Moving in Boston is hard. Gen Z will turn to anything — even Facebook.

The film “Single White Female” scared generations of prospective roommates from putting a want ad in the paper. But desperate for a Sept. 1 lease, Gen Z is feeling safe on their parents’ social network — Facebook.

Move-in day will never not be chaotic. But in a college hub like Boston, everyone’s day of stress is the same day, which is not typical of all other cities. Tens of thousands of leases start and end on the same day. The turmoil of Sept. 1 — the day of 70 percent of Boston-area apartments’ turnover, the city told Boston 25 News — dates back to 1899. It not only makes it difficult to find a U-Haul, but also turns move-in day into a competition.

It’s a big problem for Gen Z, which ranges in age from 14 to 29. It’s college, the job market, the housing crisis, and inflation all wrapped up into one. They often can’t live with their friends (because it seems like the universe only doles out one to two job offers per friend group), they can’t afford to buy brand new furniture, and they’re deciding whether enough people in TikTok comments can tell them if a particular realty group is a scam.

Their answer to finding real people and real advice? It’s Facebook, their parents’ favorite app. The social media site has turned a corner on Gen Z as a utility — less so to keep in touch with people, but often as a lifeline during the torturous housing process, especially in Boston.

A network where the user doesn’t usually hide behind a screen name, as on Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, or Snapchat, Facebook groups and Marketplace are a saving grace for people relocating in the Boston area.

Betches of Boston HOUSING is a private Facebook group with more than 40,000 members. Most of the group’s activity comes from young women looking to join existing leases or find potential roommates with similar interests.

“Real people can connect with other real people that are verified,” said Gabby Hanley, a Boston-based real estate broker and moderator in the group. “A lot of the people are posting there and saying, ‘Hey, I’m moving from Kansas. I want to live with another girl that will become friends with me.’”

Hanley said Betches screens both prospective tenants and real estate professionals. She said members need profile pictures, and Hanley cross-references brokers’ license numbers. She also said the moderators and members are diligent about reporting spam.

“People feel a little bit safer [in Betches] because we do such a good job,” she said. “We do actually monitor and make sure that people are who they say they are.”

She doesn’t get paid for this, but she hopes the people who ask her questions may become her clients. She wants to help young people understand real estate.

She said she sees a lot of, “Hey, is this allowed?” when a broker may be taking advantage of them.

“A lot of people don’t trust real estate professionals,” Hanley said. “They want another female to say what’s a great neighborhood for me to move into, stuff like that.”

Aryan Singh moved in with strangers at 20 years old. He needed a place on Mission Hill. So did practically every other off-campus hopeful at Northeastern University (the neighborhood had become an extremely popular off-campus housing hub at his school).

But his new roommates didn’t feel like strangers because his mom found them on the Northeastern parents’ Facebook group. Another mom had posted that her son was looking for a fourth roommate. Singh ended up living with this group for two years until graduation, and they all became friends.

He never thought to use Facebook. He said he didn’t even have an account until his junior year of college, and he now uses it exclusively for housing groups and to find cheap furniture on Marketplace.

“I think I share a thought with a lot of Gen Z that Facebook is this app for older people,” he said. But a lot more people he knows use it religiously around Sept. 1.

“The fact that everyone moves on the same day is the dumbest thing ever,” he said. “I don’t know who set it up like that … No matter what neighborhood you’re in, it’s just absolute chaos.”

Elizabeth Scholl, 23, didn’t have a Facebook profile until she made one for move-in season.

Many people post their initial query in a Facebook group, she said, but encourage respondents to contact them outside of Facebook Messenger, often through a more popular site for their age group: Instagram.

Scholl would not feel comfortable meeting roommates on any other social media site, since Facebook is the only one that seems to verify names, she said.

“They’re sharing their Instagrams, they’re sharing their numbers, they’re posting photos of themselves,” she said. “It was really easy to see who these people were, and basically it’s like, ‘You look pretty normal and cool.’ And I think that is what makes that platform [work].”

Another big draw is Facebook Marketplace, where college students can find used, cheap furniture.

Talia Lubie, 21, recently bought a desk on Facebook.

“I’ve never had to buy any furniture, and I figured there’s no way I’d be able to furnish my whole apartment and not break the bank,” she said. “I thought [Marketplace] would not just be good for the environment, but good for my wallet.”

Getting to the closest IKEA on Aug. 31 would likely be a waste of time, since, she assumed, everything would probably be bought out by then.

Madeline Andrews, 22, said it was a culture shock, cost-wise, moving to Boston from rural North Carolina a month ago. She said her brother told her about the advantages of Marketplace, since he’s lived in Boston for three years. He told her it was his lifeline for all things moving, from the couch he bought to finding a mover.

“My money needs to go to keeping the lights on,” she said. “[Marketplace] feels like the cheat sheet.”

Kahan described Boston as a transient city, which means regular furniture turnaround on Marketplace. Their current home is also made up of almost entirely Marketplace finds, as well as the results of Kahan’s annual celebrations of Allston Christmas, Boston’s unofficial Sept. 1 yard sale.

Kahan also found their first housing situation on Facebook.

“Craigslist feels scary. No one is verified,” they said. “I think having the name verification on Facebook … you can see maybe they share the same political beliefs or they’re a real person and not a bot.”

They searched in one of the LGBTQIA+ housing groups, with their biggest priority being feeling safe and comfortable in a gender-affirming space.

“Folks utilize these groups because they’re trying to find their people,” they said.