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 
Texting someone else while having a conversation. So rude!
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My landlord e-mails me to ask if he can call me, and will not call me until I email him an affirmative. He will also not answer if I just call him.
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I would have to say people talking on the phone in a public bathroom.
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So – you’re in the check-out line in a store and you’re waiting to CHECK OUT and the guy in front of you is checking out except that he’s not doing it fast enough because he’s fumbling with his wallet and can’t get the bags in the buggy and is having trouble hearing the cashier and paying attention to anything around him BECAUSE HE’S ON HIS PHONE. Dude – get off the phone, check out and let me get on with my life please. Thank you.
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Please don’t talk on your cell phone while I am teaching your class. Thank you.
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people texting while we are talking.
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I know it was already mentioned but when people text/check the time/etc. in the movie theater. Also when you are sitting at dinner and nobody is talking because everybody has their phones whipped out.
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Pinky is out. My biggest peeve is when someone’s phone is ringing or vibrating in a meeting, movie, restaurant, etc. and they ignore it purposefully. It especially bothers me when they get their phone out, look at it and still don’t silence it.
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We don’t have cell service on the subway yet here in NYC. Sometimes, though, the trains come above ground. The second the train car peeks out from the tunnel (dirty!) half the car is whipping open cell phones and calling to tell someone exactly where they are in proximity to home/work/that skanky hookup. I whip out my phone, too, but just to check email. I don’t call anyone anymore if I can help it (probably someone else’s peeve). Last night as we emerged a woman not only made her call but screamed into the phone desperately. I don’t speak the language she was speaking but from what I pieced together I think she spent the next two stops yelling, “Can you hear me?!?!?”
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Yes, I second (third, forth) texting during a one on one conversation. I mean, really.
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That person in the airplane that won’t get off his/her phone even though the flight attendant has asked them personally and the plane is moving. I know it won’t interfere with anything, but this is the only time in life I get hours without cellphones, and you are getting on my nerves!
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I hate when people talk on their phones in the bathroom! I already don’t like hearing people go to the bathroom in such close proximity to me, but to hear their conversations as well AND know that their “business” is being echoed & heard by the other person on the phone? Gross!
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When someone uses their cellphone/pda/what have you while checking out. As if the cashier doesn’t deserve your attention or respect. It drives me crazy.
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It makes me crazy that my boyfriend has his twitter messages alerts sound turned on. I hear his phone bleeping all the freakin time!!!
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People loudly on the phone on the bus. I get that the ride is long and that there’s nothing else to do (read a book, listen to music, stare placidly out the window, watch a VIDEO on your damned phone) but we are all trapped on this thing with you.
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People talking on a bluetooth, who give ME the stink-eye when I look at them when I walk past. Hello! You looked like you were asking a question out of mid-air, and I happened to be there at the same time. There should be a red flag attached to the ear-piece, like a mailbox flag, that a person has to flip up when they are using the bluetooth – that way, everyone could see the flag, regardless which side they are wearing the earpiece on, lol!
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Hands down, when my husband asks me how my day was and then gets out his blackberry as I answer, to check his email, and then(!!) he says indignantly, “I’m listening!” when I give him a look of hellooo….
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It really irks me when the person you’re standing there actually speaking to is constantly looking at their phone or texting. I’ve been known to call people down about this. It’s rude. Don’t do it.
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Loud cell-phone-talkers and constant smart-phone-checkers while in the company of others. If you’re on the phone, or need to check yer FB, excuse yourself and behave like a lady (or gentleman).
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Hands down it is talking on a cell phone in a public restroom WHILE USING THE TOILET.
Gag.
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When I’m out with a particular friend, her phone is more interesting than me. I’ve bit my tongue for a long time, but recently I’m starting to grow a pair and next time she whips out the phone to check email, texts, update her Facebook, etc., I’m going to say something.
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I always hate it when somebody calls me, and I’m not available to answer, but they don’t leave a voice mail. Just leave me a message and then I’ll know what you want!!
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People who leave voicemail messages that simply say, “Hey, call me back.” I know you called. I can see you on my “missed calls” list. I’ll call you back if you don’t leave a message. No need to make me dial up voicemail just to hear you tell me to call you back, honey. And by honey, I mean my husband. Yeah, you, honey.
