tech
The hill I will die on: Voice notes have made my generation a bunch of self-absorbed bores
We used to have the back and forth of actual conversation. Now we have phones filled with our friends’ rambling soliloquies
TL;DR
- Voice notes have become an epidemic, replacing actual conversation with one-sided monologues.
- This method is criticized for cheapening conversation and increasing narcissism among users.
- Britons send an average of 58 hours' worth of voice notes annually.
- Gen Z audio messages average over 12 minutes, contributing to lengthy, meandering monologues.
- Voice notes allow senders to avoid conversational engagement and dominate the 'airtime'.
- While useful for specific situations like driving or cross-time zone communication, voice notes are generally too self-involved.
- Historically, sending recorded messages (like cassette tapes) was a more meaningful and thoughtful process.