Gen Z Is Picking Up Pay Phones to Call Boomers in a Viral Social Experiment Explained
A viral social experiment is getting Gen Z to pick up pay phones and call strangers from older generations.
Pick up the receiver. No coins needed. On the other end of the line: a stranger from a completely different generation, ready to talk.
That’s the idea behind a social experiment from Matter Neuroscience, a biotech startup that installed paired pay phones in two unlikely locations — one outside a coffee shop at Boston University and another inside Sierra Manor, a senior housing facility in Reno. The phones display prompts reading “call a boomer” and “call a zoomer.” Pick up either phone and it automatically connects to the other line. Calls are free.
What’s actually happening with the pay phone
The phones were installed during the first week of March and are expected to remain in place until at least April 9. Matter Neuroscience records the conversations, which have included discussions about weather, college experiences and where callers are from.
The project aims to connect Gen Z and older adults — two groups identified as experiencing high levels of loneliness.
Calla Kessler, a social strategist at Matter Neuroscience, told USA TODAY: “They’re two demographics that often are at odds as far as perspectives and just outlooks on the world, and you might not think that they have a lot in common.”
“Being able to connect them and encourage conversation might introduce some positivity in both of their lives, some friendship that’s much needed and a wisdom exchange.”
Why this pay phone experiment matters
The experiment taps into something deeper than analog nostalgia. Research cited in the report notes that roughly half of adults experienced loneliness even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health crisis, with risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Kessler framed the urgency directly: “We live in isolated times, and we need each other. Humans need one another on a molecular level; we’re very social beings at heart.”
The conversations reveal a genuine appetite for cross-generational connection. “There’s definitely an exchange of advice being sought out,” Kessler continued. “The younger people want to know what the older people think about life, if they have any words of wisdom.”
What it’s like to use a pay phone
For younger users, picking up the phone comes with a jolt of unfamiliarity.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” Boston University sophomore Sadie Cohen told USA TODAY of using the phone. “You don’t know if someone’s going to be online immediately, so that impromptu conversation’s kind of scary, but it was good scary.”
Cohen pointed to how removed the format feels from daily life: “I don’t even know if I’ve seen an actual pay phone around, ever.”
That unpredictability — a live, unscripted call with a stranger — stands in sharp contrast to the curated digital interactions most people default to now.
Cohen acknowledged the deeper issue: “Loneliness, I definitely see that around. Our society has moved a lot away from in-person social interaction, between the same generation, and then especially across generations.”
The current project builds on a previous Matter Neuroscience experiment that connected callers in San Francisco and Abilene, Texas, through a “party line” format designed to encourage conversations across political differences. That project resulted in more than 350 conversations and 400 voicemails.
What to watch for
Matter Neuroscience said it will continue posting highlights from the conversations on its social media platforms while the installation remains active. If you’re interested in how stripped-down, low-tech interventions can address a growing public health concern, this is a project worth tracking — especially as the national conversation around loneliness and social isolation continues to build.
Conversation
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