5 Quotes You Need To Know From Gen Z’s Biggest Stars

After weeks of energy, anxiety and lots of iced coffee, JUV finally hosted its first ever Behind The Screenshot event on October 14th. We brought together some of Gen Z’s biggest stars, and had the most popping panel party ever. Here are the top 5 quotes that you just need to remember…

“TikTok is an […] app where you can’t necessarily “Photoshop” it

1. “TikTok is an […] app where you can’t necessarily “Photoshop” it. You can’t change or alter the way you look too much, and I think that kind of has been a problem with Instagram about looking a certain way or meeting society’s standards. But on TikTok… we all, as influencers, focus on being genuine and our authentic selves.” – Sienna Mae Gomez

The biggest pull for Gen Z on TikTok has been total unfiltered realness. For TikTok star Sienna Mae Gomez, she made her first account in the summer of 2019, but the content she put out was very much what she felt people wanted to see. She didn’t feel it was her. Fast forward a year, after creating what she called a “spam account,” she posted “real content.” Guess which one took off? Ding ding, it was the spam account, which is currently sitting at 7.6M followers.

2. “[Social media] motivates you to not be shy around it (voting or Black Lives Matter) or topics around that whole sense of activism.” – Hawwaa Ibrahim

Social media has opened up doors to activism that simply weren’t there before. Gen Z has grown up with social media so the tactics and tools we use are innate, and we can really push for social change in ways incomprehensible to the past. The Black Lives Matter protests this year were the biggest global demonstration for change ever, and the key to this was social media.

3. “For Gen Z, the personal and the political are not separable.” – Ziad Ahmed

When we face multiple existential crises that are affecting our lives and will affect our collective futures, whether that’s issues from climate change to rising hate, it simply isn’t enough to pretend that we can continue to accept the status quo. Advocate for our demands; you advocate for us.

4. “What I’ve seen that catches my eye with advertisements… I love when [companies] use Gen Z lingo or some TikTok trend” – Hawwaa Ibrahim

Using our lingo playfully really does capture our imagination — it makes us engage with what you’re saying and selling. We’re emphasizing that the language is used correctly though – we’re not just expecting “mood” and “and I oop-” to be thrown around like tossing coins in a fountain wishing Gen Z consumers appear around you. What using our language properly tells us is that “you’re paying attention to how we’re using social media and you’re thinking about our minds,” as Hawwa says.

5. “Brands are so scared of tackling these topics, they’re so scared of saying the wrong thing or alienating a demographic. I’m kinda like ‘F— that.’ If you’re scared of losing potential consumers who support tearing immigrant children away from their families at the border then you shouldn’t want them to buy your clothes anyway. That’s disgusting.” – Amelie Zilber

Need we say more?

JUV Consulting is a Gen Z collective that works with companies to create purpose-driven and authentic marketing campaigns that engage young audiences. Contact us at info@juvconsulting.com if you would like to learn how to reach Gen Z.