Phone Calls, Texts Or Email - How Do Millennials Communicate?
Millennials are the subject of many stereotypes, but there are some habits that are empirically demonstrable. As a millennial beginning your own career, you need to be aware of these group habits and preferences.
While you may deviate from the norm, your supervisors and bosses will likely expect certain tendencies from you, and your coworkers and peers will likely comply with the “average” behavior. Remember that when talking about “millennial” communication preferences, we’re really talking about the future of workplace communication overall, and whether you like it or not, you’ll need to prepare for those changes.
Millennials have have surpassed Gen Xers as being the most prominently represented generation in the modern workforce, with 53.5 million people. So how do these millions of millennials prefer to communicate?
Aversion to Phone Calls
Anecdotal evidence should tell you that millennials hate talking on the phone. As a millennial yourself, you probably hate it too. It’s already having an effect on society; European telecommunications company O2 produced a study that showed that “telephone” apps on smartphones, that is, using your phone to make actual phone calls, are only the fifth-most-used app among the general public.
Phones aren’t used to make phone calls anymore. But why is this the case? It could be one or more of several reasons. This generation grew up with the gradual introduction of instant messaging, texting, email, and other forms of written communication.
Because they’re just as instantaneous, but provide you the ability to think over your words, they’re more comfortable and precise communication forms. For a group of people dubbed “the anxious generation,” this is of the utmost importance.
It could also be that phone calls require a kind of interruption to someone’s day, while text messages and emails can be opened and read at the recipient’s leisure.
So let’s take a look at text messages and emails.
Text Messages and Internet Slang
Text messages do have several advantages, which is probably why 68% of millennials admit to texting “a lot” on a daily basis, compared to 47% of their Gen X counterparts.
They’re instant and mobile, which means they can be read and exchanged at almost any time. They can also be thought-out, rather than used as reactions, like in phone calls or in-person conversations.
Millennials also prefer text messages for their mass-messaging capabilities. Services like Dial My Calls allow senders to quickly coordinate employees with a single text, making it perfect for an “all hands on deck” situation. They’re also good for spreading information about emergencies, since they’re more likely to be read immediately than emails.
Also when you go online, chat with friends and join forums, you might have encountered a number of acronyms and abbreviations that make you scratch your head in trying to figure out what they mean. These are called Internet slang, chatspeak, netspeak, cyber slang or Internet shorthand.
Aside from slangs, shorthand, abbreviations and acronyms, there are also a variety of expressions. One of the most popular is ''I can't even'' which seems incomplete. But you can regularly see it used in many forums, messages and chat rooms. It first appeared online in 2005.
The expression means that someone was so overwhelmed by whatever emotion he or she is feeling at the moment and almost unable to handle it.
It's definite that there are hundreds of acronyms, Internet slangs, abbreviations and what have you's floating around the Web that you know (or not know). The good thing is that there are kind souls who translate these things for people who form the baby-boomers, the X generation, the Y generation and for some millennials whose entire lives do not involve on being connected.
Emails
Despite the immediate availability of text messaging and other messaging apps, email remains popular among millennials as well.
Over 205 billion emails are sent every day, or over 29 for every man, woman, and child on Earth. So why haven’t millennials abandoned email in favor of newer forms of communication?
It may be because emails are less urgent, and provide more space than text messages. You can write entire paragraphs, with bulleted lists and other formatting choices, rather than being limited to a few hundred characters. Despite a rising trend of checking email on nights and weekends, emails aren’t expected to have the same level of immediacy as text messages (even though most people expect a response within a few hours).
Informal Communication
Millennials are also making conversations and workplaces less formal. They’re pushing for more flexible hours, more casual environments, relaxed dress codes, and informal communication. That means all forms of communication have friendlier, more familiar tones, and casual forms of exchange, like emojis, are also becoming more popular.
Key Takeaways
What can you take from this information and apply to your own line of work?
- Adjust to new standards. These communication trends are the direction of the dominant generation in the workplace. It’s better to learn how to use them than to try and resist their takeover.
- Be aware of the advantages and disadvantages. There are still many options available to you, so it pays to know the advantages and disadvantages of each. For example, phone calls may not be popular, but they do have the advantage of creating a dialogue, which emails can’t do as effectively. Know how and when to use them.
- Communicate along generational lines. Remember that millennials are the majority, not the entirety, of the workforce. Adjust your communication style to suit the generation you plan to speak with. For example, if you’re speaking to someone in an older generation, consider using more formal language and sentence structures.
The fundamentals of good communication don’t change between generations. Listening, remaining concise, and including all the important details are as important as they’ve ever been; the difference now is the modes of communication we choose to apply those fundamentals.
You Might Also Read:
Millennials More Likely To Fall Victim To Cybercrime:
