“Many of the older generation still remember the days when they had to fight furiously with their siblings to be able to make calls on a landline phone. At that time, for modern young people, every call causes anxiety, and sometimes it is even perceived as an intrusive intrusion into their personal space. It is interesting that these trends are observed not only in the personal, but also in the work environment. However, despite the fact that users talk for less and less minutes every year, voice calls still remain irreplaceable in some areas”, says Eglė Sonata Padagaitė, Head of Mobile and Fixed Communications at Telia.
A call equals bad news
According to the latest statistics of the telecommunications company, subscribers under the age of 25 per month in Lithuania, on average, they speak a little more than 100 minutes, or about three times less than 45-54 year olds. representatives of the age group. However, comparing the data of the last few years, it can be seen that emerging new habits are changing the entire market – the total conversation duration of all users is decreasing in small steps, and the use of mobile data is increasing.
“Representatives of Generation Z and Y are the biggest users of the mobile Internet, so it is clear that their communication has also moved to the virtual space. Young people appreciate the flexibility offered by messaging apps, which allow them to communicate with photos, memes, emoticons and voice messages. But the freedom they provide plays no less important role. “Young people are used to being able to communicate at their own pace, think through their words and emotions, so calls, forcing them to give answers here and now, seem to take young people out of their comfort zone,” the expert notes.
UK psychotherapist Eloise Skinner tends to emphasize the fact that calls are associated with bad news for young people these days. Since family members and friends are communicated with through texting, telephone conversations become, in their minds, reserved for critical or very urgent situations. They usually inform about getting into trouble, accidents, dismissal from work or the death of loved ones, so the unexpected ringing of the phone first causes anxiety for a young person.
This negative emotional charge of calls makes them an unattractive channel, which is also often contaminated with offers of unwanted goods or services and scammers. As a result, it is not surprising that it is much more attractive to the younger generation not to pick up the phone at all than to suffer the discomfort of explaining who is trying to reach them in this way and with what issue.
Calls become unwanted even at work
Young people “bring” their reluctance to talk on the phone even to work. Although calling may seem like an efficient and quick way to resolve issues for seniors, it only creates stress for young professionals. Young workers interviewed by the BBC say that work interviews put them in an unpleasant position, preventing them from preparing and analyzing the situation in advance, which is what e-mails have accustomed them to.
A significant number of young people also believe that talking on the phone is detrimental to their productivity. Being in a conversation requires you to detach yourself from other activities and focus all your attention on the interlocutor. At that time, through texting, young people can communicate with several people at the same time on their computer screen. Older colleagues also notice that their younger colleagues do not even bother to answer missed calls, and when asked why, they answer that the tone of their smartphone is muted and they simply cannot hear the calls.
“The change in the working mode probably contributes to such calls being ignored. Being able to work remotely or in a hybrid way, young people do not have the opportunity to get to know their colleagues better and to establish an informal connection that usually helps to break the ice in a telephone conversation. Unlike a message, a call requires at least a minimal introduction, so the young man, not knowing his colleagues well, feels uncomfortable in the conversation. By correspondence, this vulnerability can be eliminated and distanced from any unfavorable emotional background”, the representative of the telecommunications company shares her insights.
Observing such changes in business communication, organizations are increasingly choosing modern communication platforms such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, which offer the ability to combine text messages, video calls and other forms of communication in one place. This gives employees the freedom to choose how they want to communicate and helps avoid unnecessary calls.
An era is ending, but the calls themselves will not
Looking at the yearly shrinking volume of calls, sooner or later it seems inevitable that this form of communication will fade into the background. Although some also see in the ending era of phone calls the misunderstanding of the emotional intelligence of society and the loss of the ability to act spontaneously, ES Padagaitė is not inclined to dramatize the situation.
According to her, less than three decades ago, people were similarly afraid of replacing fax with e-mail, but once they switched to the newer communication channel due to its convenience, they never looked back. At the moment, the world is also witnessing another phase of the evolution of communication, which makes our communication even more productive, flexible and more in line with the high pace of modern life.
“On the other hand, the scenario of complete disappearance of calls is unlikely. According to a survey by Uswitch, almost half of young people who prefer social networks and voice messages would be offended if their closest people did not call to announce an engagement, the birth of a child or other important news. In addition, calls continue to be the most personal and sensitive form of modern communication, whether to wish a loved one a happy birthday or express condolences. As a result, it seems that the universality of telephone conversations as a communication channel will decrease, but they will remain irreplaceable for a long time in cases where it is necessary to express emotions or establish a strong personal connection”, concludes the head of the company’s mobile and fixed communications.
2024-09-09 13:36:36