How Sweden survives without small talk – BBC REEL

1. Well I appreciate their ways but I don’t want that kind of locked up life. Life is too short to be all alone in my own world. A random smile and crack up from a stranger has saved many from suicidal thoughts and depression. No thanks Sweden. I’m moving there but I will smile and say hello whenever I want.

2. swede: hej, fin vädrat

   me: smoke bomb

3. So basically, avoid going to Sweden if you’re easily offended by rude behaviour.

4. Now i wanna live in Sweden

5. saying hi, bye and thank you is enough for me to create a connection tbh

6. Sorry but the "peach ….coconut culture…." is a strange way of justifying something…sorry again

7. No small talk but the countrybamd the people is way more richer that small talk countries.

8. Seeing this video, I was hopeful that there is a place in the world for me. Then, I found out about the Swedish tradition of "fika," which is an explicitly social coffee break, mandatory in all workplaces. Declining an invite to fika is considered very rude. This practice seems like a cruel contradiction for a society that allegedly avoids small talk. Discussing weather with a stranger is unlikely to have major consequences, but the stakes can be quite high in a conversation with coworkers. It's one thing to give an awkward canned response in an elevator, but feigning sincerity every day while coming up with a constant stream of fresh superficial and uncontroversial drivel sounds like an absolute nightmare.

9. time to move to sweden

10. Sweden is just äütïstïc 🤷‍♀️ 😂

11. How has Sweden avoided dropping population due to not ever meeting each other?

12. Well, I'd flourish in Sweden.

13. So the Swede's are generally antisocial?😂

14. "Swedish people liketo mind their own business" ok Sweden I'm coming

15. I want to work please

16. Many countries dont have small talk-I am Russian, there is no small talk in Russia

17. i hate small talk😠

18. I never knew Swedes weren’t friendly

19. How does one meet and befriend anyone in Sweden?

20. Sounds like paradise

21. Depressing tbh

22. Please, let's have a communication expert explain what small talk is.

23. I think I should move to sweden, the land of Pewdiepie.

24. I try, just a little, to avoid neighbours, primarily to avoid small talk, and I have some Swedish ancestry. Hmmmm.

25. more proof that the DSM is a tool of social control

26. I completely disagree. I think swedes are quite chatty, but not everybody is in the mood for chitchat. You can usually tell by looking at them. But maybe it's just me..

27. Jan Maas 😂

28. Sweden sounds like heaven on Earth for someone like me on the autism spectrum and with social anxiety.

29. It makes me want to move to Sweden. I hate small talk.

30. This is great! So swedes can understand autistics better😂

31. I like that the video ended with the statement,"This stereotype does not apply to all Swedes."I was only briefly in Sweden but stayed a week in Copenhagen and learned the locals are VERY uncomftorable with small talk.People often looked at me as if i was from another planet and speaking kling on when i made small talk.Ironically,ethnically i am of Scandanavian origin and looked llike the locals but when i opened my mouth they knew i was American.😆I was in Manchester UK on the way and it was quite the opposite.I am from U.S. and i agree,small talk is not small,it is a skill to be developed, a social lubricant that can lead to connection and more intimate conversation and or frienship.

32. My observation is this. Small talkers you 90% of the time never learn who they are it stays surface where as deep talkers tend to know themselves hence you learn about the person. Small talk is not a connection its an excuse to fill silence. I'm learning as I age most people talk but say nothing. A person's actions is where you learn about somebody on the whole.

33. I'm 2nd generation American-Swede… this explains SO much !!

34. Question for the Swedish folk in the comments. How do you deal with lonliness? Your country scores high on the happiness index yet by all accounts you have more isolation and fewer opportunities to establish friendships. What draws you together? How would you go about building social safety nets? I personally dont enjoy small talk either and I wonder if its because when people don't have anything to say they resort to talking about others in a derogatory way and then unnecessary drama follows from that. I'd love your insight.

35. I expect that the weather separates people. I'm not from Sweden but I am from a rainy city.. In sunnier places, it's more likely to meet people face to face.

36. The UK is significancy closer to Sween then the rest of the English speaking countries in this regard.

37. "Small talk" is not common in much of Asia either.

    It's only blathering West Europeans/Americans who think it is "normal".

38. Lately I realize I am anything but Mexican.

39. HOW CAN YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY WHEN YOU ARE GEOGRAPHICALLY THAT FAR OUT FROM THE WORLD, HAY? 🤔

40. Well…anything within reason's okay. Talking about the weather, British style, all the time's annoying the Swedes looking away so they don't look at you sounds paranoid.

41. i really like to go to dinner with you 😊

42. Heaven for introverts

43. Well if Jonas from the video would say hello to me in the street I'd be down for smalltalk anyday and coffee for breakfast as well 😛

44. This is hilarious! They’d all be running from me. I talk to EVERYONE and I’m generally a happy good natured person and I’m inclined to hug people….good lord they make they might arrest me in Sweden 😂

45. I used to be socially awkward and not know what to say to people. Until I was a nursing student. It's awkward bathing and dressing someone in silence. I learnt how to small talk because it was useful in those situations.

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