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In 2025, online discussions about Gen Z’s social skills spawned the term “Gen Z stare,” which describes the blank face older generations are sometimes met with when interacting with young people. A slew of users have since flocked to social media platforms like TikTok to share their awkward interactions with Zoomers. People, including some members of Gen Z, express how the young generation can come off as socially inept. A majority of Gen Z, however, has a different perception of themselves.
Gen Z is just as confident in their in-person social skills as other generations, according to the CNBC and SurveyMonkey Social Skills survey, conducted in August 2026. The survey polled 1,174 respondents across five generations — Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, Boomer and Silent — to assess how each group feels about their ability to form social connections.
Of the Gen Z respondents, 47% feel “very confident” and 44% are “somewhat confident” about their social skill proficiency. For comparison, 44% of millennials are “very confident” and 45% are “somewhat confident” in their skillset, according to the survey. The pollsters report a 3 percentage point margin of error.
“I think our definition of socializing is changing,” clinical psychologist Sabrina Romanoff tells CNBC Make It. The modern tools available to Gen Z have reshaped what in-person connection looks like.
The differences in how generations socialize come down to the conditions around a hangout, according to Romanoff. Older generations are more open to meeting their friends without a clear plan while Gen Z has a more “performative version of socializing” that requires a greater level of coordination, she says. This includes trips and expensive restaurants with social media posts to boot.
In fact, almost 60% of Gen Z and Millennials say social spending, which includes the occasional dining experience and vacation with friends, has derailed their financial plans, according to a 2025 survey from Ally.
Though Gen Z feels confident in their social skills, they agree with the older generations who believe young people today lack a range of social skills. Across all generations, 62% of respondents said active listening is the skill most lacking in young people, including 59% of Gen Z.
Further, 54% of Gen Z says that young people lack confidence when meeting new people, but only 44% of Millennials, 45% of Gen X, 45% of Boomers and 20% of the Silent Generation felt similarly.
The bulk of of Gen Z, 91%, would also like colleges to help bridge the gap. They favor smaller, discussion-based classes, clubs and internship opportunities as resources schools can provide to help students hone their in-person social skills.
Romanoff says Gen Z curates a strong online presence, which might make them appear more social to older generations. The younger generation, however, is more privy to their peers’ in-person social skills.
Gen Z is “very good at having the optics that they’re very social and they look beautiful and they have a thriving social life,” Romanoff adds.
Romanoff also notes that Gen Z was the first generation to have been born with early exposure to modern technology. Forming connections through online communities feels much more natural for Gen Z. She says that young people find a sense of belonging online “in their own silos,” a shift from the shared experience older generations have of watching the same TV shows as their friends.
While internet communities can be a great way to find others with shared interests, it can feel like a “false sense of community” when the relationships fail to extend outside of an online chat, Romanoff says.
Another facet of the digital age, artificial intelligence, has also impacted people’s in-person social skills. All generations agree that AI tools have either “significantly” or “somewhat” worsened people’s social fluency. “Somewhat worsens” was the most popular response across generations at 28%, with “significantly worsens” trailing by 1 percentage point.
The long-term effects of AI on cognitive ability are a major point of interest for researchers. A well-cited study from the MIT Media Lab found that short-term AI use had benefits, but with time, AI usage caused cognitive decline in participants. Researchers call this phenomenon the “AI dependency paradox.”
Romanoff adds that while technology boosts connectivity, it also buys users some time to craft a response, and digital skills don’t necessarily translate to in-person conversations.
“When it comes to being in person, we can be so uncertain of how we can really communicate in the best way,” Romanoff says. “Sometimes, because we have so much assistance, it hasn’t really allowed us to grow and develop those muscles on our own.”
