some guy who has a million streams and is, you know, posting pictures with hot girls and all this type of stuff.
And all he does is play League of Legends. All these men have all these like false gods for their niche algorithms.
And I think why people stay online is because it has become the normal, right? So if you stay offline and you're, you know, not into the mainstream, you're going to be ostracized. And I know that we rag on social media all the time, but we do that for a reason.
Because social media has truly given Gen Z a warped sense of reality. From what a normal life is supposed to look like to what is happening in the world politically, it has completely distorted everything.
And that is why so many parents now, especially parents of Gen Alpha, are keeping their kids off of social media. And it has been wild to watch the response of this because, again, this should be common sense.
Based on everything we've seen with Gen Z, with millennials, with everything that has been studied, it should be common sense that parents should be cognizant about their children's access to digital technology and social media. And yet parents will post online saying, oh yeah, my kids don't have access to phones.
They don't watch TV. They are not allowed on TikTok.
And people are screaming in the comments section. You're a terrible mother.
I would hate to be your child. This is abuse, you're so strict, your kids are gonna resent you.
Gen Z, look at yourself. Like, look at what happened.
Obviously, parents are gonna take these steps. Like, again, this is just common sense.
There is not a single positive outcome to kids being on social media. There's not even a net neutral outcome.
Every single thing that has been studied has been a negative. And so again, obviously, parents are going to be more careful.
I mean, governments are now even starting to pay attention, like Australia, who just three months ago banned social media for people under the age of 16. And obviously this is a very nuanced subject.
This caused a media explosion with people arguing about government overreach and protecting kids, which I was able to break down thanks to my friends over at Ground News. Ground News cuts the noise with an unbiased perspective and shows both sides of every story, prioritizing honesty over everything.
Their unique technology even allows users to compare how different sides of corporate media are reporting on a story, all the way down to independent journalists just like me, making sure that you see all sides and truly stay informed. And from my perspective as a creator, they make sure that I stay on top of the stories that I'm covering for you guys so that I can bring you the latest and most honest updates.
Like with this story about social media, I was able to quickly get all of the details on Australia's social media ban for kids under 16 and understand the different sides of the issue and how the media was covering it. But it doesn't stop there.
Their blind spot feed brings you the stories that have gotten little to no coverage on one side of the political aisle, making sure that you always stay informed instead of letting big tech or their algorithms decide what you see and what you hear. So if you are ready to truly break free from media bias and stay informed with transparent news consumption, now is the time to join Ground News.
And when you go to groundnews.com slash Brett or scan the QR code on the screen, you can get the same premium plan that I use, but for nearly half the price. Again, that is groundnews.com slash Brett if you want to get unbiased news and hold the media accountable for only $5 a month.
I mean, really guys, with Ground News, they keep me from spiraling, which is important because the more time that we spend online spiraling, the lonelier we get. And we are seeing this reflected in our society every single day.
And I think that this is the point in the episode where I could really talk about Gen Z political activism and tie that into this loneliness epidemic because there has been a major, major jump between the generations in regards to this political activism. United Way actually conducted a survey about this last year and they found that nearly one-third of Gen Zers, 32%, are regularly engaged in activism or social justice work compared to 24% of millennials and even less in Gen X and baby boomers, demonstrating a significant Gen Z commitment to societal change.
They go on and they say, this engagement deepens among college students, which is, you know, the shock of the century, where the percentage escalates to nearly 40%. In the realm of public demonstrations, over half of Gen Zers have participated in rallies or protests to support specific causes or social issues, with a slight increase to 56 observed among those in college or in higher ed.
