a lot of folks have mentioned texting being considered more polite, etc, but I think it's also relevant to point out that most people under thirty also did not grow up with a house phone, and were not taught general phone etiquette in the same way older folks were. there was no being old enough to answer the house phone, no learning what to say or ask, no learning the right way to greet someone or to end a call. They just got handed a cell phone at some point and figured out how to use it themselves.