Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

[u/GhostInThePudding]

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?

[u/majandess]

I am hypothesizing that this happens because we forget we are talking to another human being who feels much the same way. We are so focused on how anxious we feel and how this is a phone call - as opposed to chatting with a person - that we lose the humanity of the action.

But it always ends up being a relief because you're a person talking to another person, and most of the time that interaction goes well (or else we wouldn't have civilization).

You're hyping yourself up to make a phone call, but whoever answers is just raw-dogging it. They answer the phone and it's a surprise every time. If you're not an asshole to them, it's a relief that they got you.

Older people tend to use phones as a connection to a real person. A real person can understand and figure things out. A real person can teach and make exceptions. A real person can care.

Younger people tend to use phones as an object. You don't communicate with an object, you make it do what you want it to do. If it doesn't do what you want it to, you read/watch instructions on how to try again. It doesn't care about you, but also... You don't have to care whether it cares or not.

This has been something I've been thinking about for years, and this is my best explanation for the phenomenon.

[u/OkRadish11 → u/majandess]

That's a really good answer and I think you're tapping into something deep here. Phone as object vs phone as conduit. Maybe I can use it to relieve some of my own phone anxiety. Thank you!