Once upon a time—by which I mean about 10 years ago—if you wanted to speak to someone, you would pick up the phone and actually call them. Radical, I know. But somewhere between the rise of WhatsApp, Messenger, and text messages, we collectively decided that hearing another human voice was an outrageous inconvenience, and now the humble phone call is about as popular as dial-up internet and non-ironic landlines.

It is not that messaging isn’t useful—it is. Need to send a quick address? Text it over. Organising a group night out? A WhatsApp chat saves you from ringing six different people, only to have them all “check their calendars” (which, as we all know, is code for ignoring you until the last minute). But somewhere along the line, we decided that messaging should replace phone calls entirely, and that’s where things have gone off the rails.

Buying and Selling: The Endless Text Negotiation

Consider the absolute faff of trying to buy or sell something online. If you’re negotiating on Marketplace, you will get a series of cryptic, half-finished texts:

“U still got it?”

“What’s ur best price?”

“Can u deliver to Milton Keynes?”

And then… radio silence. For days. If you had just called the person, you could have settled the deal in 30 seconds instead of engaging in a week-long text-based hostage negotiation.

Work Emails: The Passive-Aggressive Marathon

Or take work emails—sure, they serve a purpose, but we have all been stuck in a 20-email back-and-forth that could have been resolved in a 90-second phone call. Instead, everyone hedges their language, throws in unnecessary pleasantries (“Just circling back on this!”), and agonises over the tone to avoid sounding too aggressive or too passive. Speak to a person directly, and suddenly there’s no room for misinterpretation, passive aggression, or the dreaded “misunderstood sarcasm” disaster.

Calling Your Mates: A Social Crime?

And then there is the social side of things. Once upon a time, we called our mates. Now, if you ring someone unannounced, they react like you have just shown up at their house with no warning. Missed calls are ignored, and then followed by a text: “Hey, you rang?” Yes, I did. And now I have to explain via text what I could have just told you if you’d picked up the phone.

The Phone Call’s Uncertain Future

So, is the phone call dead forever? Probably. Free messaging, voice notes, and AI-generated replies mean that we are hurtling toward a future where actual human-to-human conversation is a last resort. Soon, even when we do want to speak to someone, it’ll probably be their AI-generated voice that picks up instead.

But, just maybe, the phone call will make a comeback. Maybe we’ll get tired of misinterpreted messages, ghosted replies, and endless typing. Maybe one day, picking up the phone will once again be seen as a normal, efficient way to communicate rather than an act of social terrorism.

Although, let us be honest—it’s probably more likely we’ll just end up texting AI versions of each other instead.