Gen Z’s aversion to phone calls has created a brutal dating trend

“I’ll just give them a call.”

It is a phrase that may become obsolete when you consider only 1 in 10 Generation Z Aussies would prefer to talk to their friends and family via a phone call

Research conducted by CommBank and telco provider More has revealed that 90 percent of Gen Z are anxious about speaking on the phone.

They even go as far as to say that an awkward phone call is one of the top three things they’d most want to avoid in life.

Yep! Answering the phone is right up there with fears of heights and crocodiles.

The younger generation’s aversion to using a phone to make, well, phone calls has created an interesting dating trend.

Instead of getting the dreaded break-up call that was the modern dating trend for Millennials, younger Aussies are copping, some would say, an even more brutal experience.

The phone call break-up was even cemented into pop culture thanks to Taylor Swift telling Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 that Joe Jonas broke up with her over a 27-second phone call.

Times have changed and now the younger generation in their wide-legged pants are dreading a text that could end their romance.

In fact, 1 in 5 Gen Z’s have broken up with a partner via text, it hasn’t just become a thing that happens, it has become the done thing.

Kean, 26, is someone that has broken up with a person over text before, and he doesn’t see it as rude.

In fact, he reckons younger people “prefer” rejection over text. Typing out a goodbye message is good manners in the Gen Z world.

“Most people would prefer it, as it saves a really awkward chat,” he told news.com.au.

For Generation Z, breaking up with someone over the text line is just normal behavior and sure, you can question why, but for them their use of texting is just so ingrained that it has become a default.

Kean recently broke it off with a girl he’d been seeing for a couple of months – yes months, not weeks – via text.

“I don’t think I really saw anything in a future together, so I messaged her saying that I really enjoyed our time together,” he said.

Things got a little awkward over text because he made a crucial typo and wrote he was “really interested” instead of “not interested.”

Texting doesn’t always make things easier or clearer.

“In my nervous haste, I had made a typo and said I was ‘really interested’ rather than ‘not really interested’ … lesson there is, proofread your break-up texts!”

Despite the typos and miscommunication that can happen via texting, Kean is still keen on the break-up text.

“I think that if you have been dating casually for a little while, texting to say you’re not interested is fine.”

He has decided to only end things via text if things are still fresh and new, so no break-up texts after years together.

“I’ve put it up to a timer, I think anything after a month of dating warrants a call – as awkward and uncomfortable as it may be.”

So why is he so afraid of the phone? Confrontation.

“I think we’re fundamentally averse to conflict. Calling someone and telling them you’re ‘just not that into them’ is probably more of an emotional roller coaster to ourselves than to the person receiving the end,” he said.

Andrew Branson, CEO of More said: “Our research suggests Gen Z aren’t necessarily bad communicators – they just prefer to communicate with friends and family in different ways.”

Texting someone a break-up message might sound cold to older generations who are used to ringing to deliver big news but texting doesn’t mean Generation Z care less about each other or the people in their lives.

“It is important to understand that Gen Z creates connections in different ways. While only 1 in 10 Gen Z Aussies say they would prefer to talk to their friends and family via a phone call – there’s an overwhelming consensus (98 percent) that it’s important for them to stay connected with friends and family, and this is one of their top priorities in life,” Branson explained.

Texting someone a break-up message isn’t a callous way to end a relationship but rather just the way young people do things these days.