In January 2025 the Goethe-Institut published a language column titled Small Talk – besser als sein Ruf, Small talk, better than its reputation. The author, Christiane Rösinger, begins: Die alte, bewährte Kulturtechnik des Small Talks scheint in der Krise zu sein. The old, proven cultural skill of small talk seems to be in crisis. Many people, especially young people, reject it as superficial, empty and tiring. On social media they complain: Ich hasse Small Talk! I hate small talk! What they want instead, she writes, is Deep Talk. Rösinger herself defends small talk, and she presents the dislike of it as a recent trend among young people.