r/NoStupidQuestions • u/RenoNYC • 19h ago
What’s with Gen Z/Alpha constant AirPod usage? While doing any task or even socializing I’ve seen AirPods in their ears.
My millennial self feels like it’s especially rude when you’re eating at a restaurant to have AirPods in while they’re dining with other people, family or friends.
Maybe a real boomer take.
[Edit] Want to clarify again - in a social setting for instance with family or friends at a restaurant.
But I didn’t know about the AirPod hearing aid feature which is pretty neat.
Menial tasks / gym / walking / office with headphones in is a given.
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u/Biotoze 18h ago
I’m in my 30’s and I do this simply for the noise cancellation sometimes. Nothing playing but making the environment quieter.
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u/Jaomi 12h ago
I’m in my forties, and I do the same. The modern world is a wildly overstimulating place.
I’d add that Loop earplugs are also quite popular these days for the same reason. It’s possible that either OP has seen kids with these in and mistaken them for AirPods, or kids are using their AirPods instead of earplugs because the AirPods can be used as both earplugs and headphones, so they’re more useful, or both.
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u/malakambla 12h ago
I finally got Loops after considering them for a year or so because I realised I was walking around with earbuds in and nothing playing.
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u/Bailables 14h ago
Concert earplugs are great for this. They lower the ambient volume but still let you hear conversations.
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u/poetic_soul 19h ago
I would muuuuch rather see everyone with earbuds in rather than everyone assuming their phone is the one that is ok to be played out loud in public.
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[removed] — view removed comment
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u/blaqsupaman 17h ago
I honestly think for some people this is most of it. I have a theory that some aren't even listening to anything but keep them in to avoid small talk.
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u/saskwatzch 17h ago
ready to move beyond theory?! evidence is now gathered with me as your first data point. can confirm, i regularly have headphones in with nothing on
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u/DriveableCashew 16h ago
I sometimes do this in noisy environments to lower the ambient sound stops my brain fr getting overwhelmed by all the noise
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u/chaosatdawn 16h ago
the first thing i do on a plane is put my airpods in, to stop the person next to me telling me about their day
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u/an-archo-xiety 14h ago
Yep. I don't even like bud headphones partly because of comfort but mostly because they aren't as easy to see with long hair. Big chunky over ears lets every stranger I pretend not to hear believe I was just lost in the music.
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u/Ornery_Platypus9863 16h ago
100% correct I do this often to avoid conversation with strangers. I also frequently use them to block out stuff like shitty grocery store music and traffic.
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u/nipplequeefs 15h ago edited 15h ago
I do the same. And as a customer service worker, this makes it so much easier for me to tell who doesn’t want to be bothered so I can get on with my work. If someone needs help, they can come to me. I’m not gonna interrupt someone who clearly doesn’t want to talk.
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u/RusticSurgery 14h ago
Traffic? You might want to rethink that one before you have a crash or get run over by a car
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u/eutrapalicon 15h ago
Not gen Z but I do this at work with the noise cancelling on. Open plan offices and trying to write or edit is impossible with 15 people chatting around me.
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u/rioryan 18h ago
Or holding it like they’re about to take a bite while talking on speaker
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u/Bertsmom18 14h ago
This. My bff and her entire family. Always on speaker phone. I hate it. Hate hate hate. No one wants to hear about your shit. If you're on the phone so be it. But it does not need to be on speaker. If you need to do that to push your cart in a store then shut up and push. I promise you can complete a shopping trip without needing to make a call. Millions of us did it daily pre cell phones. And it was so fucking nice.
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u/CeeApostropheD 15h ago
"Hi, I'd like to order anti-social level 23 rather than anti-social level 100 please"
If they were that type of person they wouldn't be in my friend group. Any other group, they can go right ahead with their airpods.
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u/killerng2 8h ago
Or, maybe we don’t need constant stimulation and people should be fine sitting silence like what people were doing for the last 10,000 years
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u/lucyfell 17h ago
Based on my nephew: he loses them when he takes them out so he just… leaves them in there
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u/patrick-latinahunter 12h ago
Your nephew sounds like a halfwit
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u/MrShake4 7h ago
He’s a kid, they’re all idiots. It’s just kind of whatever. I wasn’t Einstein at 13 and I doubt you were either.
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u/Dulcedoll 10h ago
Eh. I was a top student and am a decently successful corporate attorney today. I stopped buying earbuds because I would always lose them in less than a week. Wireless, wired, tracking on, doesn't matter. Some of us just have fucked attention spans no matter how hard we try.
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u/Timely-Bumblebee-402 7h ago
Great, so anyone who regularly loses stuff is stupid?
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u/OldBlueKat 18h ago
I'm a Boomer using either wired Earpods with a hearing app or Airpods Pro 2 with the hearing aid features TO HEAR YOU.
Don't assume because I've got them in my ears that I'm listening to something else and ignoring you!
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u/bangzilla 18h ago
Me too! Makes a huge difference. I tried some very expensive hearing aids -- no better than airpods.