So obviously, Gen Z deeply cares about this activism, and obviously they care about the issues, they care about their social causes. I mean, I've participated in rallies and protests, but again, if you go deeper, if you go to the root of the issue, I think this goes back to Gen Z wanting to be a part of something.
Global data from the research firm Edelman also found that 70% of Gen Z is involved in some form of activism. And funnily enough, BBC was writing about all of these numbers and was writing about this trend with Gen Z.
And they included a quote from none other than David Hogg, who is the newly elected DNC vice chair. There has been a lot of noise about him on social media recently.
He is a well-known gun control activist. And he said, quote, I am not powered by hope.
I am powered by the fact that I have no other choice. Which is probably the most chronically online Gen Z line I have ever heard.
And again, it goes back to this idea that Gen Z sees themselves as the center of the universe, with their problems being the most important, the most significant, that nobody else understands because they are so special. And it's probably just because they're not out in the real world touching grass and socializing and understand that they aren't the center of the universe.
But I digress. Again, we can get into that at a later date.
Now, another huge result of this loneliness and this isolation has been Gen Z not using substances, which is something that I've talked about a lot in a more positive light. But now that I've kind of had some time away from that, I've been thinking about this a lot.
I think we have to ask the question, is this actually a positive for Gen Z? Like, is this a net positive coming from something that is very holistic and wholesome and good? Or is it just another symptom of the problem? Because some see these as major positives for Gen Z. You know, they're not drinking, they're not doing drugs, they're not sleeping around, they're not partying.
And of course, I'm sure for some of those people, it is because of moral and health reasons, probably those of you watching this video, you've made those decisions for those reasons. But for others, and I would argue the majority of people opting out of these substances, it is because of this loneliness, as an article in 2023 covered.
The headline reads, Gen Z teens lonelier, more apt to use therapy, less likely to do drugs. And all of these articles that have been written about these changes, whether they be sleeping around or partying or drugs or alcohol, whatever it may be, they do cite health concerns.
They cite the changing culture around drinking. But as time has gone on, because people have watched this kind of transpire for the last five years or so, a different story has prevailed, as covered by Time Magazine just last month.
They wrote, another contributing factor has to do with the changing socialization patterns of younger generations. Quote, alcohol tends to be a social drug even for young people.
So part of the decline in underage drinking could be related to less in-person socialization. On average, the amount of time people spent with friends in person decreased from 30 hours a month in 2003 to 10 hours a month in 2020, according to the U.S.
Surgeon General's Advisory on the Epidemic of Loneliness. That decline was especially marked for people aged 15 to 24.
And so again, we have to ask, are these teenagers, are these younger adults, are they making these decisions because, you know, they've learned about the dangerous effects of alcohol, because they actually don't want to participate in underage drinking, Or is it because the parties aren't happening? Because they're not being invited out? Because they aren't socializing in person and as a result they're not drinking and engaging in that party culture? Now this decline in in-person socialization that we just read about in Time Magazine stretches far beyond the personal lives of Gen Z. It is now impacting the workplace where Gen Z allegedly cannot engage in small talk or even socialize with their co-workers.
Fox Atlanta wrote about this just a month ago in January of 2025, and they said Gen Z admits struggling with office small talk, according to a new study, and they wrote about 74% of adults say that they struggle to make light conversation in shared spaces like break rooms or elevators. Nearly 50% prefer using WhatsApp, Teams, or email to communicate even when seated nearby because it's more convenient.
About 40% of Gen Z workers say that remote and flexible work has made in-person small talk feel unfamiliar, comparing it to learning a new language. That is why Gen Z is different because we are literally having to adapt to an in-person world that we were not

