The quiz-making website finally reveals something about the online habits of Generation Z, as it is strikingly different from the Buzzfeed quizzes beloved by millennial.
Uquiz has evolved from its origins as a corporate survey solution to become the go-to quiz generator for teen forums. In this regard, uQuiz represents the first major break with the widespread use of millennial-targeted online quizzes. What does this tell us about the online habits of the millennial generation?
uQuiz’s Surprising Acclaim
uQuiz still boasts on its webpage that it will “allow potential customers to engage with your brand.” There is a premium “Pro Plan” available on the site “for brands and marketers.” The site may have never planned to attract such a large audience of young people, but it seems to be thriving in its new position. For instance, it has lately launched a Tumblr account where it distributes memes and platform improvements. Quiz’s popularity boom can be understood in the larger context of the evolution of personality quizzes, despite the fact that many of its qualities like free and not too burdensome to use contribute to its success.
Quizzes in magazines gave way to Quizilla
Popular culture has used personality tests since the late 19th century. According to writer Sarah Laskow, they initially appeared in the US when ladies’ magazines were popular and the yellow press would do everything to sell papers. Following a brief magazine boom after World War II, personality questionnaires became popular, culminating in 1960s and 1970s Cosmopolitan quizzes.
With the internet, quizzes are easier to make and take. Quizilla was the first website to become popular for its quiz-making tools in 2002, although quizzes appeared elsewhere on the web. Julie Beck says the site popularized quizzes online and became a hub for fan and non-fan literature. Buzzfeed returned to the format in the early 2010s as their main click source.
The current uQuiz fad seems eager to differentiate itself as much as possible from the previous generation of online quizzes, which were dominated by Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed attempted to make taking an online quiz painless, but uQuiz looks and feels antiquated in comparison. In contrast to Buzzfeed, which turned sharing quiz results into a seamless social performance and free marketing, uQuiz nearly entirely avoids posting results. The procedure of sharing results isn’t quite as sophisticated as Buzzfeed’s, and there appears to be an unspoken understanding that showing excessive enthusiasm about one’s uQuiz scores is, at best, a millennial quirk.
Conclusion
uQuizzes do vary in quality, it’s true. Others use internet-style absurdum for comedic effect, while others were designed specifically to convey a scathing rebuke; others serve as personalized recommendation engines, while others openly declare that they are “100% fueled by vibes.” Even in those circumstances, uQuizzes appears to embrace the inherent randomness of online quizzes. That’s what separates them from the ones that came before them, in my opinion. They represent a user’s attempt to locate or create authenticity, community, and pleasure within a genre known for its artificiality.
