If you don’t hail from a generation that was raised on the rapid cycling of social media trends, it can be hard to figure out what they actually, you know, like. Understandably, this divide can make holiday gift shopping for the Gen Zers you know a struggle. Is that product you saw on Facebook still popular, or did the cool kids of the Internet move on months ago?
If you’re trying to find something that your Gen Z recipient will genuinely love and use, I’ve got you covered. Gen Z’s birth years span from 1997 to 2012, give or take a couple years on either end. As a 26-year-old born in 1999, I consider myself a member. I also spent the early years of my career reporting on Gen Z trends and behaviors.
But don’t just take my word for it — to find out which gifts are truly enticing to this generation, I asked the Gen Zers in my life for their own suggestions. Responders ran the gamut from my high school-aged cousin to college students, early-20s postgrads, mid-20s full-time workers and grad school students, and even new parents in their late 20s. Some of them also polled their own Gen Z friends and coworkers for extra opinions. In all, I received over 65 ideas, and narrowed them down to this curated list.
