Crowd-sourced reasons
The reasons people gave for Gen Z drinking less â and the ones the thread itself argued back at
What the thread said, and what it argued about
Money is this thread's answer by a wide margin: 516 of the 1,508 records that give a reason are about the price of a drink, the cost of the whole night, or having no money before either question arises. Phones (189), weed and other substitutes (97), the camera in every pocket (96), what people say they were told about alcohol (95) and the closing of places to go (94) account for most of the rest â and 162 records exist to tell another commenter that their explanation is wrong.
- Money, in six different shapes â 516 records, the largest answer by a wide margin
- The phone got there first â 189 records on what replaced going out
- Everyone has a camera, and the mistake is permanent â 96 records
- Weed and the other substitutes â 97 records, with the thread's own caution attached
- What commenters say they were told about alcohol â 95 records, none of it verified here
- The 162 records that argue every answer above is wrong
- Why none of this is a finding about a generation, or advice
What a night of drinking costs nowThe thread's largest answer by a wide margin, arriving in six different shapes. 516 records.
The price of a drinkThe cost of the drink itself, in the figures commenters put on it.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The price of a drink
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The price of a drink
Appears when: The price of a drink
What the pattern means: These records do one thing: they put a number on a single drink. Seven or eight dollars for a beer, ten to twenty for a cocktail, six pounds for a pint outside London, fifteen dollars for a pint of Guinness. The figures come from different countries and different years and no two agree, but the move is consistent â commenters weigh the price of one drink against what else that money buys, several of them against food or rent.
What commenters described: I'm in my 20s currently and this is baffling to me, honestly. Beers for $3? I have a hard time finding beer at a club/bar for less than $7 or $8. Let alone cocktails lol those are easily $10+ these days. Most of all, it's the rent price that is really wild to me. I pay $770 (not counting utilities) for a 4bd 2ba and I actually think I have a good deal compared to a lot of my friends. Anything under $800 *individually* is a good price in my eyes.
Limit: Every figure here is one commenter's report of what they paid in their own city and currency, and other records in the same thread report far cheaper beer in the same period.
What the replies added3
I love craft beer, but damn its fucking expensive. Went to have 2 beers, got two 4-packs to go, totaled almost $70 after tax and tip. Like fucking hell, if my friends didn't work there and gave me free drinks all the time I'd never come back.
drinks cost money and dating apps turned meeting people into a chore. hard to justify either when you're broke and tired
In my 20s I lived in Allston, MA. I paid $500/month for rent in a 3 bedroom ($1,500 total). That same apartment now rents for $3,200/month, more than double what I paid. There was also deals all around town all week for food and drinks. Monday you'd get $.25 wings and cheap beer. Tuesday would be burger and a beer. Basically that shit all week. Even on the weekends it was reasonable. I was broke and I could still go out multiple times a week. I think I started at $28k a year. If my 20s were now I would be destitute. I'm with everybody not going out and staying home. It's too expensive to do almost anything.
Where commenters report limits
I love craft beer, but damn its fucking expensive. Went to have 2 beers, got two 4-packs to go, totaled almost $70 after tax and tip. Like fucking hell, if my friends didn't work there and gave me free drinks all the time I'd never come back.
I donât think itâs âsocial anxietyâ as much as people want to believe. My friends and I all want to go out and do stuff. Unfortunately if you live the city a single beer can run you 15 dollars after tax and tip. Everything is too damn expensive. I stopped going out years ago when I suddenly realized I was not having 100-200 dollars worth of fun getting drunk off shitty mixed drinks.
Source-record spotlights
beers are 7+ dollars in the dive bars! everybody has a camera and you can no longer do stupid shit. the internet is more addictive than meth
Itâll be like 3 places in the whole city. A fancy rooftop steakhouse or something.
Cheapest vodka is like 15⏠in Finland, beers are +2⏠a bottle, but go for more than 5⏠regularly.
What the counts show
The exact phrase âalcohol is expensiveâ recurs across 10 of the 93 source records in The price of a drink; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments93 preserved records ¡ 93 of 93 source records accounted for
Archive: 93 index entries preserve 93 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The whole night adds upCover, food and the ride home â the bill for the evening rather than for the round.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The whole night adds up
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The whole night adds up
Appears when: The whole night adds up
What the pattern means: Not the round but the receipt. These commenters count entry, food, the ride home and the tip alongside the drinks and describe the total as the thing that stopped them, which is why several say the price of a beer on its own understates it. The recurring move is arithmetic: an amount that used to cover a night now covers part of one.
What commenters described: Going out and and being social is jusy too damn expensive these days. When I was 21, in the 2010s, I could get beers for $2-3, or $4-5 if I wanted craft. Cocktails were $6-8. My share of rent in a sweet 4bd 2ba apartment downtown with roommates was $800 all in. I only made $31k my first year out of college but I was able to party 5 nights a week, and still stash some cash. If I had to do it again today I could NOT replicate my 20s lifestyle if I tried.
Limit: The totals quoted here vary widely and are self-reported; one of them comes from a commenter who says they have been sober for a decade, estimating a night out they no longer take.
What the replies added3
Yup. Millenial here. Having a night out used to be taken for granted. I mean I was a *broke* ass college student and even still I could go out whenever I wanted. I canât imagine trying to go out with the prices today.
Going places is expensive. And man, whenever me and my buddies were broke, we'd all just meet up at someone's house/apt/dorm/whatever. My young employees barely even do *that*.
You weren't broke if you could go out whenever you wanted
Source-record spotlights
Going out and and being social is jusy too damn expensive these days. When I was 21, in the 2010s, I could get beers for $2-3, or $4-5 if I wanted craft. Cocktails were $6-8. My share of rent in a sweet 4bd 2ba apartment downtown with roommates was $800 all in. I only made $31k my first year out of college but I was able to party 5 nights a week, and still stash some cash. If I had to do it again today I could NOT replicate my 20s lifestyle if I tried.
Have you seen how expensive and exhausting going out is nowadays?
but that 30 bucks is their whole night. If they wanted to go out, they've gotta pay to go wherever they're going, pay for the food there, probably pay for drinks, and the effort involved is much higher as well, and the people making less than 60k almost certainly worked their asses off for it because we don't reward hard work under capitalism, we treat it as a punishment for being poor.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 38 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âChange the sentenceâ (6 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments38 preserved records ¡ 38 of 38 source records accounted for
Archive: 38 index entries preserve 38 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Cheaper at home, so that is where they drinkThe same drink bought at a shop, and the night moved indoors.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Cheaper at home, so that is where they drink
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Cheaper at home, so that is where they drink
Appears when: Cheaper at home, so that is where they drink
What the pattern means: The answer that says the drinking did not stop, it relocated. Commenters price a case or a bottle from a shop against the same volume in a bar, then describe pre-drinking, house parties, or simply staying in. Against the thread's own objections this group cuts both ways: it supports the cost explanation and undermines the conclusion usually drawn from it, because the spend moved rather than vanished.
What commenters described: A bar is a scam. Yes itâs a good time. It costs me $75 a case of beer in a bar vs $24 at home, not including a tip for the bartender.
Limit: This is a claim about where drinking happens, not about how much of it there is; none of these records attempt to measure the difference.
What the replies added2
You kids live in a different world. Growing up there were always parties or something happening. Word spread through the grapevine and you just showed up and met people. You didn't even have to drink, people were just social. Unless you were really weird, meeting people was absolutely normal for the vast vast majority of us
You predrink at home, then go out. And there are (at least used to be) house parties and get together and back yard jams and beach bonfires, etc etc.
Source-record spotlights
It's also generally less expensive to do all that. I'm a millenial and not GenZ, but christ I can't go to a bar and buy one round of cocktails for my wife and I without spending at least $30 not including any tip. Maybe if I went to the cheapest dive bar in the area and just ordered a Jack & Coke I could get by cheaper, but that's not what we're interested in. If you factor in fuel costs, time cost, etc. it just gets too expensive. I can make the cocktails cheaper at home and use the saved money to buy a new board game or coop video game for us.
It's cheaper to chill at home and drink. Less likely to get robbed or harassed. I'm not giving you 100 dollars to get a 15 dollar buzz on wtf. Tell me how house liqour thats 14 dollars for a bottle should net you 1000 dollars? Fk that.
This is for getting piss drunk wasted in your own home. Not out at a bar trying to get laid.
What the counts show
The exact phrase âat someones houseâ recurs across 3 of the 18 source records in Cheaper at home, so that is where they drink; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments18 preserved records ¡ 18 of 18 source records accounted for
Archive: 18 index entries preserve 18 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Broke before the bar bill arrivesThe single largest answer in the thread: rent, wages and nothing left over before a drink is even priced.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Broke before the bar bill arrives
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Broke before the bar bill arrives
Appears when: Broke before the bar bill arrives
What the pattern means: The largest group in the corpus, and the one that never reaches the bar. These records name rent, wages, hours, groceries and debt as the constraint and treat the price of a drink as a downstream detail. Many are a single word. They are separated from the drink- price records because their authors are not comparing one beer against another â they are describing having no discretionary money at all.
What commenters described: Money, chronically online resulting in crippling social anxiety.
Limit: Most of these records are very short, several are one word, so the group carries volume rather than detail and any reading of what an individual meant by âmoneyâ is inference.
What replies pushed back on5
It's the reason why therapy speak doesn't work too. Going to therapy is wonderful, but once you figure out issues in your reactions and people around you the work unfortunately starts with you. Therapy without putting in the work isn't much better than not going to therapy at all, you're eventually gonna be putting in some effort because trauma, change, and understanding don't just magically come to you because you know the term for why you feel the way you do.
This is it, gender wars taking on an enormous share of the online world has eroded any trust the opposite sex had left in one another. Itâs truly sad.
All the replies under this basically saying 'We were broke too, you're sad' probably don't help either.
