It’s no secret that Generation Z grew up surrounded by technology, but the way these youngsters use certain features and gadgets may surprise you.
Generation Z, commonly referred to as Gen Z or Zoomers, is made up of people born after 1997, according to the Pew Research Center. They have already witnessed the rise of smartphones, social media and, more recently, artificial intelligence in their lifetimes, but that doesn’t mean they’ve counted out the ghosts-of-devices-past.
For instance, they have embraced old-school digital cameras. The hashtag #digitalcamera has more than 1 billion views on TikTok after the devices were popularized by Gen Z’s desire to strike a more casual, nostalgic tone with their photos.
But make no mistake, the members of this generation will also school you with their unspoken rules for emoji use, auto capitalization and more.
Here are some secrets to how the youngest generation in the workforce uses technology:
Voice notes
Most Zoomers hate talking on the phone, but sometimes it’s easier to convey tone with your voice instead of through a text message. Enter the voice memo.
Voice memos, also called voice notes or voice messages, are a feature on messaging apps like iMessage and WhatsApp that allow you to record a message in audio form.
It’s become a popular way to send notes to friends without having to type long messages, especially among Gen Z. Last year, WhatsApp said its users sent an average of 7 billion voice messages every day.
Zoomers love the voice memo feature mostly because it’s easy to use without having to speak with someone on the other end simultaneously. Whether you have a story to share that would take a while to type out or you just don’t want your tone to get lost in translation, voice memos are a simple alternative to a text.
Proper emoji usage
A group of emojis
If you thought you had emojis figured out, think again.
Emojis are the expressive characters that smartphone users can add to their text messages and social media posts for a little extra umph and pizzazz. The total number of emojis available around the globe was expected to climb to nearly 3,500 this year, according to a report from Statista.
But as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and with Gen Z, there’s often more to emojis than meets the eye.
For instance, Gen Z tends not to use the traditional laughing emoji to express joy or laughter. Instead, these users will often use the loudly crying face emoji, which features thick streams of tears, or the skull emoji when they find something funny. When someone shares a joke, a popular response among members of Gen Z is the phrase “I’m dead,” hence the skull.
Gen Z users will also use the clown face emoji to signify when they think someone is behaving foolishly, or like a clown. The eyes emoji is often used to signify sly or cheeky intrigue in something, and the upside-down face tends to signify that things are not going according to plan.
Emojis tend to come in and out of fashion among this generation, so it’s very possible that new trends will also emerge down the line.
No autocapitalization
Gen Z often chooses not to use capital letters.
Jake Piazza | CNBC
Much of Gen Z has decided it is out with the capital letters, and in with the lowercase.
For years, Zoomers have avoided using capital letters in texts, social media posts and other forms of digital communication. Many deactivate the autocapitalization feature that comes as the default setting in smartphones.
Discourse on X, formerly known as Twitter, over Gen Z’s lack of punctuation has occurred for years. It’s filled with playful banter calling out Zoomers for improper grammar and asking why Gen Z decided to “murder” the capital letter.
The answer to that is murky. There was never a secret virtual meeting to conspire against conventional English punctuation, and there are still plenty of Zoomers who stick to the auto-capitalization feature.
Some say they like the look of the lower-case letters and the care-free aesthetic that accompanies it. Other internet theories say the lack of capital usage is Gen Z’s dig at capitalism and the establishment. However serious the reasoning, Gen Z’s elimination of the capital letter is one of the more long-standing trends of the generation.
Group chat names
Gen Z names many of its group chats.
Jake Piazza | CNBC
If you find yourself in a text group chat with people from Gen Z, there’s a good chance they’ll assign it a name.
Gen Z labels many of its group chats. Sometimes it’s for practical reasons, like the name of a group project for a high school or college class. Other times it’s for fun, such as coming up with a quirky name for your chat with all your friends or family.
In many messaging services like Apple’s iMessage, any member of the group can change the chat’s name to whatever they please.The only things preventing a name change are whatever unspoken agreements the chat members made, and, of course, the fear that a separate group chat could be started without you.
There is also some practicality to the naming. It allows for easier searching when trying to find the conversation if it is not one of your more recent ones.
Anyone who would like to name a group chat in iMessage on an iPhone can do so by tapping on the icons in the top center of the conversation, then pressing “Change Name and Photo.” From there, you can type whatever name you would like. No pressure.
Digital cameras
Getty Images
From wide-leg jeans to claw clips, Gen Z is known for bringing back popular early 2000s trends. When it comes to tech, nothing says Y2K more than a digital camera.
