Want to seem younger? It’s not the bags under your eyes, but way you use your phone that’s the giveaway | Zoe Williams

There's no surer way to date yourself than the way you use your mobile. From leaving voicemails to leaving voice notes, each generation has a different etiquette

A lot of people, particularly at this self-improvement stage of the year, spend a great deal of time worrying about what makes them look old. Is it the bags under the eyes or the invisible triceps? This is daft, since, if you have a ring light or - better yet - are willing to pretend that your camera isn't working, no one needs to know what you really look like unless they live with you (and those people have a fair idea already). The giveaway now is how you use your phone. You can absolutely carbon-date yourself in a single exchange.

If you leave voicemail, that makes you a boomer, according to assorted experts. If you send a voice note, you are (spiritually, at least) a millennial, or even generation Z. This makes no sense, since, to your interlocutor, these are two identical experiences: an annoying taped message that they are burdened with listening to. However, if you query the rules, that puts you back in boomer territory.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist