Generation Fractured: Mapping How Our Generation Disagrees
Image Credit: Julian Meehan via Wikimedia
The role of the younger generation is to rebel. The idea of rebellion is, and has always been, synonymous with youth. Societal shifts in attitude often begin with its youngest members, those portrayed as a liberal, united force for change. The stereotype of youth collectively pushing the boundaries set by prior generations is rooted in examples of youth-led activism worldwide, from the Vietnam War protests in 1960s America to Greta Thunberg’s ‘Fridays for Future’ movement. It is as if to be young is to be united in a quest for social transformation.
And yet, it feels like ‘Gen Z’ is more fragmented than ever.
Current political debate is splitting the youth consensus. Across the globe, we are facing a rise in far-right populism, and an increasingly polarised political agenda which glorifies division. The rising support for political party Reform UK signals this lurch to the right in British politics, with 24% of Britons claiming they would consider voting Reform in the next election. Whilst Leftist political parties in the UK still rely on support from the younger generations (41% of 18-24-year-olds voted for Labour in the 2024 general election), youth support for Reform is growing. Although the voting statistics do not yet demonstrate the Reform ‘Youthquake’ Farage is hoping for, a recent poll reported a trend amongst 16–to-17-year-olds supporting Reform in mock elections across the country.
Gender also seems to divide the opinions of young people, with young men increasingly supporting parties on the right of the political spectrum. A recent report found that 31% of men aged 16-25 intended to vote Reform, making them the leading party in this age group. By contrast, 25% of women of the same age group support the Green Party and their left-leaning policies on climate change. Current attitudes towards feminism also differ significantly with gender. New research from Kings College London found that young men are less supportive of feminism than men over 65, with younger participants being significantly more likely to agree that feminism has ‘gone too far’. In an era of Andrew Tate’s influence and concerns about increasingly misogynistic behaviour in classrooms, this evidence highlights a worrying shift towards conservative attitudes among Gen Z men.
Perhaps most concerningly, this fragmentation seems to run deeper than democracy can reach. Only 47% of 18-to-24-year-olds voted in the UK’s general election in 2024, and a recent report showed that 60% of this age group agree that ‘having a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament or elections’ would be a good way to run the country. These findings epitomise the disillusionment young people feel regarding our current political system. Youth abstinence from voting removes the influence of the system designed (in principle) as a fair and peaceful way to resolve disagreements, and indicates a worrying rejection of democratic values in the UK.
The place where the fragmentation of Gen Z is most evident is on social media. 75% of those aged 16-to-24 use social media as a primary source of news, and platforms are rife with politicised content. Within these online landscapes of algorithms amplifying divisive material to boost engagement, debate becomes polarising. Users may find themselves in echo chambers where they are exclusively shown content that reinforces their beliefs. Alongside the rampant misinformation online, social media normalises holding binary opinions on controversial topics, sometimes with little substantiated proof. And as the user is fed more information in agreement with their stance, the idea of listening to the ‘other side’ becomes a foreign concept. Engagement-focused platforms like TikTok drive this polarising behaviour and stifle a vital component of argument - nuance. Gen Z, a group increasingly interacting with the world through online platforms, only becomes more divided as a result.
The implications are huge. A growing distrust in political institutions and increasingly polarised opinions will inevitably lead to a decline in tolerance and understanding of differing viewpoints. In fact, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 ranks societal polarisation as the fourth most severe risk we face over the next two years. With polarisation comes conflict, and in a globalised world, debate and tolerance are vital in working towards global solutions.
Some institutions are taking steps to equip young people with the tools to combat our polarised world. Here at UCL, the ‘Disagreeing Well’ programme was launched in 2024, consisting of a series of talks, podcasts and resources aimed at improving healthy debate within the university. More programmes like this should be made a priority and should be made readily available to our generation. We are the ones left to fix many of the issues started by the generations before us, and disagreeing well is the key to a world of tolerance and solutions.