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If Canucks can enter, throw my name in the hat!
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My husband’s message alert is always on, for emails, messages, etc. He never turns it off, and he gets junk email on his phone all day long.
Blargh.
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Genevieve was a guest lecturer in a cyberanthropology class I took in college! So cool to see her on Mighty Girl. =)
I am guilty of this: I HATE listening to voicemail messages, and leave them on my phone for days before I listen, let alone respond!
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My boss takes his phone with him when he is pooping. And talks. Grosses me out!
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Inproper/inappropriate cellphone use. Whether it be in a restaurant, a family dinner, a business meeting, a face to face conversation, a movie theatre. Put the phone down people! It is rude! There is nothing worse then trying to talk to someone and all you are getting is “uh huh” while they text…
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People who chat on their phones while shopping in the store. No one is that important!
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Sometimes I think I’m going to lose my mind when my husband plays games/texts/checks FB while we’re eating dinner. With the KIDS. Really? It can’t wait 10 minutes? Grrr.
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People who upon immediately entering a public space (airport, classroom, coffee shop, etc) pull out the charger for their electronic devices and plug them in. I don’t know why this bothers me…maybe because all of those electrical outlets are there because of building code and not as a courtesy for those who were too busy or forgetful to plug their electronics in at home.
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It’s a tie between talking on the phone in the stall next to me in a public restroom and staying on the phone while checking out at the grocery store. Both seem disrespectful to me.
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Ignoring texts/voicemail/email that I sent, but then I see you’ve posted on Facebook or Twitter. You couldn’t have spent those 30 seconds replying to the question I need an answer to? GAH!
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People who yell into their phones in small, confined spaces. Makes me want to take their phone from them and throw it onto the ground.
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Talking very loudly on your cell phone in confide spaces… elevator, restrooms, subway, bus, etc….
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Two things:
1. People who talk on the phone in public restrooms. Don’t get me started on people holding *personal* phone calls in public restrooms. This is not the place to talk about your friend’s cancer treatment – amid the flushing toilets.
2. Having dinner with my friend – and her boyfriend, via her iPhone. She puts her phone on the table and checks it for texts every two seconds, if there is one, she responds immediately with a long reply, during which I should wait quietly so she can write. GAH!!
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My pet peeve is when people use their cell phones in public bathrooms.
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My views on this change drastically depending on the situation and the company. If I’m having lunch with a fellow tech-savvy friend on a workday, I see no problem with having our phones out and checking the occasional email or sending a fun tweet about our lunch. But, if I’m on what should be a romantic date with my husband and he keeps checking work emails and reading stupid texts from his friends, well, let’s just say there’s other technology in my nightstand that can make him pretty irrelevant that evening, if you know what I mean.
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If we’re hanging out and having a conversation, don’t pick up your cell and start texting other people.
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I hate all phone calls, period. At work, I always feel as if I sound like I don’t know what I’m talking about because 99% of the time, I am not currently working on the project my client’s called me to talk about. At home, calls always come as I am sitting down for dinner, bathing my small children or putting the aformentioned small children to bed. I wish my mother knew how to email.
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My biggest peeve is texting while driving, even worse when you have a passenger in the car.
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Texting when a phone conversation would take infinitely less time, especially if just getting quick details.
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I hate it when you are having a conversation with someone and they constantly check their email on their handheld. So rude!
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My mobile pet peeve is when someone is texting/emailing through a meeting and then asks everyone to repeat what was already discussed because they weren’t paying attention.
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My pet peeve would definitely be talking on your cell phone in a public bathroom. Awkward for all of us listening to the echoes and just gross.
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When I am talking to you, please look at me and not pay your bills on the phone.
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My mobile pet peeve is watching people play with their phones during church. Put it away!
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The person sitting at a table made for three at the Velo Rouge Cafe with laptop and papers scattered. Single empty coffee cup, empty water glass, and head down.
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Blue tooth ear pieces in public. Hands. Down.
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I can’t stand being at a concert and stuck behind the guy that is recording the whole show on his phone. Just stand and enjoy the music, buddy. Youtube can wait.
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