Money, Economy has been in the toilet since 2008 and we all grew up with that. Itâs not entirely the fault of any generation, the government bought the banks out, and made ALL of us pay for it, and we canât afford it so thatâs why we are always broke. No one can afford this inflation. Itâs ridiculous but that wonât stop us we will move on :)
My brother is fairly self assured for someone in Gen Z but his girlfriend has such high levels of social anxiety it's hard for me to even process. She complained about how a few girls were wasting time on a gym machine for 30 minutes but in that time she didn't once walk over and ask when they would be done. She had her night ruined by a couple talking through a movie right beside her but was never an option to ask them to keep it down. She won't book a table at a restaurant if you have to call them to do it. She will eat terrible food rather than complain. It honestly seems exhausting
Where commenters report limits
>Money I'd rather not work for a week instead of working for a week so that I can have fun for a day or two...
Source-record spotlights
Money, chronically online resulting in crippling social anxiety.
It's quite difficult, honestly. I have a Master's degree and make a decent living but very much entry level for my field. I'm thankful that at least for the next several months I can still have my health insured through my parents.
They are broke, They don't drive, They don't go out due to social anxiety, without social interaction they don't form relationships, Without those group social interactions they are less likely to consume alcohol.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 284 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments284 preserved records ¡ 284 of 284 source records accounted for
Archive: 284 index entries preserve 284 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What the same night used to costOlder commenters pricing their own twenties against this one.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: What the same night used to cost
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What the same night used to cost
Appears when: What the same night used to cost
What the pattern means: Older commenters answering by pricing their own twenties: nickel nights, dollar drafts, a rent figure, a wage. They are supporting evidence for the cost argument rather than first-hand answers about Gen Z, and the thread treats them that way â one reply elsewhere answers a wall of 2006 prices by simply asking for the same figures adjusted for inflation.
What commenters described: Thiiiss. I remember is 2006 my bachelor was $300/mo. And not a complete shithole. A pack of smokes was like $7 at best, and drinks were cheap. Going out to eat was like $20 max for two people. You could strategically buy $70 worth of groceries and have a plentiful two weeks worth of food. Now going out for breakfast is $50 for two a minimum, one drink is $15 at the bar, I think a pack pf smokes is like $20 here, $70 worth of groceries is like 5 mins of food... rent is at least $1200 for something decent, and never mind extras....
Limit: These are recollections of prices from the 1990s and 2000s, unadjusted, and they come from several different countries.
What the replies added2
I was at a music festival last year, held in a university building. One of the nearby student pubs opened for us to get drinks during, and when it was my turn for a round I was sure they'd misheard and only charged me for the one pint! Nope, student union prices for the festival as well.
In my 20s I lived in Allston, MA. I paid $500/month for rent in a 3 bedroom ($1,500 total). That same apartment now rents for $3,200/month, more than double what I paid. There was also deals all around town all week for food and drinks. Monday you'd get $.25 wings and cheap beer. Tuesday would be burger and a beer. Basically that shit all week. Even on the weekends it was reasonable. I was broke and I could still go out multiple times a week. I think I started at $28k a year. If my 20s were now I would be destitute. I'm with everybody not going out and staying home. It's too expensive to do almost anything.
Source-record spotlights
Thiiiss. I remember is 2006 my bachelor was $300/mo. And not a complete shithole. A pack of smokes was like $7 at best, and drinks were cheap. Going out to eat was like $20 max for two people. You could strategically buy $70 worth of groceries and have a plentiful two weeks worth of food. Now going out for breakfast is $50 for two a minimum, one drink is $15 at the bar, I think a pack pf smokes is like $20 here, $70 worth of groceries is like 5 mins of food... rent is at least $1200 for something decent, and never mind extras....
When I studied abroad in Edinburgh in 2005, 2.70 would get you a cider and blackcurrant at the bar above the student dining house
Back in 2019, my team and I were filming a spot in Mt. Tremblant. One of the PAs said he was looking for a new place, but refused to pay more than $400/mo. Being from Toronto, we almost killed him to sacrifice him to the rental gods.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 69 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âChange the sentenceâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments69 preserved records ¡ 69 of 69 source records accounted for
Archive: 69 index entries preserve 69 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Working too much to go outHours and exhaustion named as the binding constraint rather than the price.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Working too much to go out
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Working too much to go out
Appears when: Working too much to go out
What the pattern means: A small group that separates time from money. The people here say they can afford a night out and still cannot take one: shift patterns, second jobs, a hard limit on a work night, the coordination problem of finding an evening several people are free. One record makes the trade explicit â earn enough and the hours go.
What commenters described: Money obviously, but also, those of us with enough money to go out, work so much that we neither have the time or energy to do it. It's ironic because I feel we genuinely do work more than previous generations and still have less money than they did.
Limit: Fourteen records is a thin base, and most state the constraint without saying how often they actually go out.
What the replies added1
They're fucking broke and exhausted from working 2 jobs to try to be less broke.
Source-record spotlights
That's really all we can do really. Mandatory long hours at work. Can't take days off because we need the money. If the problem isn't money, it's time.
Ill tell you why im single. I wake up at 430 every morning, go to work, bust my ass in the texas heat, go home arrive at 7 shit, shower, eat and the sit down its 830 im tired there are no locations near me to meet people so I then jerk off then go to bed rinse and repeat
They're fucking broke and exhausted from working 2 jobs to try to be less broke.
What the counts show
The exact phrase âtime and moneyâ recurs across 2 of the 14 source records in Working too much to go out; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments14 preserved records ¡ 14 of 14 source records accounted for
Archive: 14 index entries preserve 14 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The phone got there firstThe second-largest: what commenters say they do instead, and why they say it wins. 189 records.
Staying in is easier and more rewardingThe comparison commenters draw between the effort of going out and the reward of staying in.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Staying in is easier and more rewarding
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Staying in is easier and more rewarding
Appears when: Staying in is easier and more rewarding
What the pattern means: The same technology framed as a competitor rather than a replacement. These records set the effort and uncertainty of going out against a guaranteed reward at home and conclude the home option wins on both counts. Boredom recurs as the missing ingredient: commenters say they used to go to bars because there was nothing else to do, and that this is no longer true.
What commenters described: I picked this comment to respond to because it seems like the most indicative of what I'm going to say, but many of the other top comments are also because of this: The dopamine hit people get from staying in and using social media or playing video games is so easy and so immediate that it just can't compete with going out and chasing love, or socializing, or picking up a hobby. You know what's engineered to make me feel happy? An app's social feed. You know what's not? A lover or spouse. You know what's a guaranteed win? Playing video games. You know what's not? Going out to a local bar and socializing. You know what has no marginal cost? Opening an app or game or binge-watching something on a streaming app you have. You know what costs $100? A date. I don't blame the kids. Sure, sex is great, love is great, but the barrier to entry is high and you screw it up a bunch before you figure it out. I think that if I was a teenager today, I'd probably just goon instead.
Limit: This describes how the choice feels to the people writing, not measured behaviour, and the mechanism they name â dopamine â is used loosely throughout.
What the replies added2
I kinda disagree with you. A date doesnt need to cost $100, where I'm from its pretty common to meet at a park for a first date to go on a walk or something. Its also common to meet up at a persons apartment very early on which doesnt create any cost either
The phones. People get para social relationships online and that minimal social fulfillment through discord and reddit, insta etc. sustains them....sorta. It's little dopamine hits but in a broader view it's really bad for those young people and for society as a whole. People keep on saying money and sure young people have it tough but broke young people always found ways to hang out and date in the past. People would literally just walk around or go to a field or the woods, buy the cheapest booze you can get (which is still dirt cheap btw, you can get a 750 ml of vodka for $6) and have fun. When you're broke your friends are everything and you lean on each other for help, including trading services instead of cash. Sex is free, you don't have to go to an expensive dinner to date. But if you can just stay home, and all your friends are home, maybe you talk a little on discord, watch some porn and go to bed--- now that isn't a very fulfilling or remarkable fun good time, but it's easy and everyone else is doing it. Pretty hard to meet anyone to date if you never go out and do things. Alcohol is a social drug and because young people are so much less social, it stands to reason they also drink so much less. I don't think it's a stat we should necessarily be overjoyed by.
Source-record spotlights
I donât get the disappearance of third spaces part, but everything else is spot on. There are plenty of free or cheap third spaces- theyâre just not curated or as attractive as other modern entertainment options that often cost something or demand paid curation. The thing people wonât readily admit or accept today (they will eventually) is that the digital world is literally engineered to hijack our brainâs reward systems. Meeting up in real life pales in comparison to people that grew up as digital natives. Itâs like telling someone who grew up eating junk food that they should choose, on their own, to switch to healthy food and proper exercise- itâs not like theyâre *unaware* they could try that.
Yeah fully agree. But when your entire life's frame of reference is at that higher dopamine level, it's extremely hard to put that aside
Phones. Easier to get those little dopamine hits.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 58 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (6 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments58 preserved records ¡ 58 of 58 source records accounted for
Archive: 58 index entries preserve 58 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Losing control in public got riskierA night out described as something that can be recorded and kept, rather than forgotten. 96 records.
Everyone has a cameraA night out treated as a permanent record rather than a private one.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Everyone has a camera
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Everyone has a camera
Appears when: Everyone has a camera
What the pattern means: The distinct claim here is permanence, not embarrassment. Commenters say the drunken mistake that once produced a story now produces a file, and they name the specific costs they fear: a job, a scholarship, a search result, a video that follows you between cities. Doorbell cameras, phones at the party and the possibility of going viral are all cited as reasons not to be visibly drunk anywhere.
What commenters described: The days of getting drunk and doing stupid things as a teen and tween is seemingly dead due to the risk of being publicly shamed online âŚâŚ and itâs a shame tbh.
Limit: The thread contains its own rebuttal: several commenters, including one who says they are in the age group being discussed, state flatly that being recorded is not what stops them.
What the replies added3
I've seen so many TikToks about terrible first date stories, then you scroll over to their account and it's just video after video. Like are you trying to date or just make content? My favorite was a story about a dude who found her TikTok and broke it off because he didn't want to just be a TikTok story on her page
Back in my day, I only had to deal with the people immediately around me if I did something embarrassing like puking in a sink during a part. Today, people are worried about being recorded and having it posted online and having their life ruined just because they were having a bit too much fun.
Fear. They are terrified of doing or saying something 'wrong' and it being posted online and their life being ruined as a result. They dont know how to interact socially on any way that isnt extremely shallow. They call each other out and 'cancel' people for being 'problematic' and cant listen to or comprehend nuance. Everything is labelled. Everything is black and white. Its like the whole generation forgot how to have fun.
