I was beginning to take it personally. Truth be told, my kids don’t return my calls, or my wife’s for that matter. We know that both of our boys are very busy, and always mult-tasking so talking on the phone was a bit of a chore to begin with. When my wife, The Little Red Headed Girl (LRHG) asked boy #2 why he didn’t return her call – he stated , with total sincerity, “you didn’t ask a question!” We always ask questions now, usually lot of them.
Two recent articles affirm what we have been feeling on both a personal and professional realm – people don’t like to talk on the phone, and prefer to email or text instead. 2nd truth be told, we email, but we don’t text. I can since I have a DroidX, my wife can’t since she has a ‘plain’ phone, no extras, please.
Last week, Ian Shapira in The Washington Post in the article “Texting Generation Doesn’t Share Boomers’ Taste for Talk” hit the nail on the head. Gen X & Y now see phones as intrusive and time wasters and prefer to use email and texting. I first discovered this in 2007 when I headed a direct marketing company in Oakland. Several staff members convinced me that email was more efficient, and it was in processing orders. The let down came when problems arose and couldn’t be quickly solved with emails – then I had to get involved and make the calls. Voice can quickly resolve issues, and also goes a long way in really building 2-way communications.
Today in an online article from ABC News by Ki Mae Heussner titled “Phone Fatigue: Voice Calls on the Decline,” she noted that cellular and landline minutes are declining. People just aren’t making as many calls. This has been a growing trend for some time and we are starting to see some research as well that this habit of younger adults may now be influencing the behavior of older adults. It has for me, but my first reaction is still to reach for the phone, not the keyboard, when I want to talk with someone.
Next week I am working with a new client on exactly this issue – how to effectively blend channels of communication – a generational divide has caused some problems and I am going in to ‘help.’ Maybe my kids will call back – nah, I’ll just email them and save the headache.