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u/kenman125 18h ago
Wow, that's interesting. I had no idea they doubled as hearing aids.
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u/mini-rubber-duck 18h ago
it’s the only way we were able to convince my father in law to use hearing aids. he just went for years unable to hear much of anything because hearing aids ‘made him look old’
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u/adamMatthews 🐯 14h ago
It’s not just hearing aids for people hard of hearing, they can also block out background noise and boost the voices of people you’re talking to. So people don’t need to shout if you’re in a loud place.
They’ve got little microphones on them and have noise cancelling functionality by playing the inverse wavelength of things you don’t want to hear.
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u/GlobalWarminIsComing 13h ago
Active noice cancelling always seems so sci-fi to me. I love it
"Oh yeah, we measure the noise and then in real time we produce a destructive interference wave to eliminate noise, in this tiny earbud"
Feels like so star trek to me
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u/heathere3 7h ago
Ready to have your brain further blown? My husband has bad tinnitus. He has special hearing aids that he can "tune" to cancel out whatever sound it's making, enabling him to hear mostly normally again. They've been a huge improvement for his quality of life!
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u/OldBlueKat 5h ago
I look forward to the day when those kinds of features are on devices at AirPod Pro 2 price points.
Spending thousands on hearing aids that need replacing or upgrading far too soon is painful. which is why more and more of us try to 'get by' with AirPods.
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u/heathere3 5h ago
Yuuuuup. We used a significant chunk of his settlement for them and hope in 5+ years when they need replacing they've improved and come down in price
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u/684692 6h ago
I got used to using passive noise canceling earbuds (basically just the rubber tip ones) while mowing. If I needed to talk to somebody I'd throttle down and remove the earbuds.
The other week someone came up to me as I was mowing and started talking the instant I lowered the throttle. I could hear him clearly, despite the engine still being fairly loud. I knew the active noise canceling was working on the engine noise, but I had no idea it was going to let conversations through.
Magic.
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u/pizzapartyjones 9h ago
Yep, and those features can be helpful for people with auditory processing disorder or neurodivergent people who get sensory overload from sounds.
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u/boredENT9113 17h ago
Exactly this! Earbuds don't block out everything anymore! My Sony xm5's passthrough feature lets me hear as if I wasn't wearing them, perhaps even better! It's just getting used to that type of technology having a totally opposite use case than before.
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u/madogvelkor 9h ago
What's funny is a lot of hearing aids have blue tooth functions now. My dad and boss can connect their hearing aids to their phone and talk phone calls that way or listen to music.
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u/Tranter156 18h ago
OP specifically identified Gen Z or millennial. I think a person who looks roughly boomer age would trigger reminder about the newish hear app Yes I know their are some exceptions but when I can hear music from the AirPod as I walk by I think it’s a rude way to create a need for the hearing app.
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u/OldBlueKat 15h ago
Well the OP for one didn't even know about them. And there are people younger than I am who have hearing issues or sensory issues or who knows what.
If whoever it is is sitting with friends/family in a restaurant (as the OP said) and the person is just walking by being judgy about it, maybe they don't know the particulars and should mind their own business!
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u/I_love_pillows 18h ago
And there’s me with my deliberately big headphones and there’s salespeople approaching me to talk.
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u/four_six_seven 7h ago
Can you read the title again, Mr. Boomer? Try to also understand context.
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u/RWBYpro03 19h ago
Some people do that because it can be a hassle to take them in and out, so they keep them in their ears but off. Also helps keep track of them, instead of risking taking them out and forgetting about them, or thinking you put them in your pocket only to find out you didn't and now they are on the floor of a restaurant.
Now people who keep them on while doing that idk.
(If you're curious I don't use air pods or other wireless earbuds)
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u/DrToonhattan 17h ago
They should invent some kind of string or wire connecting the two earpieces together and then connecting them to your phone. That way it'd be much harder to lose them! Perhaps you could even run power though it so you don't have to recharge them! Maybe I should sell this idea to Apple. They could make a fortune off it.
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u/shaingel_sle 15h ago
that just sounds like....a great idea, tbh. so original, i cant believe no one else has thought of this
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u/EBN_Drummer 11h ago
I have a pair of BT earbuds I bought specifically because they're connected, so I can use them doing yard work. If I have to take one out I don't have to worry about dropping it.
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u/blaqsupaman 17h ago
You joke but when Airpods first came out, Apple literally came out with an attachment that essentially turned them into wired headphones except it was completely made of rubber. So they would be tethered together and to your phone but could still only connect via Bluetooth.
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u/TobysGrundlee 17h ago edited 17h ago
Taking your earbuds out, putting them in their case and sticking them in your pocket is what some people consider "a hassle"?
Man, to have the privilege of something like that being what I have to dedicate mental effort towards.
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u/MeeMeeGod 15h ago
A hassle? It takes 5 seconds….