Where commenters report limits
It's every bit as mortifying as it sounds, I sent out a message trying to flirt a bit as a guy to a lesbian/bi friend (who unfortunately had some SA trauma by a dude a few months before I sent it.) I said nothing overtly crass but I got lambasted by our friend circle anywhere between the next few hours to the next day. I went out of my way to apologize and at times overexplain myself to people that should know me better. And if it wasn't for that I basically would've been cancelled over harmless flirting.
It really is. And he has like a motion sensor light that comes on. I came home late one night and all of sudden a bright light comes on and Im being filmed against my will. Like I do not need my neighbors knowing my comings and goings. There is no privacy and I hate it. I also dont understand what the need is for these things. We live in a safe neighborhood where nothing happens. What is the appeal of these things? Paranoia?
Source-record spotlights
The days of getting drunk and doing stupid things as a teen and tween is seemingly dead due to the risk of being publicly shamed online âŚâŚ and itâs a shame tbh.
Yeah taking disposable cameras on road trips or to house parties or concerts was always a blast because you had no idea what was on them until you picked the photos up from Eckerd or Walgreens or the *film processing center* at a *grocery store*. When they started handing out discs with them that was the real game changer, because then you could upload the photos to Facebook if you so chose.
and the "panopticon"
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 91 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âTurn it into a gameâ (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments91 preserved records ¡ 91 of 91 source records accounted for
Archive: 91 index entries preserve 91 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What losing control can expose you toA small group naming assault and consent risk rather than embarrassment.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: What losing control can expose you to
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What losing control can expose you to
Appears when: What losing control can expose you to
What the pattern means: Five records take the surveillance argument somewhere else altogether: the risk they name is not humiliation but assault, consent and being unsafe among intoxicated strangers. Two are written from experience. They are kept separate from the camera answers because the harm being avoided is a different one.
What commenters described: I think one reason partial reason that drinking has stopped is that people are worried about crossing a sexual boundary (particularly consent) while drunk.
Limit: Five records cannot show how widely this is felt. They are individual accounts, reported as such, and are not a claim about anyone's actual risk.
What the replies added1
Same shit can be said about females. About how ass they are and how men just wanna avoid them at all costs.
Source-record spotlights
Boba tea and mexican food in the comfort of your home or getting drunk on cheap beer in a bar where everyone has camera and you're surrounded by intoxicated strangers + the added worries that come from being in that environment as a women, queer or trans person. I do think attitudes are shifting towards alcohol being more of a vice now, and that culturally we've shifted away from bars and churches as the main social venues.
I was thinking of why I do this and its because its safer. Ive been assaulted too many times. Im too tired of it. Its safer to stay sober and not get into relationships. Not worth the risk.
Men. They are a deterrent. Women are incredibly likely to be abused by their partner/sexual partner. It's literally not worth it for us women to go out and drink and have a shit root and probably get abused in some way.
What the counts show
This report keeps all 5 source records for What losing control can expose you to together and surfaces traceable examples without converting anecdotes into proof.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments5 preserved records ¡ 5 of 5 source records accounted for
Archive: 5 index entries preserve 5 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Nowhere left to goThe venues, and the trip to and from them, named as the missing piece. 94 records.
The third places closedThe free or cheap places to simply be that commenters say have gone.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The third places closed
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The third places closed
Appears when: The third places closed
What the pattern means: The argument that the drinking fell because the places fell first. Malls that banned teenagers, bowling alleys and music halls that closed, cafes that took out their seating, police called on somebody lying in a park at sunset, and the general observation that every surviving place to be requires a purchase. Several commenters extend it a step: a generation with nowhere to practise being in public does not later become bar-goers.
What commenters described: Disappearance of third spaces or them getting expensive. Also everything is getting monitored nowadays so fooling around with your friends can quickly end up a viral on socialedia. Also digital entertainment is far easier than having to drive somewhere to meet up with someone to do stuff IRL. It is far easier to just play games/watch a movie/scroll social media than that.
Limit: Commenters in the same thread dispute this directly, arguing that parks and free space still exist and are simply not used.
What replies pushed back on5
I know this is location dependent, but when I was a kid in the '00s we hung out at each other's houses, in the woods/neighborhood, parks/playgrounds, etc. and we got around on our bikes. These are just the free locations. We also went to local pizza places, the movies, or arcades, which I do understand is more expensive now, but everything I listed first is still available. The third space complaint might be true in some locations, but a lot of it feels like excuses by the current young generation who are more interested in living online than outside. Don't get me wrong, we played PLENTY of video games and dug into the dark recesses of the internet, but we did it together in-person. I think some might argue that there's no difference in playing multi-player games with your friends online versus split-screen together in your buddies basement, but I think they're losing out on some crucial social development just being together. I also think that this can hinder the transition into dating life. A lot of my male friends and my first relationships were developed through girls in our friend group and their friends. I spent a lot of awkward time learning how to be around girls, doing stupid shit to try to impress them, trying to figure out how to hold hands, etc. I don't know how any of these "skills" would have developed without the countless hours we all spent together in-person.
doomscrolling and watching shows at home is way cheaper than running. i planned to start running (delayed for now, have developed a bit of an overheating problem recently). a couple decent t shirts, leggings/trousers, active socks, and run shoes... that was an example, but its so expensive to do literally anything. you take the bus to roam around town and it almost feels like money is falling out of your bag with every step you take. going with friends is even worse. especially since most people meet up these days for a nice time and then we eventhally end up at a relatively expensive restaurant/coffee shop. my sister has a friend she sees about once a year and they eat at nandos together each time so thats around ÂŁ15-20 per meet up, all things aside đ
Or even worse you make a loud inside joke and suddenly some old person calls the cops on you because youMre disturbing the peace. Or my favourite that I'm sure Gen Alpha is also gettig now: "where are your parents???" Ma'am I'm a tired college student hanging out with friends at the mall. Let me enjoy my whimsy before i have to sit in a car for an hour in traffic because there's no public transport home and then go to my nigtshift job that's paying my tuition. This park is open to me too, and if no one uses it that's why people don't think it's safe. Hell that's half of it-no one can actually get to the park or mall or whatever so it's emptier and no one wants to sit around in an emptu area and of course I won't let my kids if i have them go there alone so it becomes even emptier
I make much more than my average fellow zoomer and I'm teetering on broke 3rd places for kids/teens died while we were kids and teens, and 3rd places for adults are becoming prohibitively expensive A large chunk of my income goes to paying for my apartment, by God I will get my money's worth out of it. I have my friends I talk to online and occasionally see in person (I moved away from home a while back), I live with my girlfriend and our dog, I work ~48hrs a week, I don't need to, nor do I often have the energy to go to a bar to socialize, I can do that at home. And why would I drink? Weed is legal here lmao
The death of third spaces and being generally broke. There is not really any place you can go that doesn't cost money these days.
Source-record spotlights
Disappearance of third spaces or them getting expensive. Also everything is getting monitored nowadays so fooling around with your friends can quickly end up a viral on socialedia. Also digital entertainment is far easier than having to drive somewhere to meet up with someone to do stuff IRL. It is far easier to just play games/watch a movie/scroll social media than that.
Yeah, we used to just walk around the neighborhood. Granted many new neighborhoods now lack sidewalks, but still...
And the death of third places. Everywhere you go now expects you to pay $30 just to sit down for an hour.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 65 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âAttach it to an existing routineâ (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments65 preserved records ¡ 65 of 65 source records accounted for
Archive: 65 index entries preserve 65 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The bars themselves stopped being worth itComplaints about what the room is actually like once you are inside it.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The bars themselves stopped being worth it
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The bars themselves stopped being worth it
Appears when: The bars themselves stopped being worth it
What the pattern means: A small group whose complaint is the room, not the bill. Music too loud to talk over, nobody their own age present, a crowd of strangers, and a premium charged for standing in it. One commenter who wears hearing aids describes the volume as what ends the evening before the drink does.
What commenters described: There's alcoholism and then there's social drinking. Then again the industry is driven by like 70% of people who just consume that much, 30% are the occasional drinkers. And bars suck ass. Paying 10x the premium for being a room with strangers where you can't hear anyone anyway? No thanks. I am social but not this way. Barbecues baby. You end up paying less, get better food than some salted peanuts in-between pints and if you allow +1s you meet people that you actually may have something in common with. And it ends up (per person) costing about the same as getting buzzed in a bar. Winter time? Board games.
Limit: Eight records, several of them written by people well past the age group the question is about.
What the replies added2
With your inhibitions down as well. If you flub a line or say something awkward, who cares?
I am one of those people who likes going out for the sake of being out of the house, even if the activity is one that could just as easily be done at home. At least some of the time. But I certainly know people who donât care about that aspect of it. I would guess that a lot of those people may have still gone out in previous generations, just because it was the thing to do and the only real way to meet people. Now we have other options for meeting people, so if the âexperience of going outâ isnât worth it to you, why bother? Especially when itâs more expensive than ever.
Source-record spotlights
Going to the bar sucks. People at the bar are disappointing, and if you want to hook up with someone that isnât a bar fly, the internet is way more useful. Alcohol at the bar is way too expensive. Getting home after going to the bar can be challenging if you didnât get a ride there. And can also turn very expensive. A good gummy costs like $5. Rec Cannabis shops are as popular as gas stations. There are literally three around the corner from my house. Eat a gummy at home with friends or someone you met on the internet and chill on the couch. Play video games that are better than Club Keno and bar trivia. You like karaoke? Break out Rock Band if you must. If you really want, pour a couple drinks from the bottle in your cabinet that cost about the same as two drinks at the bar. Probably wonât need to. Better company, better entertainment, better vibes.
There's alcoholism and then there's social drinking. Then again the industry is driven by like 70% of people who just consume that much, 30% are the occasional drinkers. And bars suck ass. Paying 10x the premium for being a room with strangers where you can't hear anyone anyway? No thanks. I am social but not this way. Barbecues baby. You end up paying less, get better food than some salted peanuts in-between pints and if you allow +1s you meet people that you actually may have something in common with. And it ends up (per person) costing about the same as getting buzzed in a bar. Winter time? Board games.
