Prom Isn’t Just a Dance for Gen Z, It’s a Tradition They Won’t Leave Behind

Generation Z is known for breaking down archaic traditions created years before them. Terms like ‘cheugy’ float across the internet every few months, describing the favorite pastimes of the generations before that are now seen as distasteful or passé. While some high school traditions like senior night, spirit week, and senior pranks have become relics of the past in many schools, prom is still more relevant than ever. The annual event is a standing figurehead, even when trends seem to quickly fluctuate in and out of vogue.

So, why has prom surpassed the inevitable fade to obscurity? In part, it’s an exercise in vanity. Prom-goers get to dress up in glamorous outfits, wear bold makeup, and relish in the escapism of dressing up outside their daily wear. And while Millennials might have documented their prom looks on Facebook or MySpace, Gen Z flexes on TikTok, where their looks get a whole new level of appreciation. For example: Summer Jayla Hemphill, 17, posted a selfie-style video to TikTok showing off her prom makeup and dress as she rode to the high school event. The post has garnered over a million views.

And, she’s not the only one. The hashtag "prom 2024,” has roughly 164,000 videos posted in the last two months alone, with the number growing each day.

“Senior prom has been something I’ve looked forward to my whole life and I can’t believe this moment came so fast,” Hemphill tells Teen Vogue. “Prom is a big deal for some people, but not as important to others. To me, it’s very important and a chance for people to see me outside of my normal school clothes.”

For a lot of young people, especially Gen Z, High School Musical was the pinnacle of their childhoods. And as nostalgia continues to etch itself into the 2020s as a staple identifier of the zeitgeist, many young people still see prom as an important factor in their last year of high school because of the movies and shows they loved growing up. High School Musical 3 was named as an often important body of work for Gen Z and its emphasis on the prom being this standout night of your teenage life is still something students make note of today.

Even moreso, the act of getting ready together makes prom night all that more exciting. “Get ready with me” content has taken over TikTok and Prom is a perfect occasion for tweens and teens who may not otherwise be going out for big nights.

“Prom at my school is a big deal more for the girls because everyone wants to show off their dresses and makeup,” 18-year-old Gabrielle Cole says. “Me and my friends just love getting ready together and chatting before the prom, which I believe is better than prom itself. Prom, to me, is very important in high school because we always watch movies growing up of high schoolers getting to experience prom and it supposedly being ‘the best night of their lives.’ It’s important to participate because you won’t be in high school forever.”

That kind of content, and the changing face of social media have really fueled prom's popularity. For many young girls, apps like TikTok have given them a more hands on way to approach researching their prom looks.

“I would say prom is still very popular, especially because of social media,” Addison Robinson, 17, says. “Everyone is like, ‘what dress are you wearing? What are you doing with your hair?’ All of that stuff. But that’s mainly what I hear from the girls. I don't know if it's popular with boys. Boys only go [to prom] if they have a date, but girls will go, even if they don't have a date; They'll just go with friends.”

“Prom makes me feel so grown up because the little girl in me always wanted to go,” she continues. “But it also makes me feel so young because I'm there, I'm dancing, hanging with friends and not thinking about anything else — I'm just being young.”

For some young people though, the intersection of prom and social media has been a bit overwhelming, especially when it is so easy to get caught up in what others are doing.

“I think social media and TikTok like to create this image that if you wear the exact same dress that the skinny hourglass girl wore, then you are going to have the same body,” 18-year-old Rhode Sanchez says about the added layer of social media on the prom process. “There is a lot of hype around prom, but it's not about the experience; it's about the appearances you have to keep up with. But to me, prom is more about style rather than what is going to make me look thin or make my boobs look bigger.”

Alternatively, 17-year-old Robinson has found social apps like TikTok to be helpful in her prom journey. Robinson is one of the many high school seniors posting prom content on TikTok. In the past two months she’s gotten over 13 million views on three of her prom dress videos, which for her, has been exciting to have so many eyes on her page. Robinson first attended the prom her sophomore year as her boyfriend’s date. She then went last year and is now gearing up to attend her senior prom. She normally will travel a few miles out of her town in Indiana to go shopping in Indianapolis, but she didn’t find many options that felt right. She ended up buying two prom dresses from the online retailer Stacey’s. Because online shopping can be difficult, she wanted to make sure she had options. After deciding on a dress, she soon realized that the online store didn’t allow returns and she was stuck with two prom dresses. That’s what sparked her prom content on TikTok. She posted two videos showing off the dresses, asking the audience to pick their favorite. The videos went viral and she was then able to sell the dress she didn’t want to a viewer.

“I've gained a lot of followers and a lot of confidence from it,” Robinson says. “Not that I'm taking all of the compliments, but it's just fun to see girls supporting other girls. And it just makes me want to keep posting and keep reaching other people.”