I’m not on TikTok, and I don’t know what happens there. But I appreciate anthropological reports on this strange land and its inhabitants. Likewise, I’m not close with many Gen Zers, and yet I often read stories about these youngs who will take my place, curious about how they differ from my people, the elder millennials. So I was grateful for Kyndall Cunningham’s insightful piece on a new trend: “locking in.”
“Locking in” is a TikTok trend in which Gen Z users show themselves devoting their focus and energies to nondigital tasks, most of which involve fitness or wellness — working out, finishing books, or even staying hydrated. The goal of “the Great Lock-In,” Kyndall explains, is "that participants enter January having already completed a set of goals and established certain habits."
She talks to experts and unpacks what’s behind this: a growing sense of anxiety about an uncertain world and a frustration with a shared reliance on smartphones. There’s so much that feels chaotic — especially for the generation that came of age on screens amid the pandemic’s isolation, the subsequent economic chaos, and the political turmoil of the Trump era — and “locking in” is a way to gain a little control. But maybe, Kyndall concludes, it’s not quite that deep for most: “For now, it seems like ‘locking in’ is simply a way to get by, not necessarily a way to get better.” Elderly as I am, I can get behind that.
—Seth Maxon, editor
