How Americans communicate in 2026: The rise of messaging & AI trends

Key findings:

• Messaging shows the strongest growth. Among users of each channel, 29% say they are messaging more than a year ago, compared with 9% who say less, the largest net increase across major communication methods.
• Messaging is the most widely used communication method in the United States. Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults use text messaging or messaging apps multiple times per week, making it the leading channel across every generation and gender group.
• AI adoption in messaging apps remains limited. Most Americans have not used built-in AI features, and among those who have, the primary use cases are writing, rewriting, and editing text messages rather than generating content.

The way Americans stay in touch with one another has been evolving for years, from landlines to mobile calls, from SMS to a proliferating range of messaging apps, and now, tentatively, toward AI-assisted communication. But while the tools available have multiplied, behaviors change more gradually than the pace of product innovation might suggest.

For businesses operating in or around the communications space, from messaging app providers, telecoms and device manufacturers to platform developers and enterprise software providers, understanding the current state of American communication habits is valuable grounding for product, marketing, and audience strategy.

To examine those habits, using YouGov Surveys: Serviced, we polled 2,442 U.S. adults in February 2026.

Messaging frequency is rising while most communication habits remain stable

For the majority of Americans, how often they communicate has not changed much over the past year. Across voice calls, messaging, video calls, and voice notes, "about the same" is the most common response.

Interestingly, data reveals that video calls and voice notes are not common. Twenty-five percent of Americans say video calls are not applicable to them, and 41% say the same of voice notes. Voice calls and messaging, by contrast, have very low non-use rates, at 4% and 2% respectively.

Among those who do use each channel, messaging shows the most positive net shift in frequency. Three in ten (29%) respondents say they are messaging more than a year ago, while 9% say less, with 57% reporting no change. For voice calls, 61% report no change, 16% say more, and 15% say less. 

Two in ten respondents (20%) say they’re using video calls less frequently, 14% say more, and 37% reporting no change. Three in ten respondents (30%) say they use voice notes about the same, 11% do so more frequently, and 12% say less.

Has texting replaced phone calls? 68% of Americans say it has to some degree

Nearly seven in ten Americans (68%) say messaging has replaced at least some of the phone calls they used to make. More than a third (37%) say messaging (whether through SMS or digital messaging apps) has replaced most of the calls they once relied on, while another 31% say it has replaced some calls, though they still call regularly.

Only about one in five (19%) say messaging hasn’t really replaced calls, and just 4% report making more calls now than they used to.

Generational differences suggest the shift is most pronounced among younger adults. Millennials are the most likely to say messaging has replaced most of their calls (42%), compared with 39% of Gen Z and 31% of Baby Boomers and older. 

Baby Boomers+ are more likely to say messaging has only replaced some calls, or not replaced them at all, indicating that voice calling remains more central for many older Americans.

Overall, we see a steady rebalancing of communication habits, with messaging increasingly taking the place of phone calls for many Americans, especially younger ones.

Messaging leads U.S. communication habits, while voice calls remain second most used

Eighty-five percent of U.S. adults say they use messaging on a regular basis (defined as multiple times per week), making it the most commonly used communication method in the country. Voice calls come in second at 58%, a substantial share that underscores calling's continued relevance. Video calls (21%) and voice notes (10%) are used regularly by a smaller but meaningful portion of the population, while 6% say they do not regularly use any of these methods.

The reach of messaging is consistent across demographic groups. Women use it at 87% and men at 84%. Millennials and Gen X both come in at 87%, Gen Z at 85%, and Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation at 83%. 

Voice calls show slightly more variation: Gen X (60%) and men (63%) are somewhat more likely to use voice calls regularly, while women (54%) and Baby Boomers+ (57%) are slightly less so. Video calls are more generationally skewed; 30% of Gen Z use them regularly, compared with 12% of Baby Boomers+.

Why Americans use different types of messaging services

The reasons Americans give for using each communication method reveal that different channels are serving meaningfully different needs.

Standard text messaging (SMS or built-in text messaging, including iMessage) is chosen primarily for practical reasons: it is simple and familiar (15%), already built into the phone (12%), and compatible with nearly everyone the user communicates with (11%). Ease for quick or one-off messages (9%) and the absence of a need to download anything (6%) reinforce its role as the path of least resistance.

Digital messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, and others, are similarly valued for being simple and familiar (12%), but they distinguish themselves on compatibility with users’ network (9%), media sharing (8%), international communication (7%), and group chat management (5%). 

Phone and video calls serve a noticeably different purpose. The top reasons people choose to call are that it feels more personal or emotionally connected (11%), helps them communicate more clearly or avoid misunderstandings (9%), and is better suited to urgent, serious, or sensitive conversations (8%), in addition to it being what the users are simply just used to (10%). 

AI in messaging apps: Most Americans aren’t using it yet

Built-in AI features are present in a growing number of digital messaging apps, but most Americans have not engaged with them. Two-thirds (67%) of those polled say they hadn’t used any built-in AI features in a messaging app within the month prior to the survey. This disengagement is most pronounced among Baby Boomers+, where 78% report no AI use, and among Gen X at 71%. 

Among those who have used AI in messaging apps, the most common tasks are rewriting or editing a message (13% overall; 22% among Gen Z, 17% Millennials), drafting a message from scratch (13%; 16% among Gen Z, 17% Millennials), and creating images, stickers, or emojis (10% overall). Generating suggested replies (8%), message translation (7%), and summarizing chat threads (7%) also register nationally, though at lower levels.

The findings suggest that American communication habits are evolving, but not in dramatic leaps. Messaging has firmly established itself as the default layer of everyday communication, steadily absorbing functions once dominated by phone calls. At the same time, calls retain a clear emotional and practical role, newer formats like voice notes and video remain supplementary, and AI, for now, is more experimental than transformational. For businesses in the communications ecosystem, the opportunity lies less in replacing existing behaviors and more in understanding how these layered habits coexist, and where incremental shifts may signal the next stage of change.

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online from 3 to 5 February 2026, with a nationally representative sample of 2,442 adults (aged 18+ years) in the US, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, race, gender, education, and region to be representative of all adults in the US (18 years or older), and reflect the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

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