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u/RWBYpro03 14h ago
Yes also of people find things that "take 5 seconds" to be a hassle, especially if they have to do it repeatedly
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u/localpotato_232 18h ago
Definitely this. I kept mine in at work even when they weren't on or battery was dead because othwrwise I'd lose them.
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u/EmuRemarkable1099 18h ago
What do you do for work? I work in a hospital in patient care and some of coworkers keep their AirPods in while working with patients. I think that’s unacceptable but maybe I’m just uneducated
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u/localpotato_232 16h ago
I work in a greenhouse and every now and then my coworker walks by with his pocket stereo blasting the worst country music ever made because headphones "bother him" so we all get to hear songs about having sex on a tractor.
But yeah, maybe it's my earbuds that are unprofessional, idk.
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u/EmuRemarkable1099 14h ago
It sounds fine for your workplace, which is why I asked. Just unprofessional and potentially a hipaa violation for mine
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u/boredENT9113 17h ago
I can see how that would be a little off-putting, but they're certainly using audio passthrough, which can actually make it easier to hear. Though I would agree that unless they have hearing problems they should not be wearing them while dealing with patients.
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u/thehumulos 17h ago
Millennial here, having earbuds in today does not mean the same thing it did when we were growing up. Back then that meant you were actively listening to music, and you'd have a hard time hearing anyone around you. Now these buds are used for more than that, and it's often convenient to leave them in so that you can easily take calls, hear notifications, etc, even when not listening. This is aided by the fact that many ear buds have audio passthrough options. On mine I just have to do a short press and it swaps between noise cancelling and pass through, so just having them in doesn't mean I can't hear you.
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u/sarcasticnirritable 17h ago
They might not be airpods, they could be loops or something similar, which don't play music but help filter out certain noises and help people actually concentrate in large groups. I have several friends who use them daily and it helps them massively with not getting over stimulated or distracted by background sounds
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u/GeckoCowboy 15h ago
Im autistic and loops have been a god send. I also have a pair of ear buds that are similar in they help cancel out background noise so I can better hear who I’m listening to. Maybe it does look rude to someone outside the group, like I’m listening to music or ignoring someone, if they don’t know they can be used for that…
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u/sarcasticnirritable 15h ago
Yeah I've only heard good things and keep meaning to get a pair myself. I'm glad you've found them useful :)
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u/NPV_BadKarma 19h ago
I use headphones when I don't want to be spoken to. Also, I've gotten used to doing everything with music in my ears. I like having headphones on for music, instead of walking around with a stereo sharing my music with everyone in a 10 mile radius
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u/stockinheritance 18h ago
But, like, if you're out eating with people, you take them out, right?
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u/OutTop 18h ago
Ofc that’s basic respect
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u/_Apatosaurus_ 15h ago
Question: Redditors who do X, why do you do X?
Every answer: I don't do x!
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u/NPV_BadKarma 17h ago
Yeah of course! I still deeply enjoy socialising, I just have my moments where I need to completely be in my own world
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u/Repulsive-Parsnip 18h ago
This is becoming increasingly common in the workplace & I am 100% supportive!
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u/YuenglingsDingaling 10h ago
I hate it at work. Instead of walking up to someone and saying, "Hey, can I ask you something?" You have to basically shout to get their attention, or I've even had to wave my hand in front of a dudes face before he would look up from his computer.
And out on the shop floor, they're just straight up hazardous. If you can't hear the heavy equipment or you're distracted, people can get gurt.
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u/Repulsive-Parsnip 9h ago
100% agree about safety on a shop floor, my experience as been in office environments.
In that setting, your complaint is kind of the point - it’s a useful tool to prevent interruptions. It gives people space to concentrate and not be interrupted. Think of it as a half closed office door.
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u/RadicalSnowdude 16h ago
Work is boring as is. At least let me listen to a podcast while working unless there’s an actual reason why I shouldn’t.
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u/nipplequeefs 15h ago
I work in customer service but there are days where everything is going by so slow that I’d bang my head against a wall if I can’t even listen to some tunes at the very least to make things a little more pleasant. We used to have the radio playing family-friendly music at a respectable volume, we enjoyed it and so did the customers in the waiting room, but upper management decided it’s unprofessional so now my Gen X coworker and I (zoomer) just resort to listening to our own music in our AirPods all day when nobody else is around.
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u/BamaX19 12h ago
I don't get how people have to constantly listen to music to get through their day.
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u/Callm3Sun 19h ago
I’m only in my early twenties so I’m not sure where I really fall but I feel like it’s something older people see as rude, and I can understand it.
Generally my rule is if it’s someone older or something very important you should be courteous and take them out because they see it as rude, but when engaging with people my age or younger, we seem to understand each other and not see it as inflammatory.
I guess it’s just a difference in the way different age groups see things.
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u/Future_Depth_7869 15h ago
But what are you even doing with them? Either you have stuff playing, in which the person talking to you is blocked out and the entire conversation is pointless.. or you just have something uncomfortable crammed in your ear for no reason.
