Talking on the phone is fading fast as Aussies prefer to message friends and family, new research by comparison website finder.com.au reveals.
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The survey of 2011 respondents showed 56 per cent of Aussie adults — equivalent to 10.7 million Australians — avoid phone calls, preferring to text, use messaging apps or email to keep in touch.
Angus Kidman, Tech Expert at finder.com.au, says Baby Boomers are keeping calls alive as younger Aussies rarely pick up the phone.
“There used to be an urgency in picking up a ringing phone, almost like a reflex. Now it’s quite common to see young Aussies screen calls and respond via text, rather than calling back to have a conversation.”
“If your phone rings, chances are it's a relative or a salesperson.”
Almost two thirds (62 per cent) of Generation Y use text messages or messaging apps to chat to friends and family: one in three (33 per cent) prefer SMS while nearly as many (29 per cent) prefer to send a message via an app (such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger).
Only (27 per cent) of Gen Y prefers to speak on the phone, while one in ten (10 per cent) favour email over any other method of communication.
Kidman urges Gen Ys to take important conversations offline.
“Some messages just shouldn’t be delivered over text—getting dumped over WhatsApp isn’t fun for anyone.”
“Calls are free on most mobile plans, so there’s no excuse for not picking up the phone for tough conversations.”