Turns out, bars are just dirty rooms with really expensive drinks and they discovered there's way more to life than drinking it away.
What the counts show
Within 8 source records, 4 ask a question and 0 explicitly say they intend to try the idea; neither signal is treated as an outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments8 preserved records ¡ 8 of 8 source records accounted for
Archive: 8 index entries preserve 8 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Getting there and getting homeCar dependence and fares â the trip on either side of the drink.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Getting there and getting home
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Getting there and getting home
Appears when: Getting there and getting home
What the pattern means: The trip either side of the drink. Car dependence, absent transit, fuel, parking and rideshare fares that these commenters say match or beat the bar tab â one says the rides became as expensive as the overpriced drinks even after pre-drinking. What they describe is not deciding against a drink but deciding against leaving.
What commenters described: I donât live walking distance from any of my friends. At the very least I would have to spend money on gas. I feel like itâs pretty hard to visit friends without a car unless you live in a major city. Car loan is a small mortgage these days. Even used cars are increasingly expensive.
Limit: A seven-record group, and the fares quoted are individual reports from cities the commenters do not name.
What the replies added1
> Personally, I blame the built environment. Suburbanization and car >dependency are the primary drivers. Makes everything far more >expensive by inflating logistics costs and constraining housing supply. That was an issue in the 80s, too. Not sure you can blame current trends on that. I imagine that many of the reasons stated here have an impact. Cost for sure but cost didnât stop previous generations from just hanging out. I would say a lot of what I did as a kid was just hanging out, in a room, with other kids. (I am 52 and I have never been cool or exceptionally social).
Source-record spotlights
This entire thread just reads like one big idiot mob blaming phones and social media, while those on the edges recognize that everything's more expensive and folks are just more knowledgeable and moderated with substances. (mid 30s) Personally, I blame the built environment. Suburbanization and car dependency are the primary drivers. Makes everything far more expensive by inflating logistics costs and constraining housing supply.
We used to do that in an attempt to hang on to some form of outing, but the rides to and from became as expensive as the goddamn overpriced drinks, even after pregaming. We just donât bother leaving the house anymore.
I donât live walking distance from any of my friends. At the very least I would have to spend money on gas. I feel like itâs pretty hard to visit friends without a car unless you live in a major city. Car loan is a small mortgage these days. Even used cars are increasingly expensive.
What the counts show
Within 7 source records, 1 ask a question and 0 explicitly say they intend to try the idea; neither signal is treated as an outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments7 preserved records ¡ 7 of 7 source records accounted for
Archive: 7 index entries preserve 7 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Rules, liability and DUI enforcementLicensing, policing and liability named as what changed, rather than appetite.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Rules, liability and DUI enforcement
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Rules, liability and DUI enforcement
Appears when: Rules, liability and DUI enforcement
What the pattern means: What changed was the rules, not the appetite. This group names drink-driving enforcement, licensing changes that followed alcohol-poisoning deaths, university and landlord policy, neighbours calling the police, and no-loitering signs put up in a public park. The house party recurs as the specific casualty.
What commenters described: For the drink less part - DUI laws have changed and getting a DUI is more painful than years past
Limit: These are impressions of how enforcement has changed rather than citations; no record here names an actual law or rule change.
What the replies added1
Iâm remember the early 90s in East Lansing (MSU off campus bar life) when dollar drafts and acute alcohol poisoning was a nightly occurrence. Two or three people would die yearly from alcohol poisoning or wandering into an icy river. Eventually laws were passed and the bars stopped selling cheap, mass quantity beer. By 2000 the fun was gone. The entire culture of getting hammered on weekends died off and now their kids are in college and everything is expensive and the rules are overbearing and it all sucks for them. Boomers ruined it for GenX and now GenZ is paying for it, or CANâT pay for it, depending on how you want to look at it.
Source-record spotlights
Iâm remember the early 90s in East Lansing (MSU off campus bar life) when dollar drafts and acute alcohol poisoning was a nightly occurrence. Two or three people would die yearly from alcohol poisoning or wandering into an icy river. Eventually laws were passed and the bars stopped selling cheap, mass quantity beer. By 2000 the fun was gone. The entire culture of getting hammered on weekends died off and now their kids are in college and everything is expensive and the rules are overbearing and it all sucks for them. Boomers ruined it for GenX and now GenZ is paying for it, or CANâT pay for it, depending on how you want to look at it.
Yeah I mean that sounds like a difference in schools for sure. For example the college I went to, my freshman year RA walked into my dorm room filled with about 10 very drunk 18 year olds and their response was "uh...hey so I didn't see anything, but the next RA does rounds in 4 hours and they're a hard ass so be sure to keep it down around then if you guys are still at it". My high school had some bigger parties that even got busted by cops, let alone pictures being posted. The overall response was effectively "hey it wasn't on school grounds and no one got arrested so...not our problem". It probably helped that most of the student government and the stars/captains of pretty much every sports team were at those parties.
A lot of shopping malls shut down and the ones that didn't still don't like anyone just hanging out without spending money. And parks have a lot more restrictions around "loitering" (i.e. sitting down and just enjoying yourself), not to mention cops being real pissy about people drinking any alcohol in them.
What the counts show
The exact phrase âcalling the copsâ recurs across 2 of the 14 source records in Rules, liability and DUI enforcement; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments14 preserved records ¡ 14 of 14 source records accounted for
Archive: 14 index entries preserve 14 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What they were told about alcoholHealth information commenters say reached them, and what they say they did with it. 95 records.
The health message landedCancer risk and âno safe amountâ repeated back by commenters as settled knowledge.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The health message landed
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The health message landed
Appears when: The health message landed
What the pattern means: Commenters reporting, as settled knowledge, that there is no safe level of alcohol and that it is a carcinogen â and saying that this is what changed. Several draw the parallel with cigarettes explicitly, a few describe stopping themselves, and one dates the shift to being taught it young, where the generations before were told moderate drinking was harmless.
What commenters described: They were simply taught at a young age that alcohol is bad for you Gen X and Millennials were taught that alcohol wasn't harmful in moderation. Now, everybody is being told that alcohol is always harmful, even in moderation. As for the fewer relationships . . . well, internet access may have reduced their in-person social skills
Limit: None of the health claims in these records are verified here; they are reported as statements commenters made. Records in the same thread call the âno safe amountâ framing overstated. This page is not medical advice â anyone worried about their own drinking should raise it with a clinician.
What the replies added2
Awareness that alcohol isnât good for you coupled with expensive prices. Literally going broke poisoning yourself. As for the second part of your question probably money and suffering from social stunting from the pandemic.
Because alcohol causes nothing but problems; it's not worth it But that's only my reason, and that probably gives Gen Z to much credit lol. In reality it's because we're too broke for alcohol
Source-record spotlights
Drinking is an expensive habit that has zero (actually negative) health benefits. These days a lot of people are more aware what substances do to a person's body. As for relationships, well social media has basically destroyed human society as we know it. Before facebook, you'd have to actively participate in society. There are nuances that people don't learn or pickup on unless you are in those social situations. Now everyone can get their dopamine hits and "interactions" on their phones and it's creating shorter attention spans and neutering peoples' desire to go out and make an effort. It's a combination of a lot of shitty factors.
Alcohol is a killer and this economy is not conducive to relationships.
theyâre far more educated on the negative health implications of getting slaughtered like we did every week. Weed is legalised in many parts of the world. And money.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 61 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âTurn it into a gameâ (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments61 preserved records ¡ 61 of 61 source records accounted for
Archive: 61 index entries preserve 61 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The next day costs too muchThe hangover priced against the night that caused it.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The next day costs too much
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The next day costs too much
Appears when: The next day costs too much
What the pattern means: The hangover as an accounting problem. These commenters describe the recovery rather than the night as the thing that stopped being worth it: a whole day gone, a stomach that objects, sleep that does not come back. One frames it as borrowing happiness from tomorrow at interest.
What commenters described: drinking is expensive and hangovers eat a whole day. once you do the math it stops being worth it
Limit: Personal accounts from eight commenters of different ages; how alcohol affects any particular person is not something a comment thread can establish.
Source-record spotlights
Once I realized that substances that make you feel better are just borrowing happiness from the next day with varying interest rates, that's when I stopped drinking. Alcohol is just taking out a title loan on next day's happiness.
Having Gen Z people in my life and their friends. Some of it is certainly online and all that. I am Gen X and they just don't want to drink like we did at all. They can't imagine spending weekends hungover. Or bars being a huge part of their social life. Sure the ones over 21 go out to bars on occasion. Granted this is just the people I know. Dating, they also just don't see the hurry or any reason to get married, have kids and get a mortgage like us Gen Xers did. I for one applaud it. Spent too much time and money on alcohol and certainly should never have gotten married in my 20's. While many people I knew in my 20s were borderline alcoholics and saddled with marriage and 2-3 kids. They are planning travel adventures and enjoying themselves.
Hangovers are not worth it, alcohol is expensive to drink if out, and nobody wants to drive to a liquor store.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 8 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âChange the sentenceâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments8 preserved records ¡ 8 of 8 source records accounted for
Archive: 8 index entries preserve 8 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Gym, sleep and caloriesDrinking measured against a fitness, sleep or weight routine.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Gym, sleep and calories
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Gym, sleep and calories
Appears when: Gym, sleep and calories
What the pattern means: Drinking measured against a routine rather than against a price or a warning. Sleep quality, training, calories and appearance are the units here, and one commenter notes that several of the third places that did survive â gyms and run clubs â implicitly reward sobriety. One record is a Gen Z commenter making the health case and recording that it gets them thought immature and boring.
What commenters described: Health awareness. Drinking just does not have the same cool factor it once did. Younger people seem much more conscious about sleep, fitness and mental clarity.
Limit: This group generalises about a generation from very small samples â siblings, colleagues, students â and elsewhere in the thread a commenter asks how a health-focused generation also has rising obesity.
What the replies added1
Health conscious and broke to spend on alcohol or eat outside
Source-record spotlights
Thanks for saying it. I'm a gen Z who doesn't drink, and I don't like how drinking less is suddenly framed as part of some kind of larger social downfall. It's always been a personal choice for me and it has nothing to do with my phone. I just don't like the taste of alcohol, I don't particularly want the calories and the associated health risks are pretty substantial. Gen Z is in general pretty health focused so I'm not surprised we also drink less. Why would that be a bad thing? Tbh I'm already used to having people think I'm immature and boring because I don't drink, and this just feels like an extension of that.