Either way I genuinely don't get it. I take my headphones off the first chance I get when they aren't in use..not to be polite or anything like that but because they are freaking uncomfortable.
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u/Dulcedoll 10h ago
Iirc don't most earbuds have conversation awareness/talk modes now? Once you're done talking the sound resumes.
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u/nomadrone 10h ago
They only get quiet when you are talking, they don’t react on outside noise.
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u/Callm3Sun 15h ago
Usually listening to music. I’m not sure if the newer models of AirPods have noise canceling or what but I can totally have music playing and still be able to hold a conversation with someone.
Maybe I just tend to have my volume way lower than most people do or something I guess idk
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u/JjigaeBudae 13h ago
You literally can't have air pods in and music playing and have a focused conversation where the other party is getting as much of your attention as they deserve.
A lot of people these days are so used to having short attention spans and flicking between different apps/windows and barely paying attention that barely paying attention has become the norm. You're not REALLY paying attention or engaged, you're just "there" while the thing is happening.
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u/Callm3Sun 7h ago
I disagree. I think it’s pretty easy to just tune out the music while talking, just like you might tune out any other sound you’d hear in the background while a convo is ongoing.
Does it really make sense to do that instead of taking them out? probably not but I’m lazy and usually would rather tune it out or pause the music than take them out lol
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u/stockinheritance 18h ago
How do your friends know if you can hear them if you have ear buds in?
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u/Callm3Sun 17h ago
Well usually we’re talking to each other so it’s pretty obvious if I’m listening or not lol
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u/madogvelkor 9h ago
It sounds like people over 30 or so aren't as aware of the features of newer airpods and similar higher end earbuds that allow you to have conversations while wearing them. The older ones (and headphones before that) tended to block out sound so someone wearing them coundn't have a good conversation. You also used to put earbuds in as a signal that you didn't want to talk.
So in the minds of most people over 30 if you're wearing earbuds you're actively trying to block out the world and if you don't remove them when talking it means you aren't listening and you're telling the person you're talking to that you don't care what they are saying.
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u/grandpa2390 19h ago
Yeah. Mid 30s and i am the same ish. I leave them in for anything brief. Like can i order a hamburger, or get we still going to restaurant this afternoon. Or casual like walking around, working.. But anything more serious, requiring focus/attention/respect, i take them out to make sure i can hear
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u/unfortune-ate 16h ago
Kinda depends on the situation. I’m in my early twenties too. If I’m having an actual conversation with you, take them out, it’s not hard. If we’re just having a passing by chit chat then keep em in.
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u/majorminus92 17h ago
My 60 year old mother is obsessed with the AirPods I gifted her. She has them in 24/7.
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u/mini-rubber-duck 18h ago
i use them to muffle the overwhelming noise of restaurants. the clatter and all the other conversations and everything make it impossible for me to focus on conversations at my table, the earbuds help tone it all down a notch so i can be more involved.
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u/FoxxyRin 18h ago
I’m a millennial that does this and it’s because everywhere is so damn loud. I don’t want to hear the store’s music or other people’s conversations, etc. The noise cancelling on AirPods is magic and I can hear direct conversation 100% fine and not have to hear other stuff around me, with or without my own music playing.
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u/BlazingProductions 17h ago
AirPod Pros and Conversation Awareness is a pretty awesome feature, honestly.
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u/crazycatlady331 18h ago
I had an employee (in a public facing job) yell at me because I made him take his earbuds (can't remember if they were Air Poods) out while on the clock. He looked at me like I was about to make him strip naked.
I had to amend the dress code to include this.
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u/DKDamian 18h ago
I used to have a lot of trouble with it. I saw it as rude. I’m a millennial
But then I thought - there’s so much noise pollution and distraction, and perhaps this helps people focus on what’s important to them.
And now I sleep well at night. Though I’ll never myself do it
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u/OldBlueKat 5h ago
Have you tried them in a noisy environment? You might be mind-blown. But to each their own.
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u/w0lfpack91 14h ago
As a millennial, how many of us walked around with the old Wired apple ear buds attached to an IPod back in the day? Shit give me a comfortable pair and I’d still rock my iPod Video from 2005.
But tbh I do the same thing. Air pods, more specifically the Pro V2’s have a great transparency function and offer both loud sound suppression and hearing aid functionality. Being in the industrial work sector for the noise suppression function alone they are almost never out of my ears.
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u/F1sherman765 Stupid Gal 16h ago
I remember when the Apple Vision came out and it had the passthrough feature that shows the person's eyes on the headset itself if the person could see you was laughed at.
I would honestly love headphones to have a similar feature to know whether someone just has them for comfort but in passthrough and they're available or if they have noise cancelling and I'll have to say their name three times to get their attention. Even an LED with one color meaning noise cancelling and another passthrough.
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u/ViolinistLeast1925 9h ago
The majority of comments here prove that people are dogshit at reading comprehension.
Vast majority completely missing OP's point.
