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Most People Use Their Phones During Social Events, Despite Thinking It Harms Conversation
Mark Wilson points out that the Pew Research Center has released a new report on mobile etiquette in the age of smartphones. 90% of U.S. adults now have cellphones and carry them around frequently. Pew's survey looked into how this is changing social norms with regard to shifting attention away from physical-world interactions. Most people think it's fine to use a cellphone while walking the streets or waiting in line, but 62% think it's not OK at a restaurant, an 88% disapprove of using one at a family dinner. Disapproval of using a cellphone in a meeting, movie theater, or church is almost universal. 89% of people say they used their cellphone during their most recent social activity, whether it was texting, checking the web, or snapping a picture. Despite this, 82% say cellphone use generally hurts the conversation. 79% of adults say they occasionally encounter loud or annoying cellphone behavior from others in public, and more than half say they often overhear intimate details of other people's lives because of it.
...even when you are busy doing very important stuff with your phone!
Rudeness? Tell me about it!!!!!
When they ignore the jackass on the phone who was there before me and come over to take my order.
Years ago I had a manager who could not put down his Blackberry.
He'd call a meeting for us to walk him through some stuff. Every few seconds he looked at his phone. Now and then an email would come in, and he'd be like "what, sorry, I missed that part".
One day I walked out of the room while he was reading his email.
He came running after telling me the meeting wasn't over.
I told him the meeting had never really started, and since it was him who called it for his benefit, he could either put down his phone and listen, or I'd send him an email. But that I wasn't going to sit there repeating myself because he couldn't put his damned phone down.
There is nothing more annoying than some idiot who is in the middle of a social interaction, whips out their phone, loses the plot, and then expects you to give them a recap. Sorry, but I'm standing right here ... I don't give a crap about your electronic device.
If you want to be a selfish bastard, do it on your own time. But don't waste my fucking time because you have the attention span of a child.
That people know it's rude and do it anyway ... that's the part that really annoys the crap out of me. Go away, and I'll send you an email if you prefer. But stop constantly checking the damned thing, because I'm just going to walk away.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
they are quite literally incapable of normal conversation without involving the smartphone because it has become a part of their thought processes.
At some point Ray Kurzweil's vision of a connected brain will be a reality, and we will literally be able to use external computation in our regular thought patterns. Information retrieval is only the beginning; soon* these devices will help us be more creative by loaning us extra neurons when we need them.
* By soon I mean probably within a few decades
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
Or we don't approve but don't care enough to stop it. Or, and I think this is the case, are raging hypocrits about our cell phone rage versus our cell phone use.
As long as people are quiet an don't flash too many bright lights, I really couldn't care less what another table does during dinner. What is appropriate at my own table depends very heavily on what is going on. I can't imagine I'd drop a great conversation to check my work email. But I've never been that thoroughly entertained, and some people will go on about things I don't want to talk about (namely other people) and fuck yes, I will send all sorts of messages that I want to move on.
I don't give a crap about your electronic device.
If you want to be a selfish bastard, do it on your own time. But don't waste my fucking time because you have the attention span of a child.
Whoa! Your company has Fucking Time? We barely get Coffee Breaks here.
As for your boss's behavior, I put the blame on you. Don't EVER schedule a meeting during Fucking Time! I can't believe someone actually has to tell you this.
These situations are not so black and white.
Good - Looking up contentious fact being discussed.
Bad - Shopping online while conversation is going on.
Good - Taking one picture to memorialize a special dinner.
Bad - Taking a picture of every plate of food one eats.
Good - Texting late guest to see where they are?
Bad - Texting someone completely unrelated to the event.
Bad - Talking loudly on one's phone while other people are having a conversation.
The problem is not that the smartphone is being but why the smartphone is being used. If the use contributes to the event I don't see an issue.
There is a new meme going around. At the beginning of the dinner everyone puts their phone face down in the middle of the table. The first person to pick up their phone without the consent of everyone else before the end of the meal pays for everyone. This leave the option open to do things constructive to the conversation, like checking on a late party member, while still not paying.