Gen Zer shares 5 incredible things that happened after quitting social media 4 years ago

"You cherish your day-to-day life."

Quynh Van, 26, a UX designer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, gave herself the ultimate challenge for a Gen Zer four years ago: she vowed to quit social media. Now, she has returned to social media on TikTok to share the big difference the sabbatical made in her life.

"I quit social media four years ago, and it completely changed my life," Van said in the video. "For background, I deleted everything—Instagram, Twitter, everything—back in the beginning of 2021. It is now 2025, and I just started TikTok a month ago, and this is the only social media I have."

In a video that has received over 800,000 views, she shares the massive impact that leaving social media had on her life.

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🎥 The real-life love story of Maria and Georg Von Trapp we didn't see in 'The Sound of Music'

"I really and truly was not in love."

The Sound of Music has been beloved for generations, partially for the music (and Julie Andrews' angelic voice), partially for the historical storyline, and partially for the love story between Maria and Georg Von Trapp. The idea of a nun-in-training softening the heart of a curmudgeonly widower, falling in love with him, and ultimately becoming a big, happy family is just an irresistible love story.

But it turns out the real love story behind their union is even more fascinating.

The National Archives has collected information about what's fact and what's fiction in The Sound of Music, which is based on a real family in Austria named Von Trapp. The film was generally based on the first section of Maria Von Trapp's 1949 autobiography, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, with some of the details being true and others fictionalized for a movie audience.

The simple joy of receiving flowers is something many men rarely get to experience.

💰 In just 9 seconds, Amy Poehler perfectly describes why each generation sees money differently

A high school diploma used to buy a house. Now? Two master’s degrees can’t cover rent. 

Comedian and writer Amy Poehler is the gift that keeps on giving. On her popular podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler, she welcomes guests and has brilliantly funny and often insightful conversations. (Don't sleep on the episode when she had her dear friend Paul Rudd on. It's magical.)

On a recent show with Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur, there's a clip of her breaking down how each generation relates to money. Straight to the point, she says, "The Boomers are all about money. Gen X is like IS it all about money? Millennials are like where IS the money? And Gen-Z is like what is money?" (She adds, "That's my bad stand-up about it.")

Hacky comedy or not, she's not wrong. Just under this short YouTube clip, there are over 3,000 comments, mostly from people who back up the claim. One notes, "Gen Z is paying more money for a car now than Boomers paid for their home."

🐕 Navy sailor's plea for help finding his dog sparks debate when rescue family refuses to give him up

Who has the "right" to keep Archie?

Finding good, reliable dog sitting is difficult under normal circumstances. Who can you really trust to take care of your dog? Will they be safe? Will they be scared while you're gone? When you're a soldier in the US military deployed for months at a time, dog-care can turn into an actual nightmare very quickly.

No one knows this better than Paulo Silva, a US Navy soldier who was recently deployed on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East for eight months. While he was away, Silva trusted a relative to watch his five-year-old Golden Retriever and certified bestie, Archie.

When Silva returned home, excited to reunite with his best friend, he was shocked to find the dog gone.

“A family member that was well-trusted felt they had no choice but to give away my dog,” Silva told the Asbury Park Press. “At no point was I told about it (before returning home) and I had asked time and time again about him." The relative told Silva that Archie was having trouble settling in, but the decision still came as a massive shock. Worse, Silva's relative couldn't or wouldn't provide him the contact information of the family he'd given Archie to.