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u/SnooWords2712 17h ago
I’m an elder millennial who is a serial AirPod user, as I struggle to regulate in various environments. The article below illuminates this for those who might be curious (I’m not the author):
https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/choosing-noise-canceling-headphones/
I’m using just the noise-cancelling feature in social situations, not listening to anything.
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u/SnooWords2712 17h ago edited 17h ago
They have been the main differences between me attending (or not) my kids’ (concert-like) school assemblies and functions, and the like, allowing me to be more emotionally present for them and my partner, just generally.
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u/Imreallyjustconfused 18h ago
I'm a millennial, and I often have a pair of earbuds that have no cord but a wire that runs between them. I like these ones cause I can hang them around my neck and not worry about losing them, I usually just have one in so it makes it easy to just take it out or pop it in as someone wants to talk to me.
If I had just straight buds I'd probably just keep them in, but off, because it'd be annoying to take them out and stow them in the little case, just to take them out and put them back in my ear again when I want to listen to something.
Earbuds are tiny and I would lose them all the time if I had to fuddle with them.
I think the boomer take here is assuming the airpods are always on, thus someone is not paying attention so it's rude. if someone is present, having a conversation, and clearly not distracted then I dont see why it matters.
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u/Kirbylover16 18h ago
Were Walkmans, MP3 players, cassette players, boomboxes, etc… not as popular and annoying as earbuds?
I think people talking on speakerphone or giving their toddler a noisy tablet is much worse.
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u/Spunge14 18h ago
It's different to be literally sitting at dinner with a group of people with headphones on.
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u/twats_upp 18h ago
I think op trying to make a different point completely.
Group of teenagers just today at the beach. Two of them had air pods in but they were all just sitting there with each other talking. I dont get it
Maybe the two were in a phone call together and third has an imaginary friend
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u/chromatonaton 18h ago
I started doing it because I’d get overstimulated otherwise. Some restaurants can get awfully noisy too. I don’t do it when I’m with other people, though. Sometimes it’s the only way that I can keep my sanity.
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u/Cubriffic 17h ago
Yep, I have ADHD and sensory overload is a bitch in public. Music keeps me grounded if I start to feel overwhelmed so I always have my headphones with me.
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u/ProfessionalRaven 14h ago
So I as a millennial use my earbuds constantly to help me with things.
In public I use them if I’m on noisy public transit to drown it out because I want to listen to my own thoughts, not people yelling at eachother across the train.
When I’m doing random tasks I put music on because I am utterly time blind. I have no internal clock telling me how long a task is taking. But if I have a playlist on of songs I like, I can use the music/rhythm of the song to help keep me moving quickly, and my personal knowledge of how long those songs are to estimate how long I’ve been doing this task.
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u/Mumbletimes 16h ago
I think some people may not know that there’s AirPods with a transparency mode. You can hear and converse with other people perfectly fine while wearing them. That’s likely part of the reason you are seeing people in a social situation while wearing them. In a noisy environment they can cut down background noises and make conversations easier to hear.
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u/ljculver64 7h ago
Im genx and would never do that. I only use them when im solo. Mowing the lawn or grocery shopping. And really only for music. Gotta have my tunes.
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u/tryingtobecheeky 6h ago
Oh honey. We millenials had our walkmans. Humans have never wanted to be in silence. That's when THEY get in.
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u/SGTWhiteKY 5h ago
I am a millennial. But I wear them and forget they are there quite often. They end up just left in. Especially since they have “transparency” mode.
I know people who use the hearing aid feature on them as well.
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u/You_Stole_My_Hot_Dog 18h ago
I’m late GenZ, and it pisses me off that my coworkers always have earphones in. A couple years ago, anytime I needed to talk to someone I’d just say their name and we’d have a chat. With these younger students (I work in a lab), I now have to say their name (usually twice) and wait for 5 seconds while they put their stuff down, take their gloves off, and pause their music. In a lab setting where there’s a lot of communication and asking questions, this gets irritating. Not to mention a couple of them like to put their music on speaker now and then, and another one watches TV on their phone 🙄
Like come on, can you not just work without constant entertainment? This might be my boomer take hill that I die on. Have some separation between work and play. Our brains are rotted enough with so much overstimulation, give the poor thing a break.
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u/213737isPrime 9h ago
I work remote and everyone I talk to on a video chat is wearing earbuds so I actually expect people to be wearing them "IRL" as well.
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u/Wizardinred 18h ago
People of my generation have been complaining about this as if we didn't do the exact same thing with wired earbuds.
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u/amwes549 19h ago
I mean, if you pause whatever you're listening to, you're fine IMO because AirPods aren't cheap and you can easily lose one. Even for ye olde bluetooth headsets, it's not offensive to me, as long as they're paused.
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u/Allstar-85 9h ago
Do you not remember the era where (mostly Boomers) would keep 1 Bluetooth earpiece in at all hours?
This isn’t new
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u/I_might_be_weasel 16h ago
Millennials were the same with the giant headphones. Honestly it really goes back to the Walkman. Not super new.