A lot of Gen Z is more health conscious than previous generations, though money is definitely the biggest contributor. I feel that college kids are still drinking and partying a good amount, but everyone having phones and the internet makes everyone scared of embarrassing themselves. Weed is also a partial contributor but most people I know who smoke also drink.
Generally smarter and wiser. More care for personal health. Take things more seriously. Lack of third spaces seeing as millenials and above have decided to make everything horrifically expensive and low quality out of greed.
What the counts show
Within 19 source records, 1 ask a question and 0 explicitly say they intend to try the idea; neither signal is treated as an outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments19 preserved records ¡ 19 of 19 source records accounted for
Archive: 19 index entries preserve 19 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Medication that does not mixPrescriptions named as the practical reason a drink is off the table.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Medication that does not mix
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Medication that does not mix
Appears when: Medication that does not mix
What the pattern means: The most concrete reason in the corpus and one of the smallest groups: people who cannot drink because of what they already take. Anti-anxiety medication, ADHD prescriptions and GLP-1 drugs are all named. One commenter suggests some of the âI don't like the tasteâ answers elsewhere on this page are really this answer, given politely.
What commenters described: Many of the gen z I've met thst didnt drink cause they "didnt like the taste" were in fact avoiding it because they were on some type of psychiatric medication. Thst combined with civil invoked antisocial norms, social skills built online, and oh yeah the economy not giving them a ton of extra cash for $20 cocktails. They'd rather smoke weed, vape, and down energy drinks
Limit: Seven records, mostly observations about other people rather than the writer's own prescription, and nothing here states how any medication actually interacts with alcohol. Only a prescriber can answer that.
Source-record spotlights
They are drinking less because they have other drugs to do, namely weed or prescription drugs that don't play nicely with alcohol. As for the relationships, they always sound like they internalized Me Too too much to mean that any romantic initiative anywhere is always bad and unwanted, even some of the women
Higher levels of GLP-1's
Idk, all I can tell you is I'm an introvert, I haven't really put any effort into getting into a relationship yet, and drinking sounds like an expensive bad habit. Also I have adhd, if I wanna spend a day high and super happy I can just not take my meds that day. I guess AMA if anyone has a question, I'm open
What the counts show
This report keeps all 7 source records for Medication that does not mix together and surfaces traceable examples without converting anecdotes into proof.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments7 preserved records ¡ 7 of 7 source records accounted for
Archive: 7 index entries preserve 7 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
They watched somebody else drinkAnswers that point at one specific person rather than at a trend. 62 records.
The relative who drankThe specific person whose drinking commenters say they watched.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The relative who drank
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The relative who drank
Appears when: The relative who drank
What the pattern means: The answers that point at one person. A father, an uncle, a grandparent, a friend's parent â commenters describe watching someone specific and deciding early. A number are written by the older relatives themselves. It is the only theme on this page where the reason offered is a memory rather than a price, a phone or a policy.
What commenters described: Learning from their parents? My daughter is 19 and has no interest in alcohol. Sheâs drank once and has been to the bar one time and that was it. Her dad is an alcoholic and she and her brother have no interest in going down that road.
Limit: The thread argues with this one: a reply inside the same group notes that there are fewer alcoholics with each generation, so fewer Gen Z commenters would have watched it than the generations before them did.
What the replies added2
Rates of alcoholism have decreased each generation since baby boomers, simply untrue
Alcoholism and divorce has always been a thing. It's just weird that being in a relationship and getting to drink is suddenly not the right of passage it has been for generations.
Where commenters report limits
A lot of it has to do with social media and the perception of alcohol amongst the younger generations. A lot of these kids, unfortunately, have seen family members or someone else close to them experience what excessive drinking can do to a person. The cost of almost everything doesn't help either, and relationships in general are not easy, especially now, with social media creating a false narrative that something better is always out there. People will see relationships unfold on social media platforms, and people typically aren't sharing the arguments and issues between the vacations, date nights, and general good times with family and friends. People see that and want the same things naturally. COVID lockdown also did a lot of social harm to Gen Z, as others have mentioned.
Source-record spotlights
Alcoholism and the high rate of divorce among their parents generation
Alcoholic parents, lack of need to connect with people in real life, and crippling debt to prevent people from going out to drink.
Their drunk, dysfunctional \[millennial\] parents. and the fact that they can get their social needs "met' on the hellscape of the new web.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 53 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments53 preserved records ¡ 53 of 53 source records accounted for
Archive: 53 index entries preserve 53 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
How they were raisedParenting and supervision offered as the cause, rather than anything about the drink.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: How they were raised
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
How they were raised
Appears when: How they were raised
What the pattern means: Nine records that move the cause up a generation, and they contradict each other. Some say the parenting was better â more supervision, more therapy, fewer inherited habits. Others say it was worse, or merely more controlling, and that a childhood with no unsupervised time produces an adulthood with no appetite for it.
What commenters described: It's not. Many Gen Z are being raised by the first generation that decided to go to therapy and get help for their issues instead of passing down a ton of generational trauma. So they're raising kids that see somewhat balanced adults and these kids are also aware of therapy and mental health issues and healthy relationships.
Limit: The most self-contradictory group on the page: the same behaviour is attributed to good parenting and to bad parenting inside nine records.
Source-record spotlights
It's not. Many Gen Z are being raised by the first generation that decided to go to therapy and get help for their issues instead of passing down a ton of generational trauma. So they're raising kids that see somewhat balanced adults and these kids are also aware of therapy and mental health issues and healthy relationships.
there parents are rediculous
More attentive parents
What the counts show
This report keeps all 9 source records for How they were raised together and surfaces traceable examples without converting anecdotes into proof.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments9 preserved records ¡ 9 of 9 source records accounted for
Archive: 9 index entries preserve 9 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Something else insteadSubstitution rather than abstinence. 97 records.
Weed took the slot alcohol hadLegal cannabis described as a straight substitution.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Weed took the slot alcohol had
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Weed took the slot alcohol had
Appears when: Weed took the slot alcohol had
What the pattern means: The straight substitution answer, and one of the largest single sub-patterns. Legalisation is named repeatedly as the mechanism, and the comparisons commenters draw are practical rather than moral: no hangover, cheaper per session, done at home. The group carries its own dissent â several say the two are not interchangeable at all, and one says cannabis is a poor replacement precisely for the social anxiety alcohol was being used on.
What commenters described: Two drinks at a bar costs $20 and lasts 2-3 hours. A single thc vape cartridge costs $20 and lasts 2-3 weeks if used daily or 2-3 months if used less frequently. And the vape doesnât give you a hangover. I think itâs really that simple. (Disclaimer, thc/weed is not as harmless as many on reddit would have you believe. Long term chronic use will probably negatively impact your life. When compared to alcohol it is generally less bad, but alcohol is pretty bad so itâs a low bar.)
Limit: These are personal preferences and cost comparisons, not health comparisons. A commenter inside the group says plainly that cannabis is not as harmless as the thread assumes, and nothing here should be read as a recommendation to swap one substance for another.
What the replies added2
Even worse, AI chat bots are replacing relationships...
They smoke weed instead, it's way more accessible now and has less stigma. Everything else is because they're too broke.
Where commenters report limits
Which, while awesome for chill nights alone, unfortunately does nothing for the anxiety and social avoidance. It can catch up to ya when you get 10-15 years deep (depending on frequency of use)
Source-record spotlights
Weed is replacing alcohol, and social media is replacing relationships
Screentime and the availability of edibles.
Much easier access to legal THC is my guess.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 74 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (8 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments74 preserved records ¡ 74 of 74 source records accounted for
Archive: 74 index entries preserve 74 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Vapes, pouches, prescriptions and everything elseThe other substances commenters say moved into the same slot.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Vapes, pouches, prescriptions and everything else
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Vapes, pouches, prescriptions and everything else
Appears when: Vapes, pouches, prescriptions and everything else
What the pattern means: Everything else commenters say moved into the slot: vapes and nicotine pouches most often, then prescribed stimulants, psychedelics, caffeine and boba. The argument running through the group is not that this generation is sober but that it is inebriated differently, and several records treat that as no improvement at all.
What commenters described: Less in-person socializing due to the digital age where socializing and entertainment and any stimulation is easily accessible remotely and from the palm of your hand. Easier access to weed, vaping (becoming kind of a norm) and all kinds of other rec drugs like psychedelics and hallucinogens like shrooms, ketamine, mdmas and prescription drugs like adderall. Doctors are prescribing them much quicker than in the past due to more mental health awareness and acceptance to medicate. Much more appealing to get inebriated with these than alcohol which tastes bad. Gen-Z culturally also seem to have a shifting pallette of tastes for sweeter and fruitier flavors. So alcohol in general are becoming a turn off other than to party and binge to get f up. Rather than having a pint or two or kick [account] and relax like in generations past. This also applies to millennials as well to a lesser extent. I just remember when I go to bars back in my 20s, it's normal to see many other in the same age group as me there. Now being older when I go, it not uncommon to see anyone that doesn't look at least they're well into their 30s there.
Limit: Second-hand observation dominates here, the substances named run from soft drinks to controlled drugs, and none of it is verified or recommended.
What the replies added1
Better coping mechanisms (better drugs than booze) and economic instability (no one wants to date equally broke people).
Source-record spotlights
yeah but I hear they're into vaping as a replacement.
Access to drugs that were deemed amoral and illegal for generations instead of alcohol and the ability to find and fuck someone nearby with just a flick of their finger.
The conversation starts with porn, gambling and weed
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 23 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments23 preserved records ¡ 23 of 23 source records accounted for
Archive: 23 index entries preserve 23 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Anxious, out of practice, out of hopeAnswers about capacity and mood rather than price or venue. 118 records.
