We’re talking less than ever, researchers find
▼ Summary
– A study found that the average number of words spoken per day fell from 16,632 in 2005 to about 11,900 in 2019, a drop of nearly 28 percent.
– The decline is attributed to increased use of apps, texting, and online life, and is expected to have worsened after the pandemic.
– Researchers warn that reduced human interaction leads to psychological effects and a loss of basic conversational skills, such as not interrupting.
– Younger people under 25 lost more words per year (451) than those over 25 (314), with an average annual decline of 338 words.
– A linguistics professor suggests small changes, like talking to babies more or limiting smartphone use, could reverse the trend.
A new study from researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Arizona reveals a striking decline in spoken human interaction: the average number of words we speak aloud to another person dropped by nearly 28 percent between 2005 and 2019. And experts agree the COVID-19 pandemic has likely accelerated that trend even further.
The research team analyzed data from 22 studies, which included over 2,000 participants who recorded audio of their daily lives. In 2005, the average person spoke 16,632 words per day. By 2019, that figure had plummeted to roughly 11,900 words daily. The driving forces behind this shift are familiar: ordering through apps became routine, texting overtook phone calls, and our lives migrated increasingly online.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, psychologists and linguists are raising alarms about the psychological consequences of dwindling face-to-face conversation. The problem extends beyond the well-documented loneliness epidemic or the risk of falling into conspiracy theory rabbit holes. Study authors warn that people are losing basic conversational skills, such as knowing when not to interrupt others.
The decline affected all age groups, though younger people fared slightly worse. Individuals under 25 lost an average of 451 fewer words spoken per year, while those over 25 lost 314 words per year. Overall, daily word counts fell by 338 words per year. If that trajectory has continued since 2019, we may now be speaking fewer than 10,000 words per day.
Despite these troubling numbers, Valerie Fridland, a linguistics professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, told the Wall Street Journal that panic isn’t warranted. Small, intentional changes could help reverse the slide: parents talking more to their infants, installing a landline, and simply putting the smartphone down for stretches during the day.
(Source: The Verge)
