While we were at SxSW, Laura and I threw a Mobile Manners brunch with Intel. We gathered a group of very smart women to eat quiche and text one other about the irritating things people do with their gadgets.
Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow who studies how different cultures use technology, presented some of their mobile etiquette research.
During Genevieve’s presentation, I tweeted while she was talking (event hashtag, FTW), checked in to Foursquare, and texted with a person sitting two tables away from me. Afterward, I drove around town looking for a funeral parlor, because I’ve heard those are nice quiet places to make phone calls.
Everyone else was the picture of civility, even when the gift bags came out.
Now that’s some good home training.
The bags were a team effort amongst attendees, and as always we saved one for you. Maile brought her gorgeous Epiphanie Bags, and I set aside the Clover Laptop and Camera Bag in grey, which is the one I carry. Everywhere. And sometimes I spoon with it. It looks like this:
Elizabeth works for Twitter, but also has a letterpress business called Paperwheel Press. She brought everyone a couple of geeky letterpress thank you notes:
And finally, Intel threw in a copy of Emily Post’s Great Get Togethers:
To win, please leave your pinky out when you sip your tea, and leave your most profound mobile etiquette peeve in comments.
Please only enter once; I’ll leave comments open until Monday when I’ll announce the winner. I hope it’s you.
Mighty Girl 
When folks leave their cell phone on vibrate to not be loud and disturb others during a meeting…but you can still feel and hear the vibrations!
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I get pretty annoyed by obnoxious cell phone rings–especially when the tinny pop song, or the heckling laugh, or the other “clever” ringtone sounds in the middle of a serious occasion or silent room. It makes the person who owns the phone seem quite a bit less professional.
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My biggest pet peeve is when the person I am talking to carries their phone into the restroom and goes about their business! I don’t want to hear the trinkle, twinkle, and flush!!! I’ll be happy to let you call me back if you have to go that bad!!!!!
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I expect the teens and 20-somethings I teach to be dependent on their phones to a certain degree, but I’m always surprised (and dismayed) to be having lunch with someone I think of as an adult (i.e., someone old enough to have either restraint or a lack of interest in texting) and find them pulling out their phone and sneaking peaks while we’re talking. Hello, I’m in the middle of a sentence!
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Oh where to begin…
I guess my biggest pet peeve is people who don’t turn their phone to vibrate (or better yet, OFF) in the library. Can you tell I work there? Grrr….
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OOH! my biggest mobile etiquette pet peeve of all time, ever, would totally have to be when a person is on their cell phone (talking, not texting) in an ELEVATOR. this is just awkward all around, for everyone involved!
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I am really annoyed by people who hold cameras up at concerts, blocking the views of others. Like you’re gonna capture the DEFINITIVE video of the song. Argh!
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Ring tones bug me, period. Loud ones especially, but any song that I’m suddenly forced to listen to is incredibly irritating — especially if/when it becomes an earworm I can’t shake.
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I am a mom of preschool-age children, and our school protocol requires that we walk our children to their classrooms. Then, we sign them in at the main office that is situated on the opposite side of the classrooms. It is a process, but that’s the way it is. My pet peeve is that each and every morning about 25% of the parents are walking their children in while engaged in personal phone conversations. Not to be “judge-y,” but these parents are not going to see their children for 4, 6 or 8 hours (depending on the program). I always want to confiscate the phone and yell “HEY! Your preschooler is not going to see you again for several hours. Tell him/her that you love them, you’re proud of them and to have a good day!”
But something tells me that the outburst would be frowned upon from an etiquette standpoint.
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I hate when I’m talking to someone and they are having a text conversation with someone else. RUDE!!
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I feel like it boils down to proximity. I’m super annoyed when someone is sitting two seats down from me and they’re having a conversation at full volume.
My worst experience with this was at the airport and this terrible old man called at least four people to inform them that he was early for his flight, and he was waiting at his gate. It was 6am, and everyone around him was asleep or trying to be. SOO ANG-GRRRRY.
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People who talk on their phone in bathroom stalls, because EWWWGROSSYOUREDISGUSTING.
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People (mainly speedy fingered teenagers) texting under the table. They think that you cant tell they are doing it, just because they dont have to look down at the phone to maintain conversation. It drives me nuts! (And makes me secretly wish I could text without looking).
It’s hard not to respond to the blinking red light..
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It bugs me the most when people talk and text when other people are talking, like a presentation or live show. I was at a comedy show a while back and people were chattering and typing away while the comedian was doing his thing. Why bother paying to see a live show or attending a meeting if you’re just going to focus on something else.
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Texting at the dinner table. I’ve been out and seen a couple on a date where they were each texting on their own devices. Way to say I love you!
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I hate when people are talking/texting in a restaurant. I don’t understand why they can’t just step away and take care of business.
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Walking through a store haveing a full conversation on a bluetooth – so strange becuase you never know if they are talking to you or a person in their hear or they are on the phone. No one wants to hear your full conversation – speak softly and hold your phone if you must talk while walking through the store. OK all done with that rant now 🙂
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Texting during dinner. Or taking a call during dinner. Especially if it’s on a date, but really with anyone. Your mother/brother/uncle/friend/colleague deserves the same respect as your girlfriend!
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*fingers crossed* i’m waiting on the delivery of my recently purchased love, a gorgeous red Lola. (happy birthday to me!!)
I have a tie between biggest pet peeves..
1. shorthand texting. if u tlk 2 me like ths, it makes my eye twitch. 🙂
2. talking on the phone while driving. 90% of bad drivers that i pass are on the phone. drives. me. nuts.