Never learned to do it in personSocialising described as a skill that was never built rather than one that was lost.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Never learned to do it in person
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Never learned to do it in person
Appears when: Never learned to do it in person
What the pattern means: A capability argument rather than a preference one. These commenters describe small talk, approaching strangers and tolerating awkwardness as skills that need repetition, and say the repetitions never happened. Teachers, managers and older colleagues supply most of the specific observations, and the self- reinforcing loop â avoid because awkward, awkward because avoided â is named more than once.
What commenters described: The second part is because they don't practice them, and because they are awkward, they avoid them thus not practicing them andâŚitâs a self reinforcing cycle. But the main cause is phones. In the past, you were basically forced to make small talk with people. Therefore you learned how to make small talk because the silence was painfully awkward. Now, we just stick our faces into our screens (i do it too) and anyone trying to make small talk is the awkward one.
Limit: Most of this group is people describing others rather than themselves, which is the kind of claim the thread's own counter- arguments treat with suspicion.
What the replies added2
My brother is fairly self assured for someone in Gen Z but his girlfriend has such high levels of social anxiety it's hard for me to even process. She complained about how a few girls were wasting time on a gym machine for 30 minutes but in that time she didn't once walk over and ask when they would be done. She had her night ruined by a couple talking through a movie right beside her but was never an option to ask them to keep it down. She won't book a table at a restaurant if you have to call them to do it. She will eat terrible food rather than complain. It honestly seems exhausting
They are awkward and broke and shit is expensive
Where commenters report limits
Unfortunately, younger generations never learned how to be social. Rather than being free to roam the world and interact with friends in unsupervised social settings, they were sheltered and force-fed digital interaction alone, which is not the same. Most kids back in the day already learned about personal relationships by actually making and building personal relationships physically, rather than only being allowed to do so online. And, even in the little bit of real-world socializing that occurs, it is supervised to the point of being awkward and unnatural. This results in some good things, like less drinking, because alcohol consumption is primarily a social thing. But the negatives are the lack of relationships because they never learned how to build them.
Source-record spotlights
They have more anxiety than previous generations in my teaching experience.
They are socially stunted and afraid of the World
They are stuck to screens and have zero social skills.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 45 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âCreate a defaultâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments45 preserved records ¡ 45 of 45 source records accounted for
Archive: 45 index entries preserve 45 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Anxiety treated as a reason to stay inThe thread's argument about indulging anxiety rather than facing it.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Anxiety treated as a reason to stay in
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Anxiety treated as a reason to stay in
Appears when: Anxiety treated as a reason to stay in
What the pattern means: The thread's sharpest internal argument, and the one that drew its most-liked replies. The claim is that avoidance is being validated rather than challenged. What answers it is not a defence of staying in but a set of accounts of doing the opposite â a self- identified psychologist agreeing, measured exposure work with a therapist, forcing yourself out at university, a first open mic â alongside a separate argument about whether the anxiety is new at all or simply newly expressed.
What commenters described: The refusal to challenge those anxieties as well. Not leaving your house for years is not because you're an introvert (and I say this as one), its a legitimate problem you have to address, not indulge.
Limit: This group discusses mental health without being qualified to, and its one professional voice is self-identified and unverified. It is a record of an argument, not guidance.
What the replies added1
It's kind of even worse. If you're anxious and avoid something, you feel relief and your body rewards you and it will actually make you more anxious next time. You also get relief if you challenge an anxiety and it doesn't hurt you and goes okay and you'll feel less anxious the next time but that toath is the harder one
Source-record spotlights
The refusal to challenge those anxieties as well. Not leaving your house for years is not because you're an introvert (and I say this as one), its a legitimate problem you have to address, not indulge.
>Not leaving your house for years is not because you're an introvert (and I say this as one), its a legitimate problem you have to address Exactly this, being a introvert is fine but when it is negatively affecting your life then it becomes a problem. My eldest has this issue and my first reaction is to actually get her linked into mental health supports...
Yeah, mental health issues as an identity instead of something to work on.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 15 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âChange the sentenceâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments15 preserved records ¡ 15 of 15 source records accounted for
Archive: 15 index entries preserve 15 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The years the pandemic tookLockdown placed at the exact age drinking habits usually start.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: The years the pandemic took
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The years the pandemic took
Appears when: The years the pandemic took
What the pattern means: The timing argument: lockdown landed on the exact years â late teens and early twenties â in which going out normally becomes a habit, and the habit was never formed. Several commenters give their own version of it, one from inside a job started six months before the shutdown.
What commenters described: Shocking that no one at the top is mentioning "COVID at peak college age". Gen Z was avoiding group settings at the peak years you develop a habit of going out at partying. If you didnt go out from ages 18-22, you wouldn't probably go out when you're in your late 20s either. The "oldest" Gen Z was 23 in 2020. I am "younger" millennial, and went out regularly until covid killed the habit.
Limit: A reply inside this group notes how differently the same lost year landed depending on age and place, and elsewhere the thread asks whether one year can explain this much at all.
What the replies added2
After money I'd guess that COVID played a role. We Rightfully implemented quarantine, mostly for the benefit of older generations but did nothing to help with the socialisation they missed (and education... They got fucked)
Government response to coronachan broke long held habits. Government lockdowns drove Gen z rather socialize via tiktok and Facebook than going to bars and pubs. Post-lockdown: inflation (due to endless money printing) and cost of living crisis made going to pubs and bars too expensive. Same thing for dating, replace pubs and bars with dating market and tiktok and Facebook with dating apps.
Where commenters report limits
After money I'd guess that COVID played a role. We Rightfully implemented quarantine, mostly for the benefit of older generations but did nothing to help with the socialisation they missed (and education... They got fucked)
i mean yeah no shit. my generation spent 2 years (formative years btw) without the ability to physically interact and hang out with people. during those years, i made friends from all over the US, and i still talk to them daily even now. also, our current world doesnt give many people a reason to even look up from their phones. the job market is absolutely terrible so many of us struggle to find work, which means we cant afford to go out and socialize. most of my country is on fire and there is smog filling up the air constantly. if you dont have a car (which again, we cant afford), you have no ability to travel because north america prioritized highways over public transportation. why on earth is a 3km walk take 2 hours? i hate it here
Source-record spotlights
Covid fucked them up
Covid. A whole generation that learned it was lower risk to moderate all interactions through the internet. As a parent of gen-z and gen-alpha kids, I own that this is my fault.
All of these issues were absolutely brought on by COVID. I believe COVID single handedly changed the entire trajectory of human civilisation in more ways than most people realise. Edit: accelerated by COVID. It was already trending down.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 29 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments29 preserved records ¡ 29 of 29 source records accounted for
Archive: 29 index entries preserve 29 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Nothing much to celebrateDread and depression offered as the mood underneath the number.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Nothing much to celebrate
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Nothing much to celebrate
Appears when: Nothing much to celebrate
What the pattern means: Answers about mood rather than mechanism. Dread about the future, the climate, the job market and the political situation are offered as the reason there is nothing to go out for. This sits apart from the money answers because its authors are not describing an affordability problem â they are describing not seeing the point.
What commenters described: Don't forget: lack of hope for a future. Who plans for and invests in the future when they don't think anything will be different socially, politically, economically, spiritually, etc.?
Limit: Nearly all of these records are a single line, so the link between the stated mood and any actual drinking behaviour is asserted rather than described.
What the replies added2
**Saturday Morning Sold Us Everything** Saturday morning used to mean something. You woke up at six in the goddamn morning without an alarm clock. Think about that. Monday through Friday, your mother needed three attempts, a threat, and possibly the National Guard to get you out of bed. Saturday? 6:03 A.M. Wide fucking awake. Because cartoons were on. No streaming. No pause. No rewind. No âIâll catch it later.â You missed Scooby-Doo? Too bad. Scooby-Doo happened without you. The universe did not care. So there we sat. Six inches from a wood-paneled television in pajamas eating cereal that looked like it was designed by a committee of chemical engineers on cocaine. And we loved it. Saturday morning was a hallucination we all agreed to share. Talking dogs. Blue people. Giant robots. Mutant turtles. A barbarian in furry underwear screaming: **I HAVE THE POWER!** And somehow every adult in America looked at that and said, âYeah. This is fine. This is educational adjacent. Probably better than reading.â Then came the commercials. Jesus Christ, the commercials. They didnât advertise to children. They performed experiments on them. **THEYâRE GR-R-REAT!** **IâM CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!** **THEYâRE MAGICALLY DELICIOUS!** Magically delicious. Right. Itâs sugar. Itâs all sugar. You could pour it into a drywall patch and a seven-year-old would try to eat the wall. Then the toy commercials hit. Hot Wheels. G.I. Joe. Transformers. Lite-Brite. Hungry Hungry Hippos. Teddy Ruxpin. My Little Pony. Care Bears. Crossfire. And that one guy selling Micro Machines talking so fast it sounded like he was being chased by his own nervous system. We didnât watch commercials. We memorized them. We internalized them. We became little consumer monks chanting product names in our sleep. By December, the Christmas catalog wasnât a catalog. It was a crime scene. Circles everywhere. **THIS.** **THIS.** **THIS.** **I NEED THIS.** You didnât need anything. You didnât even know it existed thirty seconds ago. Thatâs not desire. Thatâs programming. We were eight years old and already in the system. And the system was brilliant. It sold us cereal during cartoons that existed to sell us toys that came with commercials for other cartoons that sold more cereal. It was capitalism wearing footie pajamas and laughing at us the whole time. And we loved it. Then Toys âRâ Us started singing: **I donât wanna grow up.** And every kid in America said, âYeah. Obviously. Why would I?â Turns out that wasnât a slogan. It was a warning label nobody read. Because nobody told us Saturday morning would end. No announcement. No final episode. No credits rolling saying: âThanks for your childhood. Please exit quietly.â It just⌠stopped. One Saturday you didnât wake up. Then another. Then suddenly the cartoons are gone and the cereal is still there and the toys are in boxes and youâre standing in a store at 9:47 p.m. trying to remember a password you created as a joke to access money you donât feel like you own. Nobody prepared us for that episode. He-Man never covered property taxes. G.I. Joe never said: âKnowing is half the battle. The other half is dental insurance.â Then one day youâre walking through a store and you hear it. A song. A jingle. Something stupid. **My Buddy⌠My BuddyâŚ** And your brain does a thing it has no right to do. For three seconds youâre eight. Youâre on the carpet. The cereal is soggy. The TV is too loud. The whole weekend is still ahead of you. Your parents are alive. Your friends are nearby. Nobody has left yet. Nobody has died yet. Nobody has a mortgage. Nobody has a password. And then it hits you. You werenât missing the cartoons. Or the toys. Or the cereal. You were missing the fact that nothing had been taken from you yet. Time hadnât started stealing things in the background. We thought Saturday morning was a place. It wasnât. It was a temporary suspension of loss. And now? Now itâs just a sound in your head that shows up uninvited at 2:13 a.m. when the house is quiet and your brain decides to replay everything you didnât know you were losing. And for a second just a stupid, impossible second youâre back on the carpet again. Six inches from the television. Waiting for the world to start. And you donât wanna grow up. You still donât.
