|
PR03233 19 Mar 2004
Brits Only Have Seven Lines Of Conversation And Men Only Use Three Of Those Most Of The Time
London - UK - 19th March 2004. Brits talk about just seven topics day to day and men only discuss half of these seven themes in 80% of their conversations according to new figures released in the ‘MSN Messenger – Anatomy of Modern Conversation’ study issued today.
The MSN Messenger research, a study of hundreds of online conversations carried out by ten different social groups, including mixed and single sex friendship groups, work colleagues and families over a fortnight, also reveals:
| • | While men spend the majority of their social exchanges discussing just four topics, women-only conversations typically encompass between five to seven of the possible topics while mixed groups and families cover around five |
| • | Brits fall into just six different conversational roles (Stimulator, Bridger, Gossiper, Diplomat, Advisor and Censor) |
| • | Our conversations are shaped by the hour and day of the week we have them |
| • | We’re happiest conversing in small groups with the majority of our day to day conversations only involving three participants |
MSN Messenger, the instant online conversation tool rapidly replacing email, is currently used by one in ten people in the UK (over seven million) and is shaping the frequency, content and timings of our day to day conversations with friends, families and colleagues.
The MSN Messenger ‘Anatomy of Modern Conversation’ is the third tranche of MSN Messenger’s research into communication and friendship, following research into the phenomenon of ‘Globespeak’ and a comprehensive study of the nature and patterns of modern friendship.
We’re all talking about…
Inspite of the fact that no two conversations are the same, the MSN Messenger ‘Anatomy of Modern Conversation’ study indicates they only ever comprise a mix of seven different ‘lines of conversation’:
1.Current Culture – sport, news, celebrities, fashion, music
2.Solidarity – boredom, stress levels, tiredness, weather, money problems, illness, anger, frustration
3.Food – planning mealtimes, alcohol consumption, weight issues and calorie counting
4.Relationships – flirting, gossip and advice seeking
5.Money and ambition – salary, job plans, property and professional rivalry
6.Social Activity – going out with friends, weekend plans and holidays
7.General Banter – name calling, joke telling and code language
Of these seven potential lines of conversation, single sex male groups typically only rely on four – Current Culture, Money and Ambition, Social Activity and General Banter - in eight out of ten of their conversations. In fact the conversations are so focused that in around a third (30%) only one conversation theme (typically either Current Culture (Sport) or General Banter) is used throughout an exchange.
In comparison, in single sex female groups conversation typically skips between five and seven topics. Even in conversations of less than ten exchanges female groups tend to use at least half of the potential seven themes available.
Morose Mondays, 3pm Happy Hours and ‘Virtual Elevenses’
According to Dr Frank Monaghan, language specialist at the Open University, as a nation we’re fairly formulaic when it comes to conversation with key points in the week earmarked for different types of conversation.
The MSN Messenger study reveals that over three quarters (76%) of our ‘Solidarity’ conversations and 85% of our Money and Ambition conversations happen on what the report identifies as ‘Morose Mondays’ when conversation focuses on being anywhere other than where participants happen to be:
Person 1: I’m so tired and it’s only Monday!’
Person 2: ‘Could really do with another day off!’
Person 3: ‘me too…’
Person 2: ‘three day weeks have to be the way forward’
Person 4: ‘wish could chat but too busy to even breathe at the moment’
Person 1: ‘Have to get a promotion this month or I’m out’
Person 2: ‘too right’
Person 3: ‘you’d never walk’
Person 1: ‘wouldn’t have done before but have had enough now and need to get
more money because of buying a place’
However, by ‘Filler Wednesdays and Thursdays’ conversation typically turns to lighter communal topics such as Social Plans and Current Culture with TV commentary accounting for around a quarter (23%) of conversation exchanges on these days:
Person 1: ‘Did everyone see I’m a Celebrity?’
Person 2: ‘I want to Kerry a win’
Person 1: ‘Me too! She reminds me of my sister’
Person 3: ‘But she’s a bit pathetic. How hilarious was Peter Andre????’
By Friday afternoons – identified in the report as an extended ‘Happy Hour’ – conversation amongst all groups from families to work colleagues is almost exclusively dominated by Social Plans, Relationships and General Banter.
And it’s not only times of the week that determine our conversation themes, different points in the day seem to be dominated by key conversation topics. The MSN Messenger ‘Anatomy of Modern Conversation’ study identifies a new ‘Virtual Elevenses’ phenomena with online conversations focusing to a large extent on food ‘dreaming’ and food consumption from 11am – 1pm:
Person 1: ‘I feel sick now’
Person 2: ‘my sandwich was just nasty’
Person 1: ‘why?’
Person 2: ‘could taste the tomatoes in it’
Person 3: ‘what is it with you and tomatoes?’
