‘This person cannot take your call right now, please text instead’
The mobile telephone is one of the great inventions of humankind – the ease of communication with anybody, anywhere at anytime.
Along with faster, larger and more efficient travel, the mobile phone has helped shrink the world to a point where you can live, work and socialise in different time zones if you so please.
You’d think then, with all this power at our fingertips, Gen Z would be spending every waking hour on phones calling people and having a good natter.
Well, it turns out, as per a new study, Gen Z are not taking phone calls, and they have a decent reason for it too.
Three quarters of Gen Z knowingly ignore calls from unknown contacts
Meanwhile, 53 per cent said that unexpected phone calls feel instrusive.
The study asked 9,482 Gen Zs aged 18-30 across the UK, US, Latin America and Europe about their mobile phone calling habits.
Basically, if you’re trying to get in touch with someone under the age of 30, better to send them an email or leave a voice note.
Why are Gen Z avoiding phone calls?
Gen Z don’t want to take your calls. Adobe Stock.
While older generations are much more likely to pick up the phone, they may look at this data and extract the opinion that younger people are ruder and less courteous.
However, the real issue isn’t a culture change, but an equipment one.
Phones have developed so much since their inception in the 1870s that what they ressemble now can barely be called a ‘telephone’.
In fact, based on the usage split of these devices, the name is purely hereditary and we should be calling them evil personal assistant rectangles – or something like that.
The reality is, the telephone function on our devices now are only rarely used for calls and there exist a multitude of ways to contact people.
Meanwhile, many can feel like a phone call is intrusive, while a text provides a softer approach.
It’s the difference between someone knocking on your door and just barging straight on in.
Sure, there’s probably a bit of angst involved in there too, but it mostly comes from a feeling among much of Gen Z that in a world of shouty adverts, shouty bosses and shouty families, they have a right to be left in peace sometimes.
Throw in the amount of scammers and cold callers grifting out there and you can understand why you’d just rather get someone to text you.
In fact, the survey found that 64 per cent of respondents would rather just get a little message instead of a call.
What are the consequences?
Other than maybe developing a fear of the voice call, it’s probably not that deep really.
In a world where companies and organisations are stripping back their communication teams from rooms full of people to a handful of overworked people and haggling with an algorithmic chat bot called Glen it’s not like the average Gen Z will be missing out on much.
If you’ve ever tried to call your local council, doctors or bank you know it can often take upwards of an hour to speak to a real human, so even the important stuff is happening in slow motion.
It’s also situational, if you know you’ve recently applied for a job or had a GP appointment, you know you might be getting a call soon, so you’ll be more likely to pick up if you’re called.
Gen Z still talk to each other, there’s the ever-increasingly popular voice note, texts, social media messaging, and comment sections just to name some of the ways people still interact.
Look, to sum it all up, there is one phrase which rings true among most of Gen Z: “If it’s that important, they’ll ring again.”
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