The world will be relatively fine once humans are gone.
Source-record spotlights
The future isnât bright.
Most people are depressed, everything costs too much, and people aren't grateful for life.
loneliness and uminsurmountable political oppression
What the counts show
The exact phrase âend stage capitalismâ recurs across 2 of the 29 source records in Nothing much to celebrate; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments29 preserved records ¡ 29 of 29 source records accounted for
Archive: 29 index entries preserve 29 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Drinking stopped being the pointThe occasion drinking used to attach to, and whether commenters think it still exists. 79 records.
It simply is not funThe plain verdict that the activity does not deliver.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: It simply is not fun
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
It simply is not fun
Appears when: It simply is not fun
What the pattern means: The plainest verdict in the corpus: the activity does not deliver what it costs. These records are not about price or health but about return â what a night of drinking actually produces, and whether it was ever enjoyable or merely conventional. A few extend the verdict to the company as well as the drink.
What commenters described: They finally realized that drinking is socially conditioned and not actually fun.
Limit: Sixteen short opinions with little supporting detail, and they do not share a starting point: one is written by somebody who says they have never tried alcohol once, and others are about the people rather than the drink.
What the replies added1
Drinking is a largely pointless activity that society has somehow gaslit itself into thinking is somehow essential to life. Dating has been ruined by the Tinderisation of dating apps; I imagine Gen Z coming of age in the pandemic didn't help with that.
Where commenters report limits
Sense. Relationships (romantic) are overrated as is excessive alcohol consumption.
Source-record spotlights
It ain't fun and costs a lot of money
This absolutely, but also being honest the quality of people and hangouts has dropped sharply too. Most people are just zero fun to be around these days. They expect *you* to entertain *them* by default, while they sit there like a lump. They've become so entitled, easy to offend, and just plain boring that yeah... i'd probably choose to scroll youtube instead too. The juice isn't worth the squeeze. Contrast this to the old days, when you could get 4 friends together in a empty fucking field, and just make up fun stuff to do all day. People were *actively invested in making it a good time*, instead of just sitting there like a stoned Jabba the Hutt going "entertain me!".
I enjoy sitting at home doing absolutely nothing. I pay for my house Iâm going to enjoy it every second I can. Iâm not a foodie and not into going out to do stuff like movies or events. I donât mind people I just donât want to leave my house. I have good social skills but Iâm not interested in chitchat. I have plenty of hobbies. A full cnc wood/metal workshop, various 3d printers, couple cars, atv, guns, play/write/read music on several instruments, cinema camera and nice dslr camera, various pets, lots of stuff for me to do.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 16 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âCreate a defaultâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments16 preserved records ¡ 16 of 16 source records accounted for
Archive: 16 index entries preserve 16 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
They do not like the stuffTaste and effect, with no larger explanation attached.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: They do not like the stuff
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
They do not like the stuff
Appears when: They do not like the stuff
What the pattern means: Eight commenters who never get as far as an explanation: they dislike the taste, the feeling, or both, and treat that as sufficient. One of them tried it properly first, describing four years of heavy drinking from seventeen before deciding it was not enjoyable. One record is an outsider's version of the same answer, filing it under âpickyâ.
What commenters described: I'm Gen Z; I can't speak for other Gen Z's but I just do not care about drinking. I dislike the taste, don't care for its effects, and I don't want empty calories in my body when I could have like... a fun pastry instead LOL. I don't know what "fewer relationships" is being measured against and I don't know what kind of relationships this is referring to. Romantic? I was single by choice before meeting my now partner, we met organically as friends first.
Limit: A small group, and the one record in it that is not first-person is a commenter characterising other people's dislike rather than reporting their own.
What the replies added1
Itâs literally poison and tastes gross. I donât get it.
Where commenters report limits
They didnât understand that the drug is about lowering inhibitions and having a good time and immediately judged it as ew that doesnât taste like my sweet soda energy drinks and itâs icky. Because theyâre picky they never try it again after they sipped a gross beer and said nope not for me. Theyâre better off for it but thatâs pretty much the explanation.
Source-record spotlights
Growing up and realizing alcohol is actually just ass, also the continuous enshitification of the economy
They didnât understand that the drug is about lowering inhibitions and having a good time and immediately judged it as ew that doesnât taste like my sweet soda energy drinks and itâs icky. Because theyâre picky they never try it again after they sipped a gross beer and said nope not for me. Theyâre better off for it but thatâs pretty much the explanation.
Maybe the fact that alcohol costs money, tastes like urine, causes hangovers, has negative impact on health and no benefits whatsoever to it's consumption might have something to do with it's declining appeal
What the counts show
The exact phrase âto find someoneâ recurs across 2 of the 8 source records in They do not like the stuff; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments8 preserved records ¡ 8 of 8 source records accounted for
Archive: 8 index entries preserve 8 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The thread argued with the questionThe thread's own objections, kept beside the answers they dispute rather than under them. 162 records.
âThat is not the reasonâ â the counter-argumentsRecords that reject another commenter's explanation and put a different one in its place.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: âThat is not the reasonâ â the counter-arguments
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
âThat is not the reasonâ â the counter-arguments
Appears when: âThat is not the reasonâ â the counter-arguments
What the pattern means: The largest objection group: records that accept the decline and reject somebody else's explanation of it. The money answers draw the most fire â a bar worker reporting cheap drafts and no young customers, commenters pointing at delivery-app spending, others noting that previous broke generations still went out. The camera argument, the third-places argument and the parenting argument all get the same treatment. They are kept as their own theme so the objections sit beside the answers rather than underneath them.
What commenters described: I work in a dive bar. Domestic drafts are $2.75 after 9pm. No young people at all. But they shell out plenty of money for boba teas from the Korean place in the plaza. Or even more on uber eats from the Mexican place next door.
Limit: These are counter-arguments, not corrections. They are as unverified as the answers they dispute, and several rest on one bar or one city.
What the replies added3
I know this is location dependent, but when I was a kid in the '00s we hung out at each other's houses, in the woods/neighborhood, parks/playgrounds, etc. and we got around on our bikes. These are just the free locations. We also went to local pizza places, the movies, or arcades, which I do understand is more expensive now, but everything I listed first is still available. The third space complaint might be true in some locations, but a lot of it feels like excuses by the current young generation who are more interested in living online than outside. Don't get me wrong, we played PLENTY of video games and dug into the dark recesses of the internet, but we did it together in-person. I think some might argue that there's no difference in playing multi-player games with your friends online versus split-screen together in your buddies basement, but I think they're losing out on some crucial social development just being together. I also think that this can hinder the transition into dating life. A lot of my male friends and my first relationships were developed through girls in our friend group and their friends. I spent a lot of awkward time learning how to be around girls, doing stupid shit to try to impress them, trying to figure out how to hold hands, etc. I don't know how any of these "skills" would have developed without the countless hours we all spent together in-person.
Were college graduates broke in the 1960âs 1970âs and 80âs? I think not. They were doing very well. College costing tons a significant amount of their parents âs salaries? No college in 1985-1990 cost $8500 a year, now it costs 26,000!!! Were people using 70% of their salaries on rent? No they were using 40% So I Bullshit. Also almost always until about 1980 Only dads worked full time and on one income everything was fairly affordable. Not anymore. Two salaries barely can make it work
Going places is expensive. And man, whenever me and my buddies were broke, we'd all just meet up at someone's house/apt/dorm/whatever. My young employees barely even do *that*.
Source-record spotlights
I work in a dive bar. Domestic drafts are $2.75 after 9pm. No young people at all. But they shell out plenty of money for boba teas from the Korean place in the plaza. Or even more on uber eats from the Mexican place next door.
> I gotta ask, are you in a wealthy suburban area? yeah ... that's the only fair way to describe my neighborhood. I'm sure different areas are different, but that's what I'm experiencing.
There always have been broke people, but they just made the best of it and had very social life because having fun with friends and family is the cheapest thing to do. Lame excuse.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 96 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âTurn it into a gameâ (7 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments96 preserved records ¡ 96 of 96 source records accounted for
Archive: 96 index entries preserve 96 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
âThey are not actually drinking lessâRecords disputing the premise of the question itself.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: âThey are not actually drinking lessâ
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
âThey are not actually drinking lessâ
Appears when: âThey are not actually drinking lessâ
What the pattern means: Records that dispute the premise itself, and they are specific about how: that the drinking moved from bars to homes where it stops being counted, that aggregate sales mostly track heavy drinkers, that the effect looks American rather than universal, and that newer figures show the gap closing as the cohort ages into its twenties.
What commenters described: There's also been multiple studies conducted by various research firms that indicate the whole "Gen Z doesn't drink alcohol" narrative is no longer as accurate as it was 7 or 8 years ago (when the eldest of us turned 21). Pundits tried to ascribe dropping alcohol sales to Gen Z puritanism, Gen Z health consciousness, Gen Z religiosity, Gen Z sobermaxxing, et cetera et cetera. Turns out it was more likely just Gen Z poverty, and that when incomes start increasing, so does alcohol consumption.
Limit: The studies and figures referred to here are commenters' summaries of sources this page has not checked, and are recorded as claims made in the thread.