Person 1: ‘I’ve had about 800 calories already today’
Person 2: ‘you can’t have’
Person 1: ‘I had a full fat latte, my cereal bar, half of my sandwich pack…’
Person 3: ‘that works out to 800 I reckon’
Person 4: ‘you lot are obsessed!’
Three – that’s the magic number
It seems that although most groups have conversations that can include anywhere between two and ten people, most of us feel most comfortable in a conversation involving just three.
Over half (55%) of the Messenger conversations analysed involved only three participants and in a quarter of cases (25%) in which conversations started with more people, by their close only three were actively contributing.
Are you an Advisor, Stimulator or Diplomat?
The MSN Messenger ‘Anatomy of Modern Conversation’ research reveals that surprisingly Brits seem to only fall into six key categories as conversationalists:
| • | Stimulators – the dominant members, they typically initiate conversation but play little part in its progression although like to ‘jump start’ it with controversial content such as the latest piece of gossip or a contentious view |
| • | Bridgers – not the most stimulating conversationalists, Bridgers still play an integral role by carrying conversation through difficult silences. Happy for their contributions to act as fillers, much of their conversation is about current culture, solidarity or food to bring common ground to the exchange. They’re also good at asking questions to draw people into conversation |
| • | Gossipers – play a similar role to Bridgers in provide the ‘filling’ for the conversation but their ‘filling’ tends to be more attention grabbing with plenty of gossip, scandal and news updates |
| • | Advisors – fall into two distinct gender roles with male Advisors spending the majority of their conversation imparting advice and information and females sharing personal learnings. They play an active role in conversations about Money and Ambition, Social Activity and Relationships but little if any role in conversations revolving around Current Culture, Banter or Solidarity |
| • | Diplomats – provide the buffer zone for each conversation steering talking points away from potentially contentious areas and working with the Bridger to ensure dialogue flows well. They rarely participate in Banter beyond its first round |
| • | The Censor – polices the conversation at regular intervals and often feels uncomfortable about the lack of inhibition that new communications services such as instant messenger, email and SMS have given modern conversation |
While individuals spend the majority of their conversations in one conversationalist role most seem happy to adapt between up to three of the roles. So for instance, while male-only groups rarely see anyone taking on the role of Censor, traditional values still seem to prevail and in around half of mixed sex conversations (55%) a male will take on the role of censor:
Person 1: ‘It’s just such a load of old ****’
Person 2: ‘watch it – ladies present’
Stimulators, though imaginative in their conversation content are predictable in their timings – they like to be the first to kick off the week’s conversations and in six out of ten instances (62%) are the first to kick off Friday ‘Happy Hour’, they also often drop off the radar for days at a time.
In contrast those individuals that most often play the roles of ‘Diplomats’ and ‘Bridgers’, figure in most of the conversations and seem to have a fear of ‘being left out’.
Linguistic ‘Wild West’
The MSN Messenger report also indicates that the speed and intimacy of online conversation tools such as instant messaging services, have seen the introduction of a new hybrid form of conversation, somewhere between face to face speech and informal written text.
This new ground, identified in the report by Dr Frank Monaghan as the linguistic ‘Wild West’ has seen people make up the rules of conversational language as they go along. Most noticeably, with up to a third of the UK population in their twenties and thirties having friends that fall predominantly into the ‘Silent Friend’ category (MSN Messenger ‘Anatomy of Modern Friendship’ study) more and more people are trying to replicate paralinguistic features of speech –non-verbal forms of communication such as nods and grunts – to keep conversation flowing in the way we would in face to face contact: ‘RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA work!’, ‘urgh’, ‘he he’, ‘uh huh’.
Dr Frank Monaghan, of the Open University commented: ‘Modern communications technology is quite literally shaping our language and social groupings and the rapid uptake of tools such as Messenger mean that these changes are happening quicker than ever before. We’re conversing with more people, more frequently and at greater speed than at any other point in time.’
Clare Bolton, MSN Consumer Marketing Manager, said: ‘New communications tools such as Messenger help us to stay in touch on a daily or even hourly basis with friends and colleagues we might previously have only had a few conversations with every month. This is changing the shape of conversation – making it more intimate, light and fun. Indulging in ‘Virtual Elevenses’ or a ‘Friday Happy Hour’ can certainly breaks the monotony of your week and builds friendship bonds.’
MSN offers a wide range of Subscription products including Hotmail Extra Storage and MSN Premium or Plus with state of the art parental controls, spam filtering software and photo editing tools.
MSN provides a number of world class innovative communication and information services including:
|
 |
| About Microsoft | |
|
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
Visit the Microsoft UK homepage for further information on Microsoft products
|
| Contact information | |
|
Journalists should contact The Microsoft Press Centre. Telephone 0870 20 77377, lines are open 9.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday.
|
Customer enquiries should be directed to Microsoft on 0870 6010 100. Opening hours are 8.00am to 6.00pm.Contact us with your general Microsoft queries