raised in. And again, I don't want to blame our parents for that because they had no idea what was going on.
They genuinely had not experienced this before. They did not know how this would grow or how it would impact us.
But it's now causing these young adults to be a fish out of water in the real world. Now the article goes on and they say additionally 28% of employees avoid common areas altogether to skip awkward interactions.
That is insane. It's impacting every single aspect of our lives and it reminds me of something else that Alex said in our interview where he said that you know people talk all day long.
They're texting constantly, they're sending memes back and forth, we're sending TikToks to each other. We communicate more than we ever have before but then when we go and and see that coworker in person, that friend in person,

whether it is at work or after work, grabbing a drink,

hey, we're not drinking,

we're going over to each other's houses,

whatever we're doing.

After all of that communication all day long,

we have nothing left to say.

We have become accustomed to social media and texting,

Teams, Slack, all of that,

becoming our dominant form of socialization.

No wonder companies across the world

have had to adapt and prepare for Gen Z. Like this is a wildly different breed of employees with very specific quirks and needs.
Something that is so integral for our health, especially for young people, is socializing, is having meaningful relationships in your life. And I think that Gen Z historically has kind of ignored that and brushed that aside and said maybe it's too hard, but oh my god guys, based on what we're seeing, it's very important because this is impacting every single aspect of our lives.
I mean, we are struggling in relationships. I mean, so much of Gen Z is just opting out of dating in the first place.
They're not even trying. Here's an article from February of 2024, Gen Z's Romance Gap, Why Nearly Half of Young Men Aren't Dating.
Now, that same Kitty Bingo report that I cited at the very beginning of this episode also touched on that, finding that 63% of Gen Z believe that their peers are not interested in dating. And this is not even a men versus women debate.
Like I know that a lot of people say men are opting out of dating, women are too. They're just saying this is too hard, this is too complicated, I don't know how to do this.
Everybody is just tapping out. So what happens next? Well in walks men and women getting into AI relationships with chatbots because it's easier, because it's familiar and it's online, it's customizable, and it is completely inhuman, which is the most Gen Z thing I have ever heard because we are not used to in-person human interaction.
And I think that this is probably the trend with Gen Z that I just hate the most and makes me the most sad because it's not just that Gen Z has retreated inward or failed to fly out of the nest in the first place, but with these AI relationships, they are turning away from human connection on a whole for something that is far more superficial and a lot more selfish. I mean, one of the major reasons why young people say that they like these chatbots, why they fall in love with AI, is because the AI chatbots do what they want.
They never say no. They never push back.

They can make their perfect, hottest, girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, lover, whatever,

who never talks back.

They can get the rich guy.

They can get the girl that talks to them the way they want to be talked to.

And they never have to deal with the fact that it's not real.

And they love that.

In one of these articles talking about this phenomenon,

one woman said,

men in real life might cheat on you.

And when you share your feelings with them, they might not care and just tell you what they think instead, but in Dan's case, that's her AI lover, he will always tell you what you want to hear. Just insane.
Insane. Another one said, Dan is like an ideal partner.
He doesn't have any flaws. She says that she has personalized Dan to be a successful CEO with a gentle personality who respects women and is happy to talk to her whenever she wants.
And it is so classic, in my opinion, that the loneliest and most isolated generation would not be interested in the give and take of a real life relationship. You know, the flirting, the awkwardness, the weird dating stage, the sacrifices, learning somebody's quirks and communication styles, because Gen Z probably doesn't even know that about themselves.
I mean, I have said this about a million times at this point. I've screeched it for the last couple of years, but Gen Z does not understand how to date.
We don't understand the art of dating because we were never taught that. I mean, we flirted on Snapchat.
We slid into DMs. We sent memes back and forth.
We downloaded Tinder and Hinge before ever getting asked out in person or asking out somebody in person. And so of course it makes sense that when all else fails, we would turn back to something digital that is familiar because the world is complicated.
It's hard. You don't often get what you want.
Humans are not perfect. Social interactions might be weird.
And for an entire generation that isn't used to that, that isn't used to that complexity or that nuance, it's going to be strange. It's going to be foreign.
And they want something that is comfortable and controllable that makes them the center. And I think at this point of the episode, I need to take a huge, deep breath because you know how much I care about this.
It frustrates me to no end because I know that we haven't gotten to the root of the issue and it breaks my heart that this is what Gen Z is doing and that we haven't been able to fix it yet. And I get so impassioned about it.
And I read all your comments and I see your DMs struggling with this and wanting to make things better for you and your friends. And I know that this is such a real issue.
And I know that going through all of this is probably a lot. Maybe you feel seen or called out, hopefully not, but it is not all doom and gloom because there is a lot that we can do with this information, which is how I felt when I got my blood work from Merrick Health.
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And truly guys, the best thing that you can do for your health is empower yourself with information, which is what I am trying to do today with this episode. Because the good thing is, and I have always said this, and that is that Gen Z knows that they have issues.
We know that we are flawed. We know that we are a very odd generation, again, with these quirks and these weird things that nobody else has gone through.
I mean, at this point, I would say that we are probably the most self-aware generation to ever exist, possibly to a fault. Again, we have talked about Gen Z self-diagnosing themselves, all of that stuff.
That might be a problem, but this also might save Gen Z. And I think that they want to be saved, as Alex pointed out.
I think they're very, they're very aware of it. And I think they want to, some of them, a lot of them are trying to rebel against those stereotypes.
I've seen that on a lot of music subreddits too. People are like, hey, I'm going to this concert tonight.
Can I meet up with someone? You know, because people don't want to be alone, but they do have this craving for human connection, but nobody knows how to go about it to make a move in a way for a platonic human connection that, you know, that's why there are things like Bumble BFF that people are using now to try to connect to people in a way. So again, they know that this is a problem.
They're trying to heal and rebel, as Alex said. So what are they tangibly doing about it? Well, they are trying organized socialization.
And I say organized because Gen Z, I think, has looked down on, you know, book clubs and joining pickleball leagues and that kind of thing. It's like, no, I shouldn't have to do that.
I shouldn't have to go join a group to make friends as a young adult. But in 2025 with Gen Z, you do kind of have to.
You have to move past the cringe because where else are you going to meet people when your entire life has been online? Business Insider covered this this past summer and they wrote, While some young people are willing away their hours at home, many Gen Zers have had enough of their own company. In every part of their lives, the internet-native loneliness generation is making an effort to step outside of their comfort zones and create their own third spaces separate from work and home.
Gen Z is driving up book club attendance, fueling a surge in running clubs, flooding gyms and workout classes, and shilling out for social clubs, all in the name of making friends. Given the pandemic stole some of their prime years for socializing, Gen Z is going out with a vengeance and flipping the script on the loneliness crisis, which is what I love to hear.
And I think the most important line in that entire article is when they said that Gen Z is stepping outside of their comfort zone, because this is completely outside of Gen Z's nature. We didn't grow up around run clubs or supper clubs or bowling