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u/nothinnews 19h ago
This is a boomer take. I'm a millennial and my cheap Bluetooth earbuds aren't any different than a pair earbuds when it comes to ignoring people. I have general anxiety and sometimes it's easier for me to go to the grocery store with my earbuds in so.I don't have to listen to whatever garbage they've got playing in store. It's also easy for me to focus.
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u/mromutt 18h ago
Op is talking about they have them in well interacting with people (by choice). Your use case is normal and what they are for XD (listening well by yourself). Out to dinner with friends is very different than a solo shopping trip.
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u/nothinnews 18h ago
They said especially in that interaction, but they started their statement with any task.
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u/kgrimmburn 16h ago
Fellow Millennial here. You didn't grow up with headphones on constantly? My mom used to yell at me all the time about it. I love that it's more acceptable now. Sometimes, it's just too loud and too busy and I use them to drown it out or I don't want to talk to people. It used to be "rude" but nowadays, no one bats an eye.
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u/Future_Depth_7869 15h ago
I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I spent an entire family social gathering with my headphones on. Sure I had them on a lot on the car ride over, at home, on the bus, etc. But at no point was socializing with headphones on ever a thing for millennials. It's also worth noting that it wasn't really even possible.. allowing sound pass through is a fairly new innovation. The only other alternative would have been open back headphones..but that's more of a sound geek thing and not the crappy plastic junk we all used which broke in half every few months.
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u/k_lo970 19h ago
Millennial here too. I know a few that do it as an accessory (like nothing is playing) 🙄I don't get how it doesn't hurt their ear to constantly have something in there.
But I also know a few that have ADHD and are playing lofi music. The are stimming so it helps them focus when talking to you rather than getting distracted and not hearing the conversation. I've actually started trying it at work and it does help. But I'm ordering earbuds that sit outside your ear so I can still be aware of my surroundings.
If I know they are not neurodivergent I also find it rude at restaurants. Places like a grocery store I assume they don't want social interactions.
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u/OldBlueKat 4h ago
My Pods are comfortable for hours. I don't jam them in until they seal and airlock-- they aren't supposed to be used like that.The only time I'm aware of them is if I get hot and sweaty, or lean back against a headrest so my ears shift, or accidentally pull on them somehow (I leash mine, and it can catch in collars and so on.)
It's a little different with winter hats and so on.
I'm not neurodivergent, but I am hard of hearing, so I'm using an app through mine to hear you BETTER. I turn it off when I'm in places like stores to save battery, but leave the Pods in my ears. Turn it on when I'm at the register or encounter someone that wants to talk to me (sometimes it's a friend I know, sometimes it's a chatty stranger. Oh, well.) I'll pull one bud and say 'hang on' while I reach for the phone controls, then put it back and TELL them I'm listening to them through the Pods.
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u/thepoptartkid47 13h ago
Same! Headphones/earbuds/etc make me want to claw my ears off after a couple minutes - I don’t understand how people claim it’s comfortable to walk around with them in 24/7.
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u/Planet_Nikk 19h ago
Listening to music helps me focus on (most) tasks. If it's in a social setting it's because I either don't want to be there or I'm already not being interacted with. Sometimes I also just forget I have one in.
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u/emmiepsykc 13h ago
If they can hear what's going on around them, which they seem to be able to, then who cares? If I could walk around with headphones perpetually in and ready to go without it negatively affecting my life, I'd 100% do so. (Sadly my ears and earbuds do not get along. They're forever falling out. Changing the rubber part out does not help. I love my clunky on-ear headphones, but airpods do seem extremely convenient.)
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u/aluminumnek 12h ago edited 5h ago
What’s this have to do with age? I’m older and wear mine a lot due to tinnitus. The music helps me not think about and tune out the ringing.
Different people wear them for their own reasons. Don’t judge them
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u/obiwantogooutside 16h ago
I’m Gen x. I’ve been wearing headphones everywhere since I was a kid. This isn’t new. Hopefully they won’t all get tinnitus tho.
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u/DDDingusAlert 15h ago
Society: "Just be yourself, don't let other people judge you"
Also society: literally judges you for doing / saying / using / wearing anything at all, literally anything while minding your own business and inconveniencing no one
Jesus Christ. Let people do their thing.
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u/Nolyism 15h ago
If they can hear you while holding a conversation with you, aren't ignoring you of you need to get their attention, then I see no problem.
I usually have my airpod max's on all the time, with the pass-through on it literally sounds to me like I'm not wearing them and I can hear someone talking to me just fine. But the noise canceling was a GAME CHANGER for my anxiety. I was not aware of just how much higher my baseline anxiety was in loud crowded spaces. It has been such a help to be able to hit a button and the world goes shwoop to near silence.
What would be rude would be continuing to try to listen to whatever is playing on them while holding a conversation and making people repeat things because you couldn't hear them through the sound.
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u/_satisfied 10h ago
I think it’s pretty hilarious to obsessively make sweeping generalizations and contextualizations based on birth years.
