On Mute Mode. Why don’t millennials answer the phone?

This generation of young people find the calls a kind of offense, experts say

Millennials and generation Z have integrated communication through platforms in which it is not necessary for two interlocutors to coincide in time and it is easier, more comfortable and less intrusive for them to “text”. (Send written messages through various platforms with an electronic device)

“I didn’t hear it”, “I had it on silent” or “I had poor coverage” are the top three excuses for not answering a call. This generation finds receiving a call a time-consuming intrusion into daily life, becoming what many consider to be the “dumb generation”.

This is the opinion of 75% of the young people interviewed in the study Generation mute, millennials phone call statistics, carried out on 1,200 American millennials born between 1981 and 1996.

 “The lack of confidence in their communication skills in face-to-face and synchronous conversations causes them to activate defense mechanisms such as avoidance; if they don’t respond, there’s no opportunity to test that skill deficit.»

Beyond intrusion or lack of security, the truth is that 81% of young people feel anxiety before summoning up enough courage to make a call. “They perceive the traditional call as a risky communication strategy, because in a call they cannot erase the words spoken live in a conversation. This generates less security and confidence than, for example, using a voice note, a format that allows them to repeat their address as many times as necessary before sending it,» explains Ferran Lalueza, professor and researcher at Information Sciences Studies and of the Communication of the UOC.

“Millennials (whose ages fluctuate between 25 and 40 years old) and generation Z (from 16 to 24 years old) are the most intensive cell phone users and maintain constant interaction with other people through social networks and applications.

The generation that was born and adopted the smartphone from the cradle is the one that interacts the least live. The UOC researcher concludes with a warning: “It is not a communication problem, since they have the resources to make themselves understood; it is rather a matter of habits, which could reduce, in the medium term, the range of communicative skills available to them, something that would certainly be impoverishing”, says Lalueza.

With information of:

 José Luis Becerra Pozas