leagues or anything like that. This is all totally new for all of us, as Alex covered.

There's this kind of, I guess not like taboo feeling attached to it, but like maybe shame

because it's like, oh, like I don't have a friend for this event or I don't have this connection.

Like I'm this weirdo who's now like on Reddit or meetup.com. You know what I mean? That it's

Thank you. because it's like, oh, like, I don't have a friend for this event or I don't have this connection.
Like, I'm this weirdo who's now like on Reddit or meetup.com. You know what I mean? It's not really normalized, but a lot of people are in that boat, unfortunately.
And so because of all of that, it has been and it would still be very easy for Gen Z to turn their nose up at this and say, no, I don't want to do that. That's weird.
I don't want to join a club. That's odd.
That's for it. I've never had to do that.
I shouldn't have to do that. But instead, they are leaning in.
And I am genuinely so impressed with the steps that many people in Gen Z are taking in the way that they are organizing to make their lives better. And all of this has been reported over the last year or so.
For example, Eventbrite released a study last summer, and they said that they have seen a notable rise in speed dating and singles events driven by young singles singles who are experiencing online dating fatigue and seeking face-to-face interactions that is so positive, where they can bond over shared interests. We have seen over 1.5 million searches for dating and singles events on our platform, signaling a strong desire for in-person connections.
Many also want to share interests, such as cooking, popular with 46% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials, and niche hobbies like thrifting clothes and collecting. And they are going to Eventbrite to try to find places where they can meet people in person to engage in these hobbies, which is so freaking positive.
Plus, about a third, 33%, think that they will meet someone special at activities like dance classes or painting workshops. And guys, I freaking love this.
And if you've been watching me for any extended period of time, you probably know why I feel so vindicated about this because this is basically what I have been screaming from the rooftops for the last year. Because again, I get all these comments, I get emails, I get DMs from you guys saying, how do I meet somebody? How do I put myself out there? I don't even know where to start.
Where do I go? How did you meet Alex? You know, like literally, I don't even know where to start. And I genuinely had to take a step back and think about how I would respond to those questions because obviously I'm never gonna pretend that I'm an expert in anything

or that I know the ways of the world.

I'm like, I'm 23 years old.

I'm basically in this with you guys.

But the thing that I came up with

and the thing that really rang true for me

is that you do need to get out into the world.

You need to go find things that you enjoy doing

that is offline, that is not on YouTube or social media

or Discord channels or anything like that.