What the replies added2
If they were drinking somewhere, national statistics on alcohol purchases would reflect that. Iâm 29 (older Gen Z), I used to drink a lot more but Iâve significantly reduced how often I go out due to cost. Itâs $17-18 to get a cocktail where I live now, and a 15 min Uber ride is $40 each way, Iâd rather not bother. Iâm also conscious about my health & what I put in my body, so itâs not worth it. A lot of my younger friends donât drink at all or rarely do so. Itâs the older friends who drink more
We drink, but its usually alone at home with close friend groups online. The relationship issue is more complicated. From insecurities, crazy expectations, and alot of older males have ruined Gen-z womens want to be in something serious or long term. We also are the age of social media and dont really crave relationships in person because having the ability to turn off your screen and they magically go away / give you space has become a solution for alot of us. Also if you look at the times we were raised in, mens social standards have been replaced with lower ones and women in our generation had the famous quote "you dont need a man" fed to us.
Source-record spotlights
It's the 40yr olds who fall for headlines like this. Actually college aged kids are drinking HARD more than ever and spending hundreds on drinks every weekend. They are drinking in dorms, hostels, bars, and their own rentals....places older people don't have access to or don't frequent. Older generations always think they are experts in younger generations and that they were so different when they were that age.
Alcohol companies are pushing this narrative.
Drinking does not = going out. Gen z spends hundred at liquor stores and drink cheap beer and wine all night
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 35 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âTurn it into a gameâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments35 preserved records ¡ 35 of 35 source records accounted for
Archive: 35 index entries preserve 35 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Half of Gen Z cannot legally drink yetThe age composition of the cohort raised as a measurement problem.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: Half of Gen Z cannot legally drink yet
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Half of Gen Z cannot legally drink yet
Appears when: Half of Gen Z cannot legally drink yet
What the pattern means: A measurement objection rather than an explanation. The cohort runs from schoolchildren to people approaching thirty, so a large share of it is below the drinking age in its own country â one commenter answering here says they are fourteen. The argument is that per-generation drinking figures compare groups of different ages and should not be read as a change in behaviour.
What commenters described: I had to scroll WAY too far to find someone who brought this up. The youngest Gen Z are 13 years old, people who blame Gen Z for not drinking and ruining the alcohol industry don't bring up the fact that half of them can't legally buy it yet...
Limit: The age boundaries commenters use for Gen Z differ from record to record, and the share said to be underage is asserted rather than sourced.
What the replies added2
I had to scroll WAY too far to find someone who brought this up. The youngest Gen Z are 13 years old, people who blame Gen Z for not drinking and ruining the alcohol industry don't bring up the fact that half of them can't legally buy it yet...
Older Gen Z are in their mid to late 20s. Millennials are 30-45.
Source-record spotlights
Gen z turns 30 next year! A lot of people think theyre all just getting out of highschool yet.
Yeah. Iâm 14 at the moment and the drinking age where I live is 19. Still have 5 years to go
I'm not defending them, but half of them arent even legally allowed to drink yet.
What the counts show
The exact phrase âare still in high schoolâ recurs across 2 of the 13 source records in Half of Gen Z cannot legally drink yet; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments13 preserved records ¡ 13 of 13 source records accounted for
Archive: 13 index entries preserve 13 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
âWhy is this being treated as a problem?âRecords that accept the fall and question the concern about it.
Reason card naming the reason commenters gave, what they reported, and what the thread disputed about it: âWhy is this being treated as a problem?â
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
âWhy is this being treated as a problem?â
Appears when: âWhy is this being treated as a problem?â
What the pattern means: Records that accept the decline and question the concern. Lower rates of alcoholism, they argue, is the outcome public health has been asking for, and the worry in the framing says more about the generations doing the asking. The group is not uniformly celebratory: several separate the drinking from the socialising and call the first progress and the second a loss.
What commenters described: Iâm Gen Z and I do drink, but itâs always odd to me that older generations are concerned that younger people are drinking less. Lower rates of alcoholism is a good thing, no?
Limit: Several of these records are written by people who say they had a drinking problem themselves; they are personal positions, not public-health conclusions.
What the replies added2
I think a lot of my fellow millennials conflate drinking with social interaction because... that's how we used to interact in person.
Generously, I think it's shorthand used by older generations for socialization in general (restaurants, sporting events, karaoke, obviously bars all offer alcohol), but people also get weirdly defensive when you suggest that alcohol isn't necessary to have a good time.
Source-record spotlights
Iâm Gen Z and I do drink, but itâs always odd to me that older generations are concerned that younger people are drinking less. Lower rates of alcoholism is a good thing, no?
Drinking less is a positive to be honest. It's time we stop acting like drinking poison is a good thing anyway.
Is it just me who thinks it's weird to group drinking together with relationships like this? One is good for you, one is not.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 18 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is âSwap instead of subtractâ (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments18 preserved records ¡ 18 of 18 source records accounted for
Archive: 18 index entries preserve 18 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
How this catalog was built
Source: Reddit comments â 1 thread, 2,518 comments (1,185 top-level, 1,333 replies)
Selected comments from the discussion
This export carries real like counts and timestamps. The first 18 are the most resonant on-topic top-level comment from each stage of the discussion, ranked by resonance within their arrival-time cohort so later arrivals are not penalised for having had less time to accumulate likes. The last 6 received no likes at all and were chosen for the specificity of what they describe.
How the discussion breaks down
Relative volume of distinct source-backed records across every reviewed category in this corpus.
What a night of drinking costs now
516 distinct coded comment records6 normalized answers
The phone got there first
189 distinct coded comment records2 normalized answers
The thread argued with the question
162 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Anxious, out of practice, out of hope
118 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Something else instead
97 distinct coded comment records2 normalized answers
Losing control in public got riskier
96 distinct coded comment records2 normalized answers
What they were told about alcohol
95 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Nowhere left to go
94 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Drinking stopped being the point
79 distinct coded comment records3 normalized answers
They watched somebody else drink
62 distinct coded comment records2 normalized answers
Money or phones: the argument the thread never settles
The single most striking thing about this thread is that it spends a large part of its length disagreeing with itself. 162 of the 1508 classified records exist to argue with an answer somebody else gave, and the argument is nearly always the same one: is this about money, or is it about phones?
The thread's most-liked answer names both. âMoney, chronically online resulting in crippling social anxiety.â Underneath it, one commenter puts the money case plainly: âit's way more the first than the second. millenials were also chronically online and we still made it out. for gen z it's cause drinking and going out is literally becoming unaffordable.â
And underneath that, the objection. A commenter who works in a bar reports the opposite of what the cost answers predict: âI work in a dive bar. Domestic drafts are $2.75 after 9pm. No young people at all. But they shell out plenty of money for boba teas from the Korean place in the plaza. Or even more on uber eats from the Mexican place next door.â Another prices a recent night out and reaches the same conclusion: âI went out with some friends last night and we were drinking $3 domestic 20oz beers and it wasn't even that much of a dive bar. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Gen Z drinking less (though they should replace it with some other social activity), but I don't think cost is the main reason.â
A third position rejects both. One commenter who identifies as being in the group under discussion answers the surveillance explanation directly: âBtw us kids dgaf abt if weâre getting recorded itâs not on our mind of why we donât drink. We donât drink cuz itâs too expensive and not worth the money over weed. Weed is jus better jus like how young teens donât smoke cigs anymore. Vaping is the new option no need for it. Alcohol has too much risk with not a big enough reward. Nausea,dui, expensive, embarrassment. Weed youâll just cough your lungs out and laugh or vibe to music.â
And 35 records dispute the premise itself â that the fall is real, or that it is being measured properly. One states the test: âIf they were drinking somewhere, national statistics on alcohol purchases would reflect that. Iâm 29 (older Gen Z), I used to drink a lot more but Iâve significantly reduced how often I go out due to cost. Itâs $17-18 to get a cocktail where I live now, and a 15 min Uber ride is $40 each way, Iâd rather not bother. Iâm also conscious about my health & what I put in my body, so itâs not worth it. A lot of my younger friends donât drink at all or rarely do so. Itâs the older friends who drink moreâ Another argues the cohort is the problem: âThe data is *extremely* misleading as it ignores population size, age (half of Gen Z canât even drink), and disposable income. There likely is some truth that Gen Zâs in their twenties are buying less alcohol than other generations in their twentiesâŚbut this data sure af doesnât show that. Also, gen z spends a stupid amount of money on drugs.â
None of that is settled here, and this page does not settle it. The sub-patterns below keep the objections beside the answers they dispute, in their own theme, so a reader can see which explanations the thread itself would not let stand.
Browse the original comments2,518 audited comments and replies
Dataset, coverage, and methodology
How this was counted
The working unit is a comment record, not a person and not a distinct reason. All 2,518 canonical comments from this one thread (1,185 top-level, 1,333 replies) were read in twelve passes in thread order, so every reply was read beneath its parent, and each was assigned to exactly one sub-pattern or one exclusion bucket.
1,508 records give a reason young people drink less or go out drinking less, and all 1,508 appear in the complete index below. The other 1,010 break down as answers to the question's other half, about dating and relationships (272), agreements, jokes and one-line reactions (185), off-topic tangents (157), the long tangent about hobbies and shared culture (132), the tangent about phone etiquette and children's screen time (128), arguments about somebody else's figure or anecdote that name no reason of their own (55), questions put to another commenter (33), commentary about the thread itself (17), political and macroeconomic tangents that never reach the drink (16), advice offered to another commenter (8), and fragments and bare links (7).
The thread asked about drinking and about relationships in the same breath, and a large share of it answers only the relationships half. Those records are excluded from the reason count and kept in the complete source archive; this page is about the drinking half only.
Many comments name several reasons at once. Each such record is filed under the first drinking-related reason it states, and its full text is preserved on that card, so a record counted under money may also mention phones or cameras.
1,508 counts classified comment records, not distinct reasons. Repeats were deliberately kept: 284 records say some version of âno moneyâ and each stays its own row rather than being merged into one.
Heart counts are the raw numbers as captured. The first hour of this thread holds 84.8% of all its hearts, so a ranking by raw hearts would mostly rank arrival time; the themes below are ordered by how many records they hold, not by popularity.
Nothing here is verified beyond what people typed. Cost figures are what individual commenters said they paid, in whatever currency and country they were writing from. Claims about alcohol, cannabis, medication and health are the commenters' own and are reported as attributed statements, not as findings. Read this as a record of the reasons a crowd offered â including the ones the crowd rejected.
Member discussion