People Raised In The 60s, 70s & 80s Can't Stand 6 Texting Habits Gen Z Thinks Are Proper Communication
AYO Production / Shutterstock Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, you had to call someone on the phone or write them a letter if you wanted to communicate with someone and couldn't see them in person. Gen Z doesn't meet up in person as much, and they rarely have a landline. Instead, they use their cell phones to text their friends and family.
Having grown up with texting as their go-to method, Gen Z has developed specific texting habits they see as proper communication, even if their parents and grandparents refuse to accept them.
People raised in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s can't stand several texting habits Gen Z thinks are proper communication
1. Sending long texts
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As a member of Gen Z myself, I can say that many people in my generation get annoyed when someone sends a flurry of back-to-back, short text messages. In fact, one study found that Gen Z has a much stronger negative reaction to them than older generations do.
Because they’re constantly texting their friends, they don’t want to have a bunch of notifications they feel pressured to reply to when they already have enough from other people, so they prefer receiving one long paragraph.
That can get annoying for older people, though. They don’t always mind getting more notifications if it helps them understand the information better. Sending back-to-back texts breaks down the information into easy-to-digest chunks. They refuse to accept someone getting annoyed at them for sending multiple messages, even if Gen Z thinks it’s rude.
2. Sending voice memos
People can now send texts without pressing more than one button, and the voice memo option has become pretty popular with Gen Z. They like it because you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to send a message. They think it’s more polite because it helps them respond faster. Gen Z believes it’s better than keeping someone waiting. It also won’t stop the other person from doing what they need to. They can just play the message while they finish whatever task they’re working on.
People who were raised back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s don’t like this feature as much. Some of them think it shows a lack of effort. They see it as disrespectful not to take the time to write out a message. It makes many of them feel like whoever is texting through voice memo doesn’t actually care. Many refuse to send these messages and prefer calling someone when they’d rather talk than text.
3. Using abbreviations
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Abbreviations are a popular way Gen Z communicates over text. Sometimes they’ll stand for entire sentences like BRB (be right back) or LOL (laughing out loud). Gen Z considers this polite because it’s a quicker way to get their point across. They’re all about efficiency when it comes to communication, but that isn’t always the older generation's primary concern.
They often think these texts are rude, especially when the abbreviation isn’t even for an entire sentence. Some abbreviations like RLLY (really) are shorthand for a single word. People who are a good 30 to 50 years older than them will usually complain about why someone didn’t just type out the full word when it’s only a few more letters. This is another form of lazy communication for them. But they also hate it because it makes more work for the other person. When they don’t know an abbreviation someone from Gen Z uses, they have to look it up, and it takes even more time to respond.
4. Sending DMs in apps instead of texts
Almost everyone in Gen Z is on social media. Many of us check it constantly to keep up with everything going on. Because they’re on social media platforms so much, DM’s can be an easy way to share messages with people.
Most social media platforms have a feature that lets you text people directly in the app. Gen Z likes to text this way, especially if they don’t have someone’s number. They think it’s polite to DM them because that person can then see their username. It’s less confusing than receiving a message from an unknown number.
Older generations don’t tend to enjoy communicating over DM’s though. They don’t want another form of communication they have to keep up with. They also don’t really see the purpose. If they want to text someone, they’ll just do it over the messages app. They think it’s impolite for someone to message them on social media and expect them to see it.
5. Catching up in a quick message instead of calling
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Older people would rather call than text when they communicate with people. They think it feels more authentic. With calls, you can actually hear someone’s voice rather than just see letters on the screen. It’s also the way they’re used to communicating. They don’t think of calls the same way they see texts. They think calls create more connection, and get frustrated when someone texts them to catch up.
Gen Z is used to this behavior and actually considers it polite. They think it’s better to text someone if they’re too busy rather than wait until they have time to call. People raised in the 60s, 70s, and 80s don’t think this is a worthwhile way to catch up, though.
6. Using poor grammar
Gen Z doesn’t think about grammar as much as their parents and grandparents do when it comes to texting. Gen Z likes to send messages without using correct punctuation. This is especially true with periods and commas, which can even seem passive-aggressive at the end of a text. Capital letters are another way Gen Z ignores grammar in texts. They send messages in all lowercase.
They think using correct grammar makes texts feel more formal, so they see it as polite to avoid punctuation and capitalization, even if it makes the older generations mad. Baby boomers and Gen X are used to using correct grammar in messages because they grew up writing letters before texting was a thing.
Lily Bell is a college student studying English and Publications who covers relationships, mental health, and personal narratives surrounding the human experience.