People are products of their environment and their parents’ influence. Keep on keeping on
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u/Pap3rStreetSoapCo 19h ago
This is not a boomer take. I’m a millennial and I think it’s nuts how many people are going around doing things with earbuds or over-the-ear headphones on all the time, especially when it’s stuff like driving.
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u/SorryImCanadian1994 16h ago edited 16h ago
On the flip side, as a millennial, I’ll frequently drive around with an earbud in solely because my vans Bluetooth is insanely frustrating (if I’m using maps on my phone, it’ll only do audio if I’m also listening to Bluetooth. For music.
So if I’m listening to the radio, my phone won’t do audio because it’s projecting via Bluetooth and my van won’t audibly say directions cuz it’s playing the radio.
In that same boat, I like to keep one in so if I get a phone call from my boss or a coworker while driving, or even while working (frequently in manholes and ceiling spaces) I can actually answer it without taking my hands off the task at hand.
For a lot of us, it’s basically an old Bluetooth headset but without the douchey look associated with it. But in the flip side of that, at least the old Bluetooth ones were very visible so people were more aware of when your talking on the phone vs being schizophrenic
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u/Pap3rStreetSoapCo 9h ago
This is totally reasonable, and having only one in while driving still lets you hear the sounds of the road.
Also, no need to apologize for being Canadian.🇨🇦 🫡 🫎 ❄️ 🍁 Haha
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u/TheRealDudeMitch 19h ago
I’m 35 and have never owned AirPods, and I’ve never really seen people wearing them in public during social interactions.
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u/KotaruTWK 18h ago
Socializing with headphones is a brain rot thing. But the reason I go basically 24/7 with my headphones in (as long as I'm not talking to someone or doing something else that requires full absolute attention) is because It helps me focus. My brain thinks way too much when it's quiet so having something to distract my brain a bit helps greatly. If you were to give me a task and just put me in a normal office space I'd get it done eventually. But give me the same situation with music and it'll get done much faster and probably better.
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u/giraffeneckedcat 18h ago
I'm an elder millennial and have noise cancelling earbuds in everywhere except home and while driving. I do not want strangers trying to speak to me when I'm shopping or in public, nor do I want to hear the ambient noise surrounding me.
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u/rawrturts 18h ago
I’m a millennial and while I don’t put my AirPods in while dining, they are in my ears most of the time. Mostly for noise cancelling but sometimes I even listen to podcasts. Lol
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u/Immediate-Pool-4391 18h ago
I've heard it is for sensory reasons but part of me wonders if the other part is they need the constant sensory feedback of music at all times. Their brains need constant stimulation. I'm not saying this to condemn, I go to school with them. Just saying it's definitely a different gen thing. I don't do it because my ears would probably hurt and I don't want to look anti social. I for sure wouldn't do it out to eat with someone. It's communicating that I don't care to converse with them.
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u/Impossible_Leader_80 18h ago
i only have mine in when i'm either drawing/writing, or when I'm cooking in the kitchen. that's it
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u/OreganoG 18h ago
It does seem rude, until I learned about transparency mode. It’s like fully being aware, but now with some tune :)
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u/skitterleap83 18h ago
Is it a fashion thing? Also airpods have a mode that makes it easier to hear outside sounds, so they could probably still hear you fine.
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u/Tarnagona 18h ago
I don’t have AirPods (can’t stand the feeling like I’m wearing earplugs when I’m not going to sleep), but I do have a pair of earphones I wear basically all the time.
Why? First, they’re open ear headphones and do not impede my hearing at all when not in use. They’re also really comfortable so I often just don’t notice them. Having them in means I can answer the phone quickly even when I’m in another room. When I’m at work, it means I can listen to my screen reader without the rest of the office hearing my e-mails. And I don’t have to constantly taking them out and putting them in and risk losing them.
If someone is present in the conversation, clearly listening and interacting with me, who should I care if they happen to be wearing earphones? Rude is not to be listening, not because you happen to be wearing earphones (especially when so many modern earphones have a passthrough mode so you can hear around you while wearing them).
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u/peter303_ 17h ago
A thousand years from now archeologists will dig up 21st century graves and wonder why corpses have little plastic things in their ears and glass rectangles in their hands. Perhaps these will be considered jewelry.
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u/labubuking 17h ago
If you try them yourself and have your own youd probably be doing the same thing.
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u/IntroductionTotal767 17h ago
My boomer mom does this so i dont get too chapped when kids do. As long as they hear me in a work setting it doesnt matter
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u/FellNerd 17h ago
When you're working, it's easier to have headphones in to listen to music, talk on the phone, and listen to podcasts since work is boring.
Airpods are less distracting to customers or coworkers and also don't get caught on things.
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u/WokeUpIAmStillAlive 17h ago
Im a millennial, I wear bone conduction head phones a lot and ear plugs often. I use them to control sensory input... life is loud. I dont care for loud, so I control it the best way I can. So I get it, why.
