You can call me Al (but not if I don’t know you)
Young people hate making phone calls to people they don’t know and divert incoming calls from unknown callers to voicemail, preferring to text a response.
This is according to a survey of 2,010 UK adults over the age of 16 commissioned by Three and conducted by Censuswide.
The results of the survey show a growing generational divide, as young people have admitted to being apprehensive about making phone calls. Around 47 per cent of 16-24 year-olds polled say they divert voice calls to voicemail or reject them because they prefer to text.
People now call each other 25 per cent more than they did 10 years ago but younger users are avoiding voice contact. Although four in five people in the older age group said they make or receive phone calls at least once a week.
This compares with just 18 per cent of those over 55 surveyed. Two in five of the younger people surveyed asked others to make calls for them to avoid them having to phone someone. Young people are steering clear of voice calls using other methods.
Three out of four of five 16-24-year-olds prefer to use video calls to connect with friends and family at least once a week, twice as many as those aged over 55.
Two-thirds (58%) of 16-24-year-olds use voice notes at least once a week, compared with only one in 10 of those aged 55 and over. Seventy per cent of Gen Z use group chats every day.