Opera at SXSW 2008

SXSW Core Conversation: Mobile Manners: Mobile Presence and the Undefined Etiquette

By John Jones. Monday, 10. March 2008, 00:00:23

2008, ethics, mobile, sxsw

My last panel of the day was a roundtable discussion on mobile phone etiquette. The discussion was led by Jared Benson, the Creative Director of Punchcut. While nobody said anything particularly unique—mobile phone users can be rude, but how do we even define what is rude when mobile behaviors are changing so quickly?—the conversation was a nice, low-key way to end the day. The topics ranged from how to react to anti-phone Baristas to whether or not it okay to answer a call in the restroom.

After the discussion was over, I was thinking about what the various participants had said, and it occurred to me that one problematic issue introduced by the mobile phone is the question of spaces interacting with spaces. Someone at the discussion brought up how annoying it was to be at a nice restaurant when someone starts talking on their phone a few tables away. Another panelist pointed out that this situation isn't much different from a person at another table having a conversation with someone else at the restaurant. If this latter situation isn't a problem, they asked, why are we so annoyed by the former?

Here's what I think (and I'm sure someone has thought of this before): the issue is that the mobile phone is introducing the phone space into a private space like a restaurant, and that is what the speakers in the discussion were upset about. In many ways the phone isn't personal: it's for business or it's trivial, but our previous conditioning with phones hasn't yet made us feel comfortable with the idea of bringing the space created by a phone into a fancy restaurant.

Somebody from Justin.TV recorded the discussion, so when they post a link, I'll add it here.

Where are all the Black Tech Bloggers?Long days and nights in Austin

Comments

Anonymous # 10. March 2008, 02:53

stephan writes:

it seems that two people interacting in a restaurant (especially nice ones) are usually much more quiet than the guy on his cell phone, it seems that most cell phone users talk at higher decibels when on the cell phone than when talking to someone in person. the roundtable does seem interesting, probably a lot more about this etiquette should be written about.

John Jones # 10. March 2008, 21:15

This issue came up in the panel; most people agreed with your comment, quiet is better than loud. One panel participant from Norway pointed out that there was practically no cultural resistance to cell phone use, as long as that use was no different from what a person would do with a live companion in the same situation.