Researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Arizona have found that the average number of words spoken aloud to another person dropped by nearly 28% between 2005 and 2019.
This decline has likely accelerated since the pandemic, as digital communication and app-based services became the primary means of interaction.
The study, published in The Verge, analyzed data from 22 studies involving over 2,000 participants who recorded audio of their daily conversations. In 2005, the average person spoke 16,632 words per day. By 2019, that number had fallen dramatically.
The researchers attribute the decline to the rise of texting, social media, and app-based services, which have reduced face-to-face and verbal interactions.
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