'Gen X' Trends On Twitter, Reviving One Of The Internet's Favorite Generational Arguments And An Army Of Memes

“Gen X” trended on Twitter today, marking a return to one of the internet’s favorite arguments: Which generation is really the best, and which is the worst?

Gen X is proof that if you leave children to their own devices, they'll turn out to be happy adults who leave ppl alone, mind their own business, and age gracefully while having some bad ass stories to tell their grand kids.

— AttackYyuukiyy (@yuuki_attack) April 5, 2022

my theory is every gen X person read a stephen king book way too young and that’s why they are the way they are

— Amy (@lolennui) April 6, 2022

Generation X typically refers to people born between 1965 and 1980, sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials. At the moment, most Gen Xers are between 40 and 60 years old and are the last generation to get online en masse as adults. As many tweets of the past two days demonstrate, Generation X grew up without staples of modern life, such as GPS.

Nah okay, Gen X talking about growing up in suburban America in the 90s as of they survived the apocalypse is my new favourite genre of tweet. pic.twitter.com/bYMhNlxstI

— UrotsukiDojaCat. (@Chiddaria) April 5, 2022

not me fucking with gen x inside a pdf they cannot open https://t.co/wmcIDuYSkC

— vanessa a. bee 🐝✌🏾 (@Vanessa_ABee) April 5, 2022

me (not realizing Gen X spent most of their formative years without the internet or smart phones or social media or GPS so they are more resourceful than i can possibly imagine): i am going to fuck with a Gen X-er https://t.co/z0IsfSaulX

— Rajat Suresh (@rajat_suresh) April 5, 2022

Amid the trend, there was a lot of Gen X hate going around, bringing to mind the 2019 labeling of Gen X as the “Karen Generation,” but perhaps the most famous instance of intergenerational conflict is the argument between Boomers and Generation Z, summed up in the famous catchphrase “OK Boomer.”

Gen X is going to do the thing Boomers did where they eventually pretend they also fought in World War II https://t.co/FgvrD5KxGm

— Paul Blest (@pblest) April 5, 2022

More proof that "boomer" is not a generation, but a state of mind applicable to any generation, especially "gen x" https://t.co/tKlAcxZjwV

— The Vaporwave Listener (@5five0oh4four) April 5, 2022

With Gen X trending, I present to you…my favorite gen meme: pic.twitter.com/yqPTFxDNyN

— Yes I Can 🌻 (@heatherknc) April 5, 2022

The central tweet of the trend, which was frequently quote-tweeted and replied to, was posted by user @goldengateblond — though it has since been deleted. The tweet celebrated the resourcefulness of Gen X, who did not grow up with much of the modern technology Millennials and Zoomers are accustomed to. The user did, however, comment on the throng of replies they received.

this is an absolute visual representation of my replies and quote-tweets today https://t.co/hkdVITaxKy

— shauna (@goldengateblond) April 6, 2022

Some commentators broke down a bit of the history behind the generations and their feuding in order to analyze the Forgotten Generation, as they're often called online.

Not sure why Gen X is trending, but this is us:
Boomers – Man on the Moon!
Gen X – we watched a space shuttle blow up on live tv

Boomers – Free love!
Gen X – there's this new thing called AIDS…

Boomers – Mom is home cooking dinner
Gen X – Mom's at work, dinners in the freezer

— Gen X Goes Gray (@GaryEvangelist) April 5, 2022

Gen X: we came a long way in a short time… pic.twitter.com/wdKgV6DBwt

— Pulp Librarian (@PulpLibrarian) April 6, 2022

Others made fun of the way in which Gen X's identity was described in the posts of others, while many more took the opportunity of the trend to post memes.

remember that smell is very important to gen x. if you are going to be away for more than two nights, leave some clothing around that smells like you to comfort gen x. do not move gen x's litterbox around unnecessarily, as this may confuse and distress gen x https://t.co/ei8MfE2cao

— flglmn (@flglmn) April 6, 2022

I love when Gen X is trending.
Proud to be one of the most IDGAF generations ever.
Before you judge, we have reason to be like we are. pic.twitter.com/th9tcqyABp

— Kev – author (@KevinCGlenn1) April 5, 2022

The generation dispute is ultimately an argument about history and identity, mingled with an appreciation for nostalgia and pop culture from the 1980s. While the focus is often centered around Boomers vs. Millennials vs. Zoomers, Gen X occasionally gets their moment in the generational meme war too.