#Summer(Un)Vibes

Summer is coming, travel restrictions have been all but lifted, and so whether you’re in your teens or twenties… “school is out for the summer!”

Everyone is prepping for their adventures, in spite of the highest price of gas per gallon we’ve ever seen. With record inflation, looming food shortages, and doom in the news – are kids preparing for adventures in the same way? Will the travel industry take even more of a hit? Or are we carrying on, cautiously optimistic?

Regardless of how the summer shakes out, #SummerVibes is trending and the consensus on first glance appears to be business as usual. Which brings us to the bigger question – how much of this “business as usual” attitude in spite of inflation is rooted in a positive outlook, or how much of it is an attempt to make everything picture-perfect on social media, where the majority of our youth “live?”

For years, the pressure of social media “glamor” has been a hot topic, with influencers using social media to show off the luxuries in their lives. This has often meant showing the positive and excluding the blemishes.

However, following this initial pattern emerged a trend of being vulnerable in social media; a lesson that we may be able to learn from our younger generations. This has resulted in social media being a forum to share the previously unconscionable-to-share, including diseases, mental health, and other personal challenges. And with this vulnerability has come an increased sense of community and sensitivity (at least in some cases).

The current economic climate doesn’t present the perfect #SummerVibes.

While the job market is still ripe with opportunities and travel restrictions lifted, it would appear that travel and entertainment is game-on.

However with the decline of cryptocurrencies and the stock market, a continued evolution of new world “employment” and the decline of available, affordable credit, Gen Z and Millennials are once again finding themselves in a situation of delaying goals.

So the verdict is out as to whether the TikTok #SummerVibes is about positive psychology or whether kids have yet to convince themselves of the current climate. Likely it’s a mix of both.

But in either case, it’s something for older generations to be mindful of with kids and their peers, enabling open conversations about the current environment and future prospects while keeping an open mind towards changing times.