When was the last time your parents told you to go outside and get some fresh air? It’s been a while since we had the baby boomer generation on our backs like that, but a professor who recently went viral on TikTok has reminded us exactly why we were so adamant to leave our parents’ house in the first place: So that we didn’t have to endure all of the tech slander anymore.

The clip in question was shared by The Wall Street Journal’s account on the video-sharing platform on 25 May 2023 and has since amassed a whopping 6.7 million views.

The video, which also now has over 500,000 likes, features marketing Professor Scott Galloway as he shares his wisdom for gen Zers worldwide. The so-called advice in question? “Home is for seven hours of sleep, and that’s it.” In the current post-pandemic cost of living crisis, I think not. We are paying way too much for these flats to go unused.

@wallstreetjournal

“If you're not working, you should be with friends, trying to find a mate or working out,” said Scott Galloway, NYU marketing professor and host of The Prof G Pod podcast, at the #WSJCEOCouncil Summit on Wednesday. To be successful, he said, it takes 110%. #scottgalloway #success #howtobesuccessful #careeradvice #jobs #worklifebalance #hustleculture #dating #wsj #thewallstreetjournal #wsj

♬ original sound - The Wall Street Journal

Galloway, who teaches at the New York University Stern School of Business, went on to add: “The time you spend at home is inversely correlated to your success professionally and romantically.” What in the baby boomer is this guy on about? We’d like to see a source for that one.

Naturally, HBO-obsessed gen Zers took to the comments to refute the professor’s shallow claims, and to make a stance against tired, dated notions of what we should be doing with our time. The winning comment coming in at 54,000 likes: “But outside is expensive.” An all too common utterance among our generation, who are still finding it incredibly difficult to keep up with the current mounting financial crisis.

Endless reminders of our extortionate rent bills littered the video’s comment section, with some users focusing on questioning the different measures of success our generation values. While economic factors have played a part, many users cheerfully express in the comments that “home” is their favourite place. Why should we demonise the one space we can’t live without? A space that has become unaffordable thanks to a housing crisis we had absolutely zero say in.

There also appears to be a clear lack of understanding in how digital natives do things. Personal development and romantic success are all possible online in this terrifying yet genius 21st century. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the viability of working from home, and of course, what modern day love bug doesn’t have a plethora of dating apps taking up storage space on their phone?

Look, don’t get me wrong, advice and motivation is always welcome and it’s never a bad idea to go for a quick zoom down the street if you’ve become a bit of a recluse. However, the digital age is in full swing and older generations have to embrace that.

As much as it would be nice to constantly frolic in the streets meeting potential mates and making new connections like they did 40 years ago, we’re now living in the backlit world of social media, a world which can always be operated from the comfort of your own home.

It feels hypocritical to threaten failure if gen Zers don’t get out of the online world, particularly considering this system was actively created and developed by the boomers and millennials before us. So many of the apps that we find ourselves on today are actively designed to keep us scrolling indoors. We’re more online now than ever before and the old guard needs to accept that—for better or worse.