More than 60% of Gen Z used or owned a digital camera in 2019, according to Statista. The digital camera market is also expected to grow about 2% annually through 2028, and it’s likely Gen Z has a hand in it.
Zoomers love to take photos and value a good Instagram aesthetic, so digital cameras are a great way to accomplish both. Not only is using a digital camera nostalgic, they have sharper flash and crisper image quality than a smartphone. Because cameras have more physical space for sensors than smartphones, they have larger sensors and in turn better image quality.
Part of the allure of using a digital camera is also the experience. Since the photos are not instantly available on your phone, most Zoomers who use digital cameras appreciate the delayed gratification in having to upload the photos onto a desktop. This means you can take photos with your friends and then forget about them until you have time to sit in front of a computer later, which is a great way to be in the moment.
Using a digital camera is a creative alternative to iPhone pictures, and the process of taking them is a lot more fun. The photos they take are a great way to elevate your Instagram feed or just an exciting way to make your life feel like a big editorial shoot.
Photo filter apps
If you don’t want to take the time to upload your photos to your computer or spend money on a digital camera, photo filter apps are a great alternative.
There are tons of filter apps available to download on your smartphone, and they entail uploading a photo and adjusting the visual properties like brightness, white balance or contrast. Many apps that are popular with Gen Z, like VSCO, have presets that add the filter right to your photo.
A lot of Zoomers like to use filter apps to make their photos sharper, brighter or more colorful. However, in recent years, Gen Z has revitalized filter apps that create photos with film-camera vibes.
For example, apps like Dispo or Huji Cam force a waiting period before the photos are available to view, which is meant to emulate the experience of using a film camera. Other apps, like Dazz Cam, have the option for users to upload their own smartphone image and instantly add a film-esque filter to it.
The reason why these filter apps are so popular among Gen Z is similar to the resurgence of digital cameras: nostalgia and creativity. Film cameras produce grainy and blurry photos, creating a distinct aesthetic that can make your social media stand out. However, Gen Z values convenience, so these filter apps make it easy to achieve the film camera vibe without the work.
Flip phones
Medioimages | Photodisc | Getty Images
Gen Z has also popularized the return of the flip phone – yes, the flip phone.
Make no mistake, these tech-savvy youngsters aren’t trading in their smartphones completely, but many members of Gen Z have invested in a second phone as a way to stay present at social gatherings. A recent report from Common Sense Media found that teens can receive anywhere from hundreds to thousands of notifications per day, and escaping from the constant barrage of pings can be a challenge.
As a result, some members of Gen Z are turning to flip phones. These devices can be found for under $40 at retailers like Walmart and Amazon, and their relative simplicity means they can provide some reprieve from frequent Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and text notifications.
On TikTok, the hashtag #flipphone has more than 830 million views, and users rave about the devices’ old-school cameras, how they are less distracting and how they can serve as good conversation starters.
In other words, flip phones are helping Gen Z unplug without going entirely off the grid.
Dark mode
Gen Z uses dark mode instead of light mode.
Jake Piazza | CNBC
Gen Z loves to tinker with the factory settings of their smartphones, and one way they do so is by switching their screen display from light mode to dark mode.
In iPhones and Androids, dark mode means that instead of defaulting to bright, white backgrounds, much of the screen backgrounds are black or other dark shades. It doesn’t make anything more than cosmetic changes, so you won’t have to worry about learning new phone commands.
This is another example of a Gen Z trend that has been around for years.
According to posts on X, some members of Gen Z say it’s easier on their eyes, and others like that the setting extends their battery life. Zoomers spend an average of 7 hours and 18 minutes on a screen per day, according to data from Zippia.
It’s not difficult to switch your iPhone to if you’d like to try. Just go to Settings, click on “Display & Brightness” and then you will see the light and dark mode options.
The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Perplexity of unlawfully scraping The Times’ stories, videos, podcasts and other content to formulate responses to user queries. The startup also generates outputs that are “identical or substantially similar to” The Times’ content, according to the complaint.
“While we believe in the ethical and responsible use and development of AI, we firmly object to Perplexity’s unlicensed use of our content to develop and promote their products,” Graham James, a spokesperson for The Times, said in a statement. “We will continue to work to hold companies accountable that refuse to recognize the value of our work.”
Perplexity did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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Founded in 2022, Perplexity is best known for its AI-powered search engine that gives users simple answers to questions. The startup has raised more than $1.5 billion in funding from investors including IVP, New Enterprise Associates and Nvidia, according to PitchBook.