You need to get yourself outside into the habit of socializing regularly, doing something that you enjoy. Find a hobby that forces you to be around people, whether it's running or pickleball or a pottery class or again, dance classes, whatever it may be, flag freaking football, whatever it is, because that way you will feel comfortable socializing.
That's the first step to being able to meet anyone, whether it is romantic or not. Because again, going back to this idea, Gen Z doesn't know how to flirt.
We don't know how to ask people out. We don't know how to respond to being asked out.
Women do not know how to single to men that they are interested. They just sit there like, oh my god, I don't want to look.
Like, we literally know nothing. And so in order to get over that hump and to be more comfortable, you just have to get out there and be around people.
And you might as well be around people doing something that you enjoy. And then hopefully you meet friends who share that hobby, maybe even fall in love with somebody who shares that hobby.
And so I love that Gen Z and millennials have been doing that and that they've been doing it in such a way that even Eventbrite is noticing. But even though that is happening, even though people are signing up for events and meeting in person, we do have to admit that Gen Z is still very online.
And so they are actually using that to their advantage. They're leveraging their social media expertise, their comfort on social media to meet people in person.
For example, Bumble BFF usage is increasing. If you guys don't know what that is, obviously Bumble is that dating app where women have to make the first move.
They had that awful rebrand last year, which was just terrible. But one of their other offerings is Bumble BFF, where you can meet friends.
It's like swiping on Tinder or B Bumble but for platonic relationships. And ever since the pandemic, young adults using Bumble BFF has absolutely skyrocketed.
And one article about this said that Bumble's tool for finding new platonic friends, Bumble BFF, continues to flourish. The average time spent on BFF grew 44% among women, 83% among men in just three months in early 2021.
The company reports that 90% of women who use BFF found at least one match last year. Now, I wanted to read you this specific stat because I want to give a shout out to men because the fact that time spent on Bubble BFF increased 83% for you guys is incredible.
That means you are taking actionable steps. That means that you know that there's a problem and you're trying to address it.
You're trying to find friends. That is so positive.
It's so amazing. And I know that there's so many guys out there who are like, I don't know how to make friends.
It's awkward. Again, it's cringe.
You just have to get past it. And obviously men are doing that.
Now, in addition to Bubble BFF, people are also leveraging Facebook groups. So actually, Mark Zuckerberg, you are popular with Gen Z.
We are using you. But people are finding friends in like, you know, the Nashville Young Professionals group or Pottery Lovers of Nashville, whatever it may be.
And people are literally posting friendship applications on Facebook. And they're saying things like, hey, I just moved to a place I have nobody to hang out with.
I like doing X, Y, and Z. Would anybody come to a concert with me? Would anybody do this with me? I've been in those groups.
I think I'm probably still in a bunch of them because I never update my Facebook page. And so I get notifications every once in a while.
Like there are literally girls who are saying, I wanna go on a vacation I want to go to Seaside in Florida. I have nobody to go with.
People are taking actionable steps. And obviously you can see I am very excited about all of this because it is positive.
These are huge steps for Gen Z. I love that Gen Z is so self-aware.
I love that we are actively trying to solve this problem because we have realized that it's a problem and that is the first step to fixing anything. But what will actually change things in our society, what will change things for Gen Z's mental health, our well-being, is if those relationships blossom offline.
If we don't just take the first step, but we actively nurture those relationships, if we better our socialization skills and they continue in the real world. And so that also means that we do have to spend more time offline, more time in the real world, nurturing all of that, as Alex said.
And so maybe these new friendships, maybe these new relationships and connections will start digitally because that's how Gen Z works. That's how the world works in 2025.
But that alone doesn't cure loneliness. That doesn't offer the fulfillment that an in-person relationship or friendship can.
And so I think the next step for all of this is to just keep going and see what happens. You know, if you are Gen Z, continue putting yourself out there, continue stepping outside of your comfort zone and pushing yourself.
I know that it's awkward. I know that it's weird.
It is so hard making friends as an adult. Like, I am in that boat with you.
It is so weird and it's hard to meet people. You just have to keep going.
If you are somebody in an older generation, you should be finding ways to help support the Gen Zers and the Gen Alphas in your life as they come into this world, you know, like weird ugly ducklings that have no idea what's going on, learning these new languages. We have to keep this going.
And obviously only time will tell if change is actually made. And from your perspective, I would also love to hear from you guys about how I could help facilitate some of that change or how I could make this aspect of your life better.
One of the things that I'm really working on this year, we're trying to put together a tour. I want to include in-person events with you guys.
Like when I did my show in New York, I was on my Reddit page. You guys know I lurk on my Reddit page, but I saw a couple people posting saying, hey, could we meet up in person? Could we get together and maybe meet as like fans of bread and people with common values? I want to see that continuing.
And if I can help put that together or make that better for you, I would love to do that. Like I've literally seen people fall in love and get married out of my comment section, which is mind blowing.

So if you have any ideas, if you have any requests,

please let me know

because this will majorly change our society.

This is something that has to happen

because I genuinely believe,

as I said at the top of this episode,

that this is the root cause of Gen Z's issues.

That if we could address the loneliness,

if we could address the antisocial nature of our generation,

I think that everything else would start to turn around.

So let's try to fix it.