We’re All Talking Less Than We Used To 😳📱🗣️
Are we forgetting how to talk to each other? 📱🗣️ A new study shows people are speaking nearly 30% fewer words each day compared to 2005, thanks to texting, social media, and less face-to-face interaction. Here’s why experts say that could be a bigger problem than we realize 😳
4/27/20261 min read
If it feels like people are texting more and actually talking less… you’re not imagining it.
A new study says we’re speaking WAY fewer words every day than we did just a decade ago—and experts are starting to worry 👀
📊 The numbers
Researchers from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the University of Arizona found that:
In 2005, people spoke about 16,632 words per day 🗣️
By 2019, that dropped to just 11,900 words 😳
That’s a 28% decrease
And since the study didn’t include post-pandemic data… there’s a good chance it’s even lower now.
📱 Why is this happening?
Honestly? Technology is doing most of the talking for us.
Think about it:
Text messages 💬
Emails 📧
Social media DMs 📲
Ordering food without speaking to a human 🍔
Self-checkout everything 🛒
We’re just interacting differently now.
🧠 Why experts care
Talking isn’t just about filling silence—it actually helps build important social skills.
When you have a real conversation, your brain has to:
Listen carefully 👂
Process what the other person said
Form a response
Control your reaction
…and do all of that in about 200 milliseconds 😵
That kind of communication matters more than we realize.
👶 Younger people are feeling it more
The trend is even stronger with younger adults.
Each year:
People under 25 lost about 451 words a day
People over 25 lost about 314 words a day
Probably because younger people grew up with more screens and less face-to-face interaction.
🤔 The bigger issue
Some experts think shorter attention spans might also be making it harder to hold conversations…
…and fewer conversations might be making attention spans worse.
Basically: it’s a cycle 🔄
🗣️ Final thought
Maybe we should start treating words like steps.
You’ve heard of 10,000 steps a day…
What about 10,000 words? 😂📱
Either way, maybe it’s time to call someone instead of texting them “lol” for the 47th time today.