Have you ever sent a message to a colleague in Teams or Slack, seen them “read” it, and then received no response an hour or even a day later? In the era of hybrid work and endless messaging apps, British society is confronted with a new social phenomenon, which psychologists have already dubbed “silence as the new rudeness.” While we once measured politeness by the number of “sorry” and “please” uttered in person, today politeness is expressed in response speed, the use of emojis, and the ability to set your “offline” status in a timely manner. Research shows that by 2025, more than 60% of office workers in London and Manchester will experience anxiety specifically due to a lack of feedback in digital channels, not due to actual conflicts.
The roots of this anxiety lie in the asynchronous nature of modern communication. When you speak to someone face-to-face, you see a reaction—a nod, a smile, a look of confusion. In a text message, a lingering message creates an “information vacuum,” which the brain fills with the most dire scenarios: “Am I being ignored?” “Did I say something wrong?” “Am I going to get fired?” In reality, the most common reason is trivial: a colleague read the message in passing, got distracted by an urgent call, and then forgot to respond. But a rational explanation doesn’t negate the emotion. This is why progressive British companies are increasingly implementing a “digital hygiene code”: they agree to respond to messages within four hours, and if they don’t, they set an automatic answering machine.
This problem is especially acute in intergenerational relationships. Generation Z, who grew up with phones in hand, often perceives the lack of an immediate response as a personal insult. Millennials, who remember the days when they had to wait weeks for an email, are more relaxed about it. And baby boomers, many of whom still prefer phone calls, simply don’t understand why “some little things in a chat” should bother anyone. This gap in communication habits creates tension even in the closest families and teams. Paradoxically, the more channels of communication we have, the less we understand each other.
