The millennial pause is a pause in speaking at the start of some videos, especially in short-form content and on social media apps such as TikTok. The pause is generally ascribed to millennials, the generation of people born from 1981 to 1996. The phenomenon is an example of the digital generation gap between millennials and subsequent generations.
The term ‘millennial pause’ is attributed to TikTok user nisipisa, a millennial who posted a TikTok video in 2021, pointing out that Taylor Swift, a millennial singer, includes such pauses at the start of her videos.
It has been conjectured that the reason why people older than zoomers tend to include a pause at the start of their videos is to make sure that the device they are using is actually recording. In contrast, younger users either test the device before recording or trust that the devices are working correctly, and begin speaking immediately after the recording begins.
Another theory is that the habit may have been adopted when earlier recording devices, such as cassette recorders or VHS camcorders, commonly took a split second before beginning to record. Although newer devices do not exhibit the same delay, this habit has proven hard to break.
By contrast, some have reported a Gen Z Shake: in 2023, a Gen Z user of TikTok posted a video describing how members of Generation Z often start recording their videos right before placing their cameras on a stable surface. As a result, the video shakes at the start of these recordings before the camera is set down.
Becoming aware of the pause has made some millennials notice that they are ‘getting old.’ People have also noted that, once they have been made aware that their recordings include millennial pauses, they find their own habit embarrassing, yet still have trouble breaking the habit. Some people have stated that, without the pause, the start of their dialogue would be cut off.
The Daily Omnivore 
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