People speak less and less each year — and that's a problem
According to a new study, our daily conversations are becoming shorter. Today, we utter approximately 20% fewer words than 20 years ago. The most significant decline has been recorded among Generation Z representatives.
American researchers analyzed thousands of audio recordings of everyday conversations from 2197 people aged 10 to 90 from various countries. The dataset covered 22 studies conducted between 2005 and 2019. The results were reported by the Daily Mail.
While in 2007 people spoke an average of 15,959 words per day, in 2019 it was only 12,792, representing a 20% decrease. Further analysis showed that by 2019, the number of words spoken decreased by an average of 338 per day annually, equivalent to approximately 120,000 words per year.
A particularly sharp reduction is observed in people younger than 25 — they lost words about 44% faster than older individuals.
Scientists suggest that the reason for this may be an increase in emails, text messages, and social networks, but note that there are other, currently unexplained factors.
The authors point out that oral conversations have characteristics that written communication is not always able to convey. Intonation, speech tempo, emotional cues, and immediate feedback from the interlocutor play an important role. Whether correspondence provides the same social benefits as live conversations remains an open question, and future research should provide an answer.
Researchers emphasize: it's not just about words, but about conversations that are no longer happening — both long and very short ones. Even an additional 300 words a day can mean a simple chat with a neighbor or a joke among loved ones — and thus help reduce loneliness.
Scientists note: when people speak less, they interact less with each other. This is alarming, as modern society is already facing an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation.
“We are using fewer and fewer spoken words, especially young people. It's not just about digital technologies. Social connections are also changing. We have fewer face-to-face contacts. But we need eye-to-eye contact. The essence of life is communication, and it is beneficial for our psychological health,” the publication quotes Professor of Psychology at Manchester University, Cary Cooper.
In his opinion, the trend looks alarming: in the future, young people may have an even smaller vocabulary, and a significant part of thinking and creative functions will be transferred to artificial intelligence.
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