RDNE Stock project/Pexel
Audio By Carbonatix
Phoenix’s Zoomers — the common moniker for members of Generation Z — and millennials are the most socially awkward in the country, according to a new survey.
The survey was inexplicably conducted by Sudoku Bliss, which is what it sounds like: an online sudoku platform. “Why did a Sudoku website spend so much time trying to figure out where people are awkward?” you might ask. Evidently, because it’s selling the Japanese game as the antidote.
“Social awkwardness happens to all of us, but when you feel out of sync, it doesn’t mean you are antisocial. It simply means your brain needs a quick win that can keep you from overthinking another situation,” the website notes on its blog post about the study. “When your social battery is feeling drained, take a step back and indulge in a game of Sudoku to calm your mind.”
We’ll, er, let you be the judge of that.
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Generation Z in particular is frequently viewed as the most awkward generation for an infamous dearth of social skills and living deeply in the digital world for their whole lives — so much so that gazing off vacantly into space has become known as the “Gen Z” stare.
In the survey, the website asked 2,000 Americans in 40 major cities across the country about their habits in social situations and when they felt awkward and created a composite score based on responses. Phoenix came away with the highest score for Zoomers and millennials.
According to the survey, 50% of young Phoenicians consider themselves very socially awkward — the highest rate among all cities that were included. Some other Phoenix highlights include:
- 84% believe social awkwardness is a pervasive issue for their generation
- 75% avoid answering phone calls and prefer to text (the second highest rate among U.S. cities)
- 72% use “avoidance” tactics on a weekly basis to skip human interaction
- 59% prefer not to interact with a worker when ordering food
- 34% feel “extremely stressed” when meeting new people in person
Sudoku Bliss
More than half of young Phoenicians surveyed also blamed their and their generation’s awkwardness on the pandemic (56%) and the widespread use of smartphones (53%).
The cities that came behind Phoenix on the list (in order) were Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Denver, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.