The lawsuit from The Times on Friday serves as the latest example of how media companies and publishers are working to protect their intellectual property during the AI boom.
The Times is already involved in another ongoing copyright suit against Microsoft and OpenAI, which alleges the companies improperly used The Times’ content to train their AI models. That suit was filed in the Southern District of New York in 2023.
In September, AI startup Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit with a group of authors who claimed that the company had illegally downloaded their books and others from pirated databases.
That settlement makes up the largest publicly reported copyright recovery.
Antonio Neri, President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC
Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares fell 5% Friday after the company reported fourth-quarter revenue that missed analyst expectations.
The company reported earnings after the bell on Thursday, posting revenue of $9.68 billion, which was up 14% over the year prior but fell short of the $9.94 billion in revenue expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
Revenue for HPE’s server segment came in at $4.46 billion, down 5% from the $4.68 billion a year ago. The fourth-quarter number missed StreetAccount analyst expectations of $4.58 billion.
CFO Marie Myers addressed the shortfall on the analyst call Thursday, attributing it to the timing of artificial intelligence service shipments and lower-than-expected government spending.
“Despite these headwinds, we were encouraged by robust server order growth across both traditional server and AI offerings, with demand significantly outpacing revenue in this period,” she said.
Server revenue declined 10% from the third quarter.
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HPE beat earnings expectations with adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share, coming in above the 58 cents per share expected by LSEG.
The company expects fiscal 2026 first-quarter revenue in the range of $9 billion to $9.4 billion, which was short of the $9.87 billion expected by FactSet analysts.
The Warner Bros. studios water tower stands next to a U.S. flag in Burbank, California, U.S. Nov. 18, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. And the winner is…
Breaking news this morning: Netflix said it reached a deal to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and streaming assets, ending the sale process that has been the talk of tinsel town.
Here are the details:
Under the deal, Netflix will acquire WBD’s film studio and HBO Max streaming service. Discovery will continue with its spin out of its TV network business that houses brands such as TNT and CNN.
Netflix will pay $27.75 per WBD share in the cash-and-stock deal, equating to a total enterprise value of more than $82 billion.
The streaming giant’s acquisition is slated to close after the separation with Discovery, which is expected to happen in the third quarter of 2026.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
2. That’s so meta
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., wears a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display AI glasses during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.
Meta’s rally came after Bloomberg reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to make cuts to the company’s metaverse unit. The report said executives have considered cutting as much as 30% of the division’s budget, and that the cuts could include job losses that would likely impact Meta’s virtual reality unit. Stephanie Link, Hightower Advisors’ chief investment strategist, told CNBC that the move would be par for the course for Zuckerberg.
3. Full beat
Shoppers line up outside of Ulta Beauty before the 6am opening on Black Friday.
Aimee Dilger | LightRocket | Getty Images
Ulta Beauty doesn’t appear to be feeling the same slowdown that other consumer brands are reporting. The retailer beat Wall Street’s expectations on both lines for the third quarter, sending shares up more than 6% in extended trading.
Ulta raised its full-year profit and sales guidance for the second quarter in a row, saying it expects higher comparable store sales growth than previously penciled in. As CNBC’s Melissa Repko points out, Ulta is benefitting from consumers’ continued interest in beauty products — even as they pull back on other spending.
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4. Pulte’s problem
William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) nominee for US President Donald Trump, during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Government Accountability Office is investigating Federal Housing Finance Authority Director Bill Pulte, the congressional watchdog said yesterday.
Senate Democrats last month called for the GAO to probe Pulte, asking the agency to determine whether Pulte and FHFA employees “misused federal authority and resources” to accuse President Donald Trump’s enemies of mortgage fraud. Pulte has criminally referred several Democrats to the Department of Justice, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell.
A GAO spokesperson said the organization isn’t ready to offer a timeline for the process. An FHFA spokesman declined CNBC’s request for comment.
5. Race to the top
Tesla Cybertrucks in front of the company’s store in Colma, California, US, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tesla made up ground in Consumer Reports’ closely watched ranking of auto brands release yesterday. The electric vehicle maker landed at No. 10 for 2026, up from the 18th spot last year.
Tesla’s rise was driven by an increase in reliability, Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of auto testing, told CNBC’s Michael Wayland. Notably, Tesla’s Cybertruck was the brand’s only model with a below-average score.
Here are some stories we recommend making time for this weekend.
— CNBC’s Julia Boorstin,Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, David Faber, Sara Salinas,Sarah Whitten,Melissa Repko, Chris Eudaily, Dan Mangan and Michael Wayland contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.