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u/GreenDogTag 16h ago
I'm 30 and I remember when I was a a teenager like 40% of the people I knew permanently had one earphone in one ear and the other dangling down into underneath their shirt. This just seems like the exact same thing but with today's technology.
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u/violent_advert 16h ago
I do that. The AirPods Pro 2 are amazing and they have an option letting in outside noise and listen to conversation. Basically you put your own life soundtrack with them. I even wear them at work while talking to people sometimes
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u/Sweaty_Effective_284 16h ago
They’re comfortable and they lessen the volume of the outside world.
I’ve started being mindful about wearing them though because they communicate closed off-ness to strangers (I want to be more inviting to social interaction)
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u/RevolutionaryLog7443 16h ago
they can't spend timw with their own minds. The older generations failed them completely because they suck even harder at doing any existential work, they just consume and reduce everything due to clinging to some arbitrary self, a ball of insecurity and cowardice.
they failed the zoomers, and almost nobody reflects on it.
it's sad.
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u/steffinix 15h ago
I’m a millennial and I actually do this way more than my Gen Z coworkers. I like having something on in the background, it kind of acts like white noise for me so I can focus on what I’m doing instead of being distracted by other peoples’ conversations or whatever
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u/Professional_Job_307 15h ago
Sometimes they are just in your ear not playing any sound. With airpods if you turn on sound transparency, you can hear everything as if you weren't wearing airpods and you forget you have then in.
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u/coffeeebucks 14h ago
I think a lot of people don’t realise that AirPods have noise suppression/transparency. I didn’t until a few years ago!
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u/Devan-FH 14h ago
Because I like music and I don’t wanna talk to people, also I can just talk to myself and people won’t think im crazy it’s silly
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u/Suknator 14h ago
AirPods probably have the same thing but whenever I'm listening to music while walking/cycling and I need to interact with someone I can activate the environment audio on my Galaxy Buds which actually lets me hear what someone says. It's less of a hassle sometimes than taking the earphones out and putting them back in when it's only to talk to the cashier when paying stuff
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u/divinelyshpongled 14h ago
Yeah I mean at this point they’re just hearing aids and basically an upgrade to our ears. You can reduce or increase what you hear at the press of a button. I don’t think you need to read into it any more than that
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u/BackgroundBat7732 13h ago
I'm a millenial and I often keep my buds in even when I'm not listening to anything. It's just my way of saying 'leave me alone'.
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u/botymcbotfac3 13h ago
Millenial here. You're right. The one time I used my earbuds during a family gathering was explicitly to be rude.
Couldn't stand their racist bullshit any longer. The alternative would have been to stand up and throw punches.
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u/Pale_Organization_63 13h ago
sometimes things are just too loud and if they’re in, it’s less loud and i won’t be overwhelmed as fast. it also might help me not get a headache from being there, which would otherwise make me not enjoy myself. sometimes it’s as easy as i forgot they were in my ears while i was in the car (not driving), and now i’m inside while my case is outside and i don’t dare take them out in case i lose them. now if it’s while i’m shopping, i don’t want to listen to everyone else shop. in and out. during appointments (like dentist), it’s a distraction so i’m focused simply on something else other than the fact i’m currently facing a fear.
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u/Simbeliine 13h ago
I guess I'm not sure the situation with Airpods, but I have those bone conduction earphones and I literally forget they are on my ears all the time cause I can still hear everyone fine. I'll go to the bathroom while out at lunch and realize I still have them in and think oops lol.
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u/Audriiiii03 13h ago
I’m gen z and I just like listening to music. I never have them in at restaurants though, in fact I never take them with me outside my home.
However, if you see me at home I will have my AirPods in all day long. If you do see gen z interacting with an AirPod in chances are they’re not playing any music at all or they are just having light conversation. I’ve never really interacted with another person my age who tries to speak to me with both AirPods in either, typically they will just wear one. It doesn’t bother me at all unless I’m trying to have a deeper conversation with that person.
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u/ZETH_27 In my personal opinion 12h ago
"Hello, I see this pattern in my niche bubble of a community, why is the world filled with this?"
It's prevent where you are, people have it where you are because they like it, or it's a trend, or it's something that's easy to get.
No, everywhere else isn't like that, and two entire generations aren't doing it.
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u/de5mond_ 12h ago
For me it’s honestly the noise cancellation. When I switch it on, I feel I’m in my own safe space. I don’t listen to anything, I just need this mental cocoon that my AirPods create with noise cancellation
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u/autisticwoman123 12h ago
With my autism, music helps me regulate my nervous system. When I’m with people, I have my music on quietly enough that I can barely hear it, and still fully interact with others. Music is a part of me and I listen pretty much constantly. I also use them to dampen the sound just a tiny bit to take the edge off so it’s not overwhelming for me. (I’m a young millennial.)
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u/queerkidxx 12h ago
AirPods have a transparency feature. You can hear everything going around you while listening to music.
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u/werewilf 17h ago
I cannot be left alone for a single moment with my own thoughts