Wanted: Chief small talk officers. Awkward applicants welcome
Some people don't like to make small talk .
Others — especially younger Americans — say they simply don't know how to do it.
Why it matters: A communication-skills app is betting that a baptism by fire in small talk can help rebuild social confidence — and it's hiring people to approach strangers to put that theory to the test.
Driving the news: RiseGuide is hiring Chief Small Talk Officers — recently rebranded from Head of Hanging Out to stress the seriousness of the assignment.
The monthlong gig pays each of up to three hires $2,000, plus a budget for outings to parks, bookstores and fitness classes, where they'll strike up conversations with strangers.
Officers will rate their small talk skills before and after the assignment, with regular check-ins to assess their interactions.
They'll also track conversation lengths and strangers' receptiveness, Anastasia Sliusarenko, RiseGuide's brand and reputation manager, tells Axios.
"I'm personally rooting for applicants who kind of feel socially awkward," she says, because their improvement could be more noticeable.
She acknowledges the irony of using an app to combat screen time, but says the ultimate goal is for users to "get off the app" and practice their skills in real life.
What they're saying: "We actually know from research that something like social confidence can actually be trained... it's not a personality trait," Laura Berssenbrugge, a therapist who specializes in working with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, tells Axios.
Social confidence doesn't have to look like the loudest extrovert in the room, Berssenbrugge adds.
"That can be social confidence for them.
Ours might look a little bit different, and that is absolutely okay." The big picture: Smartphones and personalized digital feeds may be changing how Americans find common ground and navigate conversations with strangers.
Earlier generations often shared cultural reference points, from limited TV channels to major sporting events, that offered easy conversation starters.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.axios.com — the content belongs to Axios.