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I hate it when people don’t spell check their texts. I realize there is a relatively new text-slang-abbreviation language, and that is fine, but their, there and they’re are still three different words.
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It’s a general pet peeve to have to listen to someone’s personal conversation while I’m shopping. It’s a rare treat to get to go shopping and escape the drama of my own life. I don’t want to hear a He Said/She Said from complete strangers. Uhggg.
But the very worst, and this is so bad that it doesn’t seem believable – my anesthesiologist stood just a foot away from my head during my c-section and made a mid-night dinner date for after my operation. I was there and couldn’t believe it! Don’t doctors have to follow protocol. It was an emergency operation and I really wasn’t interested in the state of his love life!
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i work at a university and deal with students texting at inappropriate times frequently….and then i go to meetings and the grown ups do it too. frustration!
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I can’t stand “loud talker in public girl”. Do I need to know every detail of your last date or that your roommate has crabs?
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Oh…for sure this would be when my father-in-law is sitting in the funeral home speaking with the funeral director about his WIFE’s funeral after she died suddenly and tragically…his cell phone rings and, not joking, he takes the call. My husband was in disbelief! Of course this is the same guy who didn’t even take his bluetooth off his ear on Christmas Day. At least he didn’t take any calls during her funeral. (and don’t get me wrong…I loved him dearly!)
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Texting wile paying. Hate it!
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Texting during savasana.
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The second someone checks their texts while we are conversing, I lose a smidge of respect for that person (maybe only temporarily; sometimes not). I find it incredibly rude and it drives me nuts.
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Mmmmm….i hate waiting in line while someone stands yapping on the phone while the line builds behind them.
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I’m sure I’m at least the 200th person to say this one, but I can’t stand people who talk on the phone in the bathroom. How could anyone possibly think that is ever okay???
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Texting during a study group… very distracting.
On a funnier note as an outsider… I was recently sitting in an Apple Store waiting for a Tech Appointment and was people watching to kill some time. I noticed this guy who was one of about 10 people attending an iPad class. He could not stop playing with it long enough to listen to the class. Whatever he was texting about must have been pretty funny, because he was trying his hardest not to laugh and be obvious that he wasn’t listening. Kinda like the kid in class who tried so hard not to get caught passing notes. Now as an outsider I though this was humorous… if I was attending the class not so much.
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Those people who talk loudly on their hands free headsets in the airport. Hey- you all look like crazy lunatics! Get over yourself, hold the phone like a normal person and shut the eff up!
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Trapped on a city bus… listening to someone yell into their bluetooth. Rumbling diesel engine…she said, he said…someone owes her money. It’d all make sense if Jerry Springer got on at the next stop, but no.
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My biggest peeve is when people drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time. There are laws against that for a reason! I would like to honk a really loud and long honk at them, but I’m afraid I would cause an accident.
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My biggest pet peeve is when you are talking to someone on the phone and then they just start talking to someone else like you are not even there. Atleast tell them you will call them back.
xxfingers crossedxx
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I am in grad school right now, and I have to take some classes with undergrads as well, and sometimes their phones ring REALLY loudly and with a really stupid ringtone. Ugh.
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I really dislike it when people talk on their cells at the checkout. I think it is incredibly rude to the cashier.
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Oh lorry what a fantastic group of prizes! You do know how to pick them. Also your fire alarm story made me crack up in public.
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Weirdly, I blogged about that this morning. Yesterday a woman excused herself from her table to take a call. And sat down on the windowsill in front of me – not a foot away – with her back to me, her butt blocking the view – and proceeded to enjoy a long conversation.
But here’s the kicker.
At the end?
She went back to her table – the one she had politely excused herself from – and said “Sorry about that.” Aparently she didn’t feel the need to apologize to me, even though she basically sat in my lap while taking the call.
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Perhaps the contender for most annoying (neck and neck with public transit over-volume) is checking out of an actual, in-person conversation to read/answer a text/facebook status/tweet. Because, EVERYONE ELSE is more important than the individual standing directly in front of you.
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Pet peeve: taking calls while we’re in a meeting together. Or a in a job interview…
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I agree with those that say using a cell phone while in a public bathroom and basically anytime you should be interacting with the human being that is in front of you…
But I have to say, I get super annoyed when people use their blue tooth ear pieces anywhere but when they are driving. It always looks like they are talking to themselves, or worse, I mistake them for talking to me! And especially those that wear the ear pieces into the movies…the little blue light might not seem too bad but when the lights go off, it is bright and annoying. : )
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Sitting down to a rare family dinner and my brother-in-law has his fork in one hand and the iPhone in the other.
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I can’t stand when I can’t put down my iPhone. I really try, but it’s an illness.
As for general mobile peeves, I guess it’s really loud ringtones and not having it turned off (or not knowing how to turn it off) in places where you should be quiet.
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People on BART/Muni/subway/bus who are too absorbed on their gadget to know that an elderly person, pregnant woman or disabled person might need their seat.
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My pet peeve would have to be people who leave voicemails that just say, “Call me back.” I saw you called. I have a good heart. I will assume you called for a reason. I will call you back. In fact, I’d call you back even more quickly if I didn’t have to call in to my voicemail first. Redundant. The end.
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I loathe it when people are socializing IRL and they are all on a device. Why not just stay home?
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I hate when people text during church. It’s dark and everyone can see the distracting light. Ugh.
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I second the vote for too-long voicemails!
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When someone calls and they’ve dialed the wrong number, but instead of apologizing s/he just hangs up. Rude!
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I would love to understand why someone would call my home phone, not leave a message or wait for me to pick up, then immediately call my cell phone..which usually has me running from one end of the house to the other. Sigh….(insert eyeroll here)
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