America may be running out of things to say.
Spoken conversation is sharply declining, with people using about 30% fewer words each day than they did two decades ago — a shift that researchers and experts warn could be deepening the nation’s “loneliness epidemic” as convenience increasingly replaces human contact.
Everyday chatter, including the casual small talk that once filled errands, workplaces and social spaces, has been fading. The average person is speaking 338 fewer words per day for every year that has passed since 2005, according to a report published in Perspectives on Psychological Science.
“There may be cognitive, social and emotional implications — relationships we form outside of speaking are not as strong,” study co-author Valeria Pfeifer of the University of Missouri–Kansas City told The Post on Friday.
“We may experience more loneliness and disconnectedness,” Pfeifer said. “Having more spoken conversation is tied to psychological well-being.”
Today, people speak an average of 12,792 words per day, according to the study, which examined roughly 2,200 participants, most of them in the US.
The decline was steepest among those under 25, who spoke an average of 451 fewer words per year, compared with 314 fewer words annually among participants 25 and older — a drop that was 44% larger for the younger group.
Pfeifer said the decrease is likely connected to the rise of the “convenience economy,” where people have fewer face-to-face interactions as they choose delivery options for everything from groceries to restaurant meals.
“Likely a contributing factor is we have technology replacing situations where we have to talk to each other,” she said.
“You can use an app to order your coffee instead of talking to your barista, for example.”
Less spoken conversation could also trigger communication-related cognitive problems, said Pfeifer, who co-authored the study with Matthias Mehl of the University of Arizona.
Communicating by text message and other typed conversations creates weaker social bonds than face-to-face ones, and nuance of communication is often lost in them, Pfeife saidr.
“It’s possible it may be contributing to the loneliness epidemic, and people feeling more isolated,” the expert said.
For the study, researchers analyzed participants ages 10 to 94 using a device that passively recorded parts of their day.
The analysis combined data from 22 separate studies conducted between 2005 and 2019, mostly in the US but also in Mexico, Australia and Europe.
The trend has likely worsened since 2019 after the pandemic as remote work and social distancing have dramatically limited casual in-person conversation, experts said.
