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 
txtng lk ths.
Unless you’re so busy that you can’t be bothered with vowels, then it’s OK.
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I hate to say this but I think whenever anyone is trying to do more then one thing while on the phone it ends up being pretty rude.
I do think Samantha (#108) was funny along with the comment on needing more sexting!! Hehe! Happy Week!
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My biggest irritant (other than people who drive while texting, using GPS) is people who look down at their ringing/vibrating/unique ring tone blasting phone, decide it isn’t worth answering and so proceed to continue with their lives while not answering or muting the phone.
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I hate it when people answer their cell phones only to tell you that they can’t talk… then just let it go to voice mail, if it is urgent, I would call back. Sigh.
PS – You’re pretty. 🙂
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People talking on the phone while checking out in a store/coffee shop drive me LOCO! But I also feel like an awkward weirdo when I think the bluetooth wearing people in stores are actually talking to me…lol! I LOVE ephiphanie bags with my whole heart and soul 🙂
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I’d have to say I get quite irritated and sometimes amused when someone emails me at work, then calls me 20 seconds later to see if I’ve ‘gotten their email’… patience is still a virtue, right? Gosh these bags are gorgeous!
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I teach at a small university, where students’ email addresses are a series of letters and sometimes numbers–not their names. But more students than you’d think don’t bother to identify themselves when they email me. They just assume that I’ll know who “jsk3” is, even though I have 75-80 students. Talk about rude….
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ok it is a toss up between the hands free ear piece user…while not driving…..or the people who call and then proceed to make comments on how its hard to talk to me while having my toddler wanting my total attention, hello thats why i rarely talk on my phone anymore.
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I hate a super loud ring tone, but really hate when the song/snippet is obscene. I’m no prude but sheesh, what if I’m with my grandma?! Mortifying!
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People who don’t use hands-free devices while driving!
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I hope it’s me, too. My peeve is when someone is sedentary in a “bad cell zone” yet insists on calling back OVER and OVER. and OVER. Nope, still CAN’T HEAR YOU. Try hiking out of the backwoods a couple miles. Cheese and rice.
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When someone starts checking email or texting while engaging in a “live and in person” conversation with me. I feel like the “real” me just lost out to “virtual” them. It’s highschool rejection all over again. And I’m 40.
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I can’t believe when people are talking on there cell phone when they are checking out in the markets. Also how people are losing personal communcation skills instead they rely on there phone
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Oh so many and gah, I am not immune. Checking email/call log/texts while we are mid-conversation! Wait for a pause at least …
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It’s a tie between the people who chat on their phones in public bathrooms and people who do that in the checkout line. So rude.
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I definitely hate being stuck on a bus or train with someone who can’t keep their volume low and has endless conversations about really inconsequential things.
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I agree with all listed, but the most annoying is having the phone visible at all times, like it is life support, during all other direct human contact.
A new annoyance—-I am a photographer and twice now, someone has pulled out their cell phone to take pics of the same subject while I am shooting. I had a hubby at a maternity shoot and a daddy at a newborn shoot. All my lights, my props, my set-up—all MY work. I now have a new rule.
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I can’t stand it when people don’t silence their phones when it isn’t necessary to have them on – at restaurants, having a conversation, etc.
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Answering your phone during a quiet, intimate conversation with just a few other people. Without leaving the chair. Or the room. But trying to be quiet. Yeah, it just doesn’t work.
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For me, its when we’re hanging out and the other person is checking their phone constantly. I’d like to believe I matter more in the moment than someone texting or emailing them. Grr.
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I work as a server/bartender and I frequently amazed by how long a customer will continue his or her cell phone conversation while ignoring my presence. I so wish people would end their calls when I approach. It’s rude to keep me, and therefore, other customers waiting just because they’re on a call!
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People using smartphones at the dinner table. I don’t care if we’re in a house, at a diner, or at a fancy restaurant, I just hate it!
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I have to grit my teeth when the person I’m speaking to on the phone is eating. I really don’t need to know what you’re having for lunch today.
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people who post facebook updates while driving. so dangerous! clearly non-essential communication.
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I am so guilty of talking and ordering.
I love comment #1.
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I carry my iphone with me wherever I go – so sadly I am often the person committing any one of the above mentioned offenses. But I have a peeve too – and its simply this: why is it that with our exponential ability to remain in constant contact with the digital world, our ability to actually communicate with one another has been destroyed?
When I first left home for college my grandmother and I would have a nice long chat once a week. At home. On a land line. We’d catch up on all the things that had happened that week and what was coming up. Sometimes there would be long pauses while we took time to think about whatever we were talking about. I’d do the same thing with friends who were far away, my parents, basically anyone I didn’t see regularly.
That was several years ago. Now if I don’t see someone regularly I can just check their facebook status to get a quick, often incoherent glimpse of what’s going on with their world. Phone calls are short and disorganized and often followed up with several more calls because “I forgot to tell you” something. Texts annoy me the most – they serve a purpose when used correctly but are usually an unnecessary intrusion. My (least) favorite is the classic “I’m bored, watcha doin”? We’ve stopped communicating in full sentences and have wholeheartedly accepted nationwide ADD.
