Millennials And Zoomers Are Locked In A Battle Over Phone Etiquette, And I NEED To Know Whose Side You're On

Yahoo

16-07-2025

Well... it's happening again. One generation is being called out by another, and for once, millennials are not the target. Gen Z is on the hook (that's a phone pun for those of you who haven't used a landline) this time for the way they answer the phone.
Over on Twitter (now known as X), Lex (@jorilextera) shared their recent experience with Gen Z's phone etiquette. "i'm a recruiter so i do a TON of phone interviews and something i've noticed about gen z specifically is that a lot of them answer the phone and don't say anything. like i can hear their breathing and the background noise, but they wait for you to say hello first."
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Yes, you read that right. Some Zoomers are picking up the phone and then just sitting there, breathing, waiting for the caller to address them.
Lex clarified that these are scheduled, planned phone calls, so they shouldn't come as a surprise. But the fact that some Zoomers are totally silent when they pick up — well, that did come as a surprise to most millennials.
And of course, they weighed in immediately with their thoughts. "WHY TF WOULD YOU NOT ANSWER A PHONE CALL THAT YOU KNOW IS HAPPENING WITH HELLO????????" this person said.
"If you answer a call, YOU say hello so the other person knows you answered omfg"
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"You mean there's an audio version of the Gen Z stare?"
"if you know how to have a normal human interaction with another living person, you are in the top 1% of your cohort..."
Gen Z clapped back, saying that rampant spam phone calls make them wait to say anything until the caller has identified themselves. "When 90% of the phone calm you get are scam calls and you hear about AI duping your voice to trick your loved ones into scams you become skeptical of everything"
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"lmao I do this ... although it sounds pretty conspiracy theoryish , i heard once that callers can record your voice, alter it, then try to call your family to scam them pretending to be you..."
"Once those spam calls bots hear voice detected it's game over ... But if you're quiet, they hang up after a few seconds."
Others felt like this was just a normal rule. "Isn't it a universal law that the person who's doing the calling should be the one to say hello??"
"Respectfully if you called me I expect a hello from you first... Idc if it's a scheduled call whoever makes the call should say the first hello."
"Why can't you speak first? You literally called?" this person asked.
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But millennials just weren't having it. "Why would you answer the call just to breathe in the phone like a weirdo and not say anything. If it's a spam call, just hang up."
"If someone calls you, you say hello first. I am stunned at how many people sincerely believe the caller should talk first. Pick up the phone and say hello has been the standard forever."
"the whole point of the word 'hello' was to have a SPECIFIC greeting to signal that you picked up the phone."
And finally, this person tossed out an inspired suggestion: "this why we gotta bring the 'whussaaaaap' commercials back. so these kids learn a major social contract."
Now, I've gotta know: what do you think? Is saying "hello" when you answer the phone the proper etiquette? Or is the caller supposed to be the one who introduces themselves first? Let us know in the comments below:
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