Study finds spoken word counts have declined, especially among people under 25

A study of more than 2,000 speakers found spoken word counts declining between 2005 and 2019.

The participants were ages 10 to 94 and came from 22 studies.

Across the period, people spoke about 338 fewer words each year on average.

Those under 25 had the steepest decline, at about 458 fewer words a year, while older adults also showed a downward trend.

The researchers suggest social media and changing social habits may help explain the decline, but the findings do not establish that social media caused it.

Online contact can support well-being, especially when people communicate with close friends, but digital contact alone contributes less than in-person interaction.

The researchers raise the concern that less face-to-face conversation could add to loneliness, while noting that online messaging may offer some benefits of real-life conversation.