And its spilling over into all of our relationships, both personal and professional.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve had an important message ignored or misunderstood because the recipient didn’t have enough brain power left to give the appropriate amount of attention to a full sentence.
All that being said – I think that video chat applications like web cams and face time are fantastic! You get to look someone in the eyes while you are talking to them, and the set up for a call is inconvenient enough to make you want to “make it worth it”.
OK – sorry for the rant! I’m just sad to see we’ve lost so much as a society to a medium packaged as a great “benefit” to society!
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For me, I get distracted when people are on phone call throughout our meetings and not participate our discussions. They should do that during spare time.
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My husband will peruse his music collection on his phone as he drives, trying to figure out what music he wants to play and despite my pleas that he just tell me what he wants and let me do it.
And I’m amazed at all of you that still deal with people using their phones in movies. I’m not sure that I’ve EVER actually witnessed that happen.
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My biggest pet peeve is when someone answers their phone when they’re hanging out with you and says “nothing much… what’s up with you?” Obviously in response to the question “what are you up to?” AND THEY”RE WITH YOU! gee thanks… yes, I’m not doing anything important either!
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I teach at a university, and HATE when students are texting or checking their phones in class. Usually a dirty look or a subtle mention like “Well, what if a person were obviously playing a game or sending a text during class?” as we talk about self-presentations works wonders. Few make that mistake twice!
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I hate when someones cell phone goes off in the middle of church. Really? You didn’t check that first?
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I hate it when hanging out with someone and they’re constantly (CONSTANTLY) checking their phones, as if someone better is about to text them at any point.
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Text talk/speak/spelling. Misspelled words drive me nuts!
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I work at a university in the student union, and students have what really, REALLY should be *private* conversations on their cellphones in the hallway just outside my office. I have heard more scandalous and juicy things from these calls … and more than once have had to go outside to tell a student to go elsewhere, as the yelling at their parents over not giving them enough money is interrupting my work. Really. It’s ridiculous.
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I sometimes miss the days when you could ask a question in a group of people and a conversation would result in search of the answer. Now someone inevitably looks it up on their smartphone and it’s done.
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Grammar, grammar, grammar. Spelling. Just because we’re using cell phones, does not mean that we can use bad grammar and poor spelling. Seriously.
*sigh* Beautiful bags…
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When you are in the middle of saying something and someone whips out their phone to check their email. I can’t think of a ruder way to telegraph that you aren’t paying attention.
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I get totally peeved when my Dad answers his phone during business meetings and any meal time.
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Honestly, my biggest peeve related to mobile phones is the assumption that everyone has them or needs them. I don’t have one. It seems like an unjustifiable expense in my life right now.
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Texting when in the middle of a face to face conversation. Hate it!
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I work at a place like chipotle and people have the nerve to talk on their cell phones while I’m making their damn burrito. Hello?!? do you want cheese? sour cream? salsa??? pay attention! I’m a human being right in front of you, please give me some respect.
Everytime this happens I mentally punch them in the face until they are out of my sight lol this sounds so violent!
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Continuing to talk on the phone while at a counter/register paying for something. It’s rude in so many ways.
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I work in professional services, so a universe in which colleagues and I don’t routinely check our phones / emails multiple times throughout a meal and interrupt in-person conversations to take calls isn’t a reality. As such, I’ve developed a peeve around people checking personal data devices in shared workspace, laughing about something, and then not explaining what they’re laughing about. I practically sleep with my email – I need a good laugh as much as anyone.
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voicemail replies that don’t answer the question you asked!!
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You have the greatest giveaways! Thanks for the chance to win such neat stuff. 🙂
My mobile pet peeve is people who think they’re being discreet about checking their phone, but instead they just look like they’re enamored with their crotch. Bonus ‘annoyance points’ if done during a meal.
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Lots of peeves…texting while driving and talking loudly w/o regard for others are top mobile ones, of course. In the “old school” realm, where it doesn’t matter if it’s mobile, I really hate when people leave VMs where they are thinking it through…slowly…as they leave it. The message ends up being 40 seconds long to say “please call me back.” Argh.
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Do I have to pick one? My two most annoying are folks that talk on their phone in the restroom, and people who loudly overshare on their cell in public. I don’t want to hear graphic details of your one night stand while eating dinner with my Grandmother.
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I hate it when adults type like teenagers.
ThIs Iz NoT cOoL, yO. u LoOk LiKe An IdIoT.
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It really bugs me when texting language carries over into other electronic communication. Using “U” “R” “C” in a normal email is not ok, just lazy!
Also, using a bluetooth device when not driving a vehicle drives me nuts. I think the little ear piece just looks dumb.
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i think my biggest peeve is people using them/checking them/looking at them when they have even the remotest possibility of ACTUAL human interaction. You can miss great opportunities whilst staring at that tiny screen, trading in real life for a virtual one.
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