‘Generation mute’ anticipates the end of phone calls

Many young people find phone calling uncomfortable despite admitting that it would be the easiest way to communicate with friends and family.

Recent studies show that most teenagers use smartphones almost exclusively for instant messaging. Some consider real time voice calls to be “awkward”.

In the US, 92% of the teenagers don’t use their mobile phones for voice calls at all, according to the The App Generation report.

“Generation mute is the phenomenon were we actually see young people to text and use social media rather than pick up the phone and have a conversation with each other”, business psychologist Dimitrios Tsivrikos told the BBC.

Another survey among Millennials in the US, showed that 81% of respondents identified with the statement “I sometimes feel I have to summon up the courage to make a phone call”. Not taking incoming phone calls was frequent to avoid “time-consuming calls”, “having to turn up at an event” or “verbal confrontation”, a Bankmycell survey said.

“When you’re using messaging services you can dip in and out when you want. Furthermore, sending an email or message via an app you’re getting straight to the point without any ‘weather today’ small talk”, the report concluded.

DECLINE OF OTHER DEVICES

Figures of the Digital Society report in Spain show that almost all (96%) of young people aged 14-24 use Whatsapp and other instant messaging app as their preferred means to keep in touch with family and friends.

Trends show a decline in the use of computers and tablets.

People connect to internet mainly through mobile phones, and the most common activities are texting (94%), writing emails (81%), using social media (67%), listening to music (58%), order bank transfers (54%) and shop online (51%).

“HARDER TO LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD”

Christians working with youth have been analysing how the meaning of words like ‘intimacy’, ‘privacy’ and ‘friends’ have been changing.

“Young people’s lives are a mixture of real and virtual and it seems that it’s getting harder to live in the real world”, an expert in Romania told Evangelical Focus. But “being nostalgic about the good old times simply doesn’t help (…) As Christians we need to understand the times we’re living in”.

A ministry in the UK just published new insights into how Gen Z is behaving online.