Gen Z here. Your interpretation seems correct to me, but I’m also on the way older end of the generation.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s super common for millenials to hate on gen Z for stupid stuff the same way boomers do, but this thread is not an example of it. It’s just a bunch of people saying “do what you want, don’t need to be cool” and playful teasing.
Also, it might just be because I’m on the older end, but I haven’t even heard of anybody from my generation cringing at any of these things. Either there’s a bigger divide between older and younger than I thought, or we’re getting accidentally lumped in with gen alpha again.
Huh. Most of my friends are in the older gen Z and younger millenial range and reaction GIFs are everywhere in every chat we have. I’m just about the only one who doesn’t use them, and it’s not because I find them cringy, they’re just not my style.