How You Type on Your Phone Reveals If You’re Gen X, Millennial or Boomer

You might think that your skin, fashion, or hairstyle are clear signs of your age, but one TikTok poster has told Newsweek that the way we type is also a major signal of someone’s age.

Tyler Morgan, from Los Angeles, California, said that it’s not about the model of your phone or what apps you have on it, but rather which fingers you use to type that shows which generation you truly belong to.

Morgan told Newsweek that he started watching his friends and colleagues at work to get a “general observation” of how age impacts how we use our cellphones. His idea is that millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) usually type with two thumbs or maybe the one-handed swipe; and, while Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) may use the same method, they do it much faster than their elders.

As for Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Morgan said they are most likely to type with one finger and adding in their index finger, too.

“I would say that Gen Z are likely to use two thumbs to type at a higher speed of words per minute than the average millennial with a keyboard,” Morgan said.

“Honestly, I think it comes down to the fact that, as we age, we lose mobility. So, things that seem easy for those in their teens and twenties may not be as comfortable or easy for people in their late sixties. But it varies based on so much,” Morgan said.

As a millennial himself, Morgan says that he uses two thumbs mostly but sometimes uses the iPhone swipe option to speed things up.

The different generations can vary in a multitude of ways, whether it’s their views on politics or society, but something that’s unique for Gen Zers is that they grew up in a technological era. Pew Research Center says that millennials had to adapt to a lot of these technologies, but for Gen Zers, it’s all they’ve ever known. Their lives have been defined by iPhones, Wi-Fi, social media, and further innovations that put us constantly in touch with one another.

Morgan didn’t want to keep this theory to himself, so he shared it in a video on TikTok (@hitomidocameraroll) in April, and the clip instantly went viral. It has already been viewed more than 2.6 million times and gained over 135,000 likes at the time of writing.

Morgan has been amazed by the social-media reaction so far; plenty of people couldn’t agree more with his notion about the differences between generations.

“People don’t seem to feel too attacked by the video, which is good because I was a bit worried about that initially. Unless I’m missing something, it seems relatively positive so far,” Morgan added.

“This is all observation from being bored at work and just watching people when I’m at home or with friends.”

The TikTok video captured plenty of attention online, and many social-media users were quick to share their thoughts and their way of typing. Among the 7,700 comments already, one person wrote: “I’m a double thumb fast typer it’s just the easiest.”

Another TikTok user responded: “elder millennial from the BlackBerry era. Two thumbs, very fast and accurate.”

Another comment reads: “I swipe to text and it’s so much quicker.”

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