We take our smartphones everywhere with us: on first dates, to the hospital, to dinner with our parents, to swimming lessons and even to church. We can no longer deny their ubiquity. Despite being everywhere, we still lack an etiquette for using smartphones. When is and when isn’t acceptable to take out your device and glaze your fingers over the screen, immersed in Facebook, Twitter or Reddit content?
The Pew Research Center took on the task of carrying out a survey on 3,217 Americans, out of which 3,042 were smartphone users. The results point to the fact that we all have different opinions on cell phone etiquette. Most of us are annoyed when someone takes out their phone at dinner, but we’re all guilty of the same thing.
A look at the numbers from the report shows that nine out of ten adults carry their smartphones everywhere they go, and the majority of interviewers with ages between 18 and 29 think it’s ok to use their gadgets in public places like crowded buses.
If a staggering ninety percent of the surveyed young adults said they wouldn’t shy away from flipping through Facebook on their smartphones on a crowded subway, only eleven percent agreed that using the phones in quiet places like a movie theater is acceptable.
Exactly how many of these young adults admitted to using a cell phone on their last social gathering? The survey showed that as much as eighty-nine percent of them answered affirmatively. Guided by the “always on” motto, the young generation seems to crave being online at all times, no matter the social circumstances.
This can have serious effects on multiple fronts. Scientists worry human interactions are sacrificed to the benefit of Whatsapp and Reddit. But using your smartphones also disables you from multitasking. Texting or talking while driving is the best example to illustrate that inattention can be fatal.
Eighty-two percent of the Pew survey respondents admitted that whenever their friends are more interested in their smartphones than in their companies it ruins the atmosphere and it can hurt the whole gathering.
Although meant to help people connect, these gadgets seem to be a double-edged sword. The survey revealed that young adults often use their smartphones to engage or disengage from a social gathering.
So what is everyone looking up on their smartphones at parties? The same survey found that fifty-five percent sent text messages, emails or posted something from the gathering they were attending. Fifty-three percent of the respondents said they posted a photo or a video while fifty-one percent googled something they thought the group would be interested in.
Maybe Pew Research Center should repeat their survey with teenagers. The results, I’m sure, will be worth our time.
