Yep, that's me. I hate phone calls. I don't see phone calls as a natural human interaction at all and they make me really uncomfortable. I never pick up my phone but am almost always available for text messages.
No issues with video call or face to face chat though, so that's not that I find human interactions toxic. But phone calls are something I hate to do. They somehow feel too intrusive and too intimate.
We live largely on zoom these days, and less and less people have their cameras on and they are more like voice calls. I really don't see the difference between this and a phone call
Face chat is for friends and family; for business I don't want or need to see your face.
Of course people don't always capitalize fully on this but I think it's a major reason why messaging has come to be preferred over calls.
Cannot remember every detail when the decision conversation is done via phone call / meeting. I can only rely on written details.
Very true. The OP doesn't understand phone calls interrupt people most of the time unnecessarily. I like texts and emails, because I can process them whenever it's convenient for me, not when it's convenient for the other person.
But yes, if someone doesn't answer and then starts a text, it should be assumed/checked whether they're busy.
Consider how most people communicate now a days. A call is only for long conversations. No one is expecting to receive a call without a reason, out of the blue. I could certainly imagine people texting back, confused about what their friend wanted to talk about, and whether they could answer in a quick text instead.
That's not anxiety, it's just practical. No one is expecting you to call just to say "hi", they assume there must be some sort of problem that you want to talk about in depth.
It is my opinion that it is unhealthy, and that people should be aware of that and do more to be less unhealthy when it comes to social interaction.
I think it should be worked on if the person in question would rather have an easier time talking on the phone. Otherwise I'm not sure I agree.
I'm autistic and phonecalls are a nightmare given ambiguous social signalling over who begins speaking and when. Thankfully at this stage in the game most people contact me via some other communication method, the only calls I get are scammers.
I’m the opposite. I tend not to text. Most of my friends and family know this and call. When someone does text me, I remind them gently that I’m not willing to sit there trying to type on a tiny screen to have a mediocre conversation with them when they can just call me instead. I say it in a nicer way of course. It’s never a problem! I guess I’m just old but it looks like the default is shifting towards texting lately. No offense to the texters, but it’s just not my thing.
And most of the time, I love to have a phone conversation.
But, the mental state is not always there for it. I may may be in a low mood, or emotionally exhausted, or a host of other reasons why a voice conversation would not be ideal right now. When I talk to a friend I like to be able to engage with them and give them my best. Sometimes, it's just not the time.
So in such a case I would prefer to speak to them later, perhaps the next day after a good night's sleep. It shouldn't be a big deal unless someone makes it into one.
I think it was Stephen Fry who once said a phone call is like a person bursting into your room yelling "Talk to me now! Talk to me now! Talk to me now!" We wouldn't stand for that in any other circumstance, but when it happens through a phone it becomes socially acceptable.
Text is too often misconstrued and again emoj's don't solve this problem. The fact that emoji speak even exists is really odd to me, but I guess thats an "ok boomer" for me.
Problem with phone calls is that they are synchronous, yet quite often things callers want to resolve can be resolved asynchronously (= via text messages & emails), but you can handle those when it's convenient.
So at least I'm glad that most of my contacts send me messages in whichever messenger is convenient. We can always agree to call each other if we feel like it will be more convenient, but then it's a much different feeling then just randomly calling. Also personally 100% of "random calls" I got within last 3 years were telemarketers, so guess how often I answer the phone :-D
Edit: in general I agree strongly that dropping off social networks and in general reducing notifications noise to a minimum (and not only on smart phone but everywhere) does wonders, strongly recommend.