theconversation.com: Some people might remember the days of coming back from school eager to call a friend, sometimes sitting for hours talking about anything and everything. However, today most young people rarely call each other. The very idea of calling someone or receiving a call seems to cause anxiety in many.
5 comments:
I have always been an avid phone caller. When I want to talk to my friends, I call them. I have found that I enjoy talking to others over the phone more than I do texting them. I have often found that my tone of voice is often misconstrued over text and often ends up in confusion or anger. I have found it interesting how many people of my age don’t like calling on the phone or just flat-out refuse to call anyone. I have had my most meaningful and memorable conversations over the phone. I cannot imagine that because of how our technology has progressed people 16 to 24 years old are 40% more likely to be lonely because of how our generation communicates. This statistic from the article surprised me and made me question why people often turn to their screens to communicate with the people they care about. I hope in the future the next generations will learn to communicate in a different way.
I’ve noticed a tendency among myself and my friends my age to schedule phone calls if we’re going to make them. As a stage manager, I will often make calls if an actor is late or if I need some kind of time-sensitive information from them; however, in my personal life, I don’t really make impromptu or unexpected phone calls. However, texts tend to be seen as something that can be sent at any time of day to a friend – I think that’s because a ringing phone seems more disruptive than one chime, even though most people usually silence their notifications during the day. I acknowledge that phone calls give you more control over tone and more of a sense of connection, but the drawback is that they have to be synchronously timed and also feel more formal for connecting with a friend. That said, I definitely prefer a phone call over text for catching up; but I get the anxiety people have over making the call.
Historically, I have not enjoyed phone calls for most of my life, but recently I’ve been making them more and starting to appreciate them more. It’s fascinating to learn how they can actually impact well being. Phone calls are very much not a thing in our generation (at least with my friends) - you either text/email or FaceTime and there’s not really a middle ground. Unfortunately for us, phone calls are pretty important as we get older. I do wonder if FaceTime has a similar emotional effect to well being to calling as it is similarly live (I know the article kind of picked up on this but it talked more about just the voice so I'm curious). I’ve always preferred it because being able to see someone’s face makes it less anxiety-inducing than a phone call with just a voice. While texting is certainly convenient, I do appreciate the informality of video calls and the live-ness of phone calls.
I’d never thought about why phone calls changed to being anxiety inducing. But I suppose it makes sense now that I think of it. The use of phones has shifted to avoid interacting with other people. Online shopping, Mobile Orders, etc allow for less human interaction. I always hate how older folks blame ‘those darn phones’ for a lot of the issues with the younger generations. The issue is certainly more complex than that. Technology can be a great blessing and a terrible curse. It’s about being able to use technology in moderation. I believe part of this paradox is the inability to practice social skills. Most people get to practice social skills in everyday life, but more and more children don't have to interact on a meaningful level because they have technology to escape to. However through this lack of practice interacting with others, it creates more anxiety, and thus people lean more into technology.
If there is one thing that I absolutely hate doing, it is having to make phone calls. I don’t exactly know whether it is the anxiety of having to find and dial a number, waiting for them to answer, or just having to hold an awkward 1-on-1 conversation with someone who is usually a stranger, but I would personally much rather answer an email over taking phone calls. It is really interesting to think about how other people feel about phone calls though, and whether or not they have a deeper engagement with the other person when it comes to more personal calls. I personally prefer messages over calls because it allows me to engage in the conversation while not needing to be fully present for it, and it also allows me to fully express what I want to say without stumbling over my words; I feel as though I am able to more clearly communicate over text than I am able to in-person or over the phone. Then again, I have never had much of a problem with not getting phone calls from people, as I have never really had any kind of negative feelings towards not getting calls from people, so perhaps my perspective is a little different from most peoples.
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