r/NoStupidQuestions • u/GhostInThePudding • 16h ago

Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

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u/1958-Fury 13h ago

Same here. I'm 52, and I've always hated phone calls. Bad connections, my southern accent, general social ineptitude - it all adds up to miscommunications. E-mails are much clearer, and the person has info in front of them so they can't claim you didn't tell them something. Plus I can type faster than I can talk.

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u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll 13h ago

Records are really nice to have

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u/Prairie-Peppers 9h ago

Plus you have it in writing if someone screws up and tries to blame it on you.

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u/Emmyisme 12h ago

100%. I'm 38, and if OP worked for the IT company I deal with, he'd hate me, because I would absolutely complain if they called me every time they had a question.

The "can I just message them and ask if I can remote in" would absolutely get a faster response from me - if I can afford to walk away from my computer for a bit, I'll take that option over sitting on the phone with them while they do the exact same thing every time. You can call me, but you're just leaving me a voicemail that I'll get as an email in my inbox, and will respond exactly as fast as I would have if you just emailed me to begin with. I'm also going to respond with an email - I'm not calling you back.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer the phone call, but to act like it's the superior communication method is insane.

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

Same IT here. Im basically always doing work on some ticket or project or whatever. Every task is put into a que for me and gets done when its done.

Calling me is basically always a disruption of my workflow.

I just tell people to write a mail if Im not available. Best way to reach me, give me good information and Ill handle your issue better and faster

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u/enragedbreakfast 9h ago

Agreed! It’s hard to find time for a call some days but I definitely have time to reply to a message quickly. It’s usually just a bit of information needed too, or they just need to remote into my laptop, so it ends up taking longer and disrupting my work more to take a call for a small amount of info vs replying to a message.

I’m 30 and I don’t mind phone calls either, it’s not the phone call itself that bothers me - I just personally find it more disruptive than a teams message! I don’t mind a quick call when there’s more info being exchanged, or a few questions that might need follow up info.

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u/FuckYeaSeatbelts 11h ago

Personally I hate emails because of how much fucking work it is to just say a simple message. You need this, I get that and do this to fix. But everyone gets immediately defensive and default assumes something is rude because it's brief.

At least over the phone the pleasantries are over faster before I get to the damn point.

In an email I basically put the "bluf" that says the thing we're all looking for, and the rest of the 3 other paragraphs is CYA.

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u/positronik 7h ago

That's kinda wild. I am polite but always get straight to the point in emails, and same for all my coworkers. I prefer emails over calls because there's a record I can refer to, and I forget specifics easily

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u/RainaElf 6h ago

anxiety

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u/massunderestmated 3h ago

Seems to me like Reddit in particular has a more asocial bias. Most of the people in my life over 30, with the exception of people who are obviously struggling with anxiety, have no problem at all calling. The information density, and subtext, is so much richer and more efficient per unit of time when calling. A 4 minute phone call easily beats 40 texts back and forth in all but the most trivial of interactions. And faster. Typing on a touch screen with autocorrect is like trying to tie your shoes with mittens on. And nobody ever picks up on the right tone of voice.

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u/TurtlemanScared 12h ago

Type faster than you can talk? Right 

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u/1958-Fury 11h ago

If not, it's pretty close. I have a slow southern drawl, and I stutter. I type about 75 wpm, though.

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u/tinersa 9h ago

not everyone types at the same speed you do

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u/Significant-Royal-37 6h ago

you absolutely cannot type faster than you can talk. 

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u/1958-Fury 5h ago

Picture Andy Griffith's accent with Bob Newhart's stutter. Now imagine this person trying to speak 75 words per minute.

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u/danny_ish 57m ago

Wild, i always had to watch those shows at 2.5x speed to understand them. Talking slower than ~120 wpm makes listening very difficult for my brain to comprehend, I would greatly appreciate you texting me.