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 
Mine is definitely when people answer their phone (and chat!) while your out to dinner, etc… with them. Can’t you just ignore and call back later?? I rarely answer my phone with I am with someone and if I do I make it quick.
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It drives me C.R.A.Z.Y.!! when my boyfriend whips out his phone the minute we sit down at a restaurant and starts to read the news. Since when did dinner etiquette include burying your face in your phone to the exclusion of conversation? He does it in the car too!
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biggest mobile pet peeve is people using their phone like a walkie-talkie and having a full-blown argument with the person on the other line AND gesturing with the phone while they scream into it…in speaker mode.
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I hate when my students text in class….just rude!
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People who retweet news stories constantly. You’re not Google News, dude, chill out.
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I can’t stand it when someone is on their phone when they are ordering food somewhere or speaking with a sales associate. It is so rude. The poor person tries to be so polite while the phone user yacks on his or her phone.
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i think the worst is the person in the public restroom on the phone… ewwwww… and REALLY????
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There are a lot of things people do with their mobile devices that bug me, and it all really boils down to one thing: not being aware of your surroundings and behaving appropriately. If you’re in line to order or pay for something, get off your phone. If you’re on the train or in a waiting room (or some other public place) only talk on the phone if necessary and speak quietly. If you’re out to dinner or doing some other activity with your partner or friends, PUT AWAY THE DAMN PHONE!!
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very simply I cannot stand it when people use cell phones at meal time. eating is to be enjoyed, company in your actual presence is to be cherished and phone calls, text messages and emails can wait!
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I hate looking at fbook and ‘seeing’ everyone having a good time in the pictures everyone is taking with their phones, instead of actually having a good time with the people they are with! Like step. by. step. each. and. every. thing. they. are. doing. {I’m a photographer, so that’s ironic :)}
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I hate when someone is on their phone while paying for something! It doesn’t matter if I am behind them in line, or if I am the cashier. Either way, it is rude. Have some respect and actually say hi to the person serving you!
On a side note. One time, a guy was doing this (talking on his phone and purchasing something at the same time). Very rude. Anyway, he finished paying, finished talking….started to walk away and then….dropped his phone! It shattered. My husband laughed.
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There are so many listed that I agree with – but I think talking on the phone while in the restroom just may be at the top of my list. But texting, etc while in the middle of a face to face conversation is a close second. Be present with the people in front of you – whether it’s a friend, a cashier, barista, teller, etc.
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My biggest pet peeve is entire conversations via text. If you cannot come to a conclusion/answer after 3 texts, it is time to have a phone conversation.
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I HATE when people say “UR” for You’re..or you are. DRIVES ME CRAZY!
Thanks for the chance to win the bag. I LOVE that bag 🙂
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When my students text each other during my lessons to find out where they’re meeting for lunch! Or when parents text their kids during class 😦
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Definitely when someone you are with (in person) answers a call coming in on their earpiece without telling you that’s what they are doing when of course you couldn’t even hear the phone ring.
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I have a ton of things that drive me crazy, but probably my #1 is people who speak LOUDLY on their cell at the doctor’s office!
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Mobile etiquette peeve: People who jump to answer the phone mid-serious-conversation without even a “sorry, I’m waiting for a call, I will only be a moment”. Very annoying.
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people texting back and forth wirh someone else while you are having a conversation wirth them. Grrrr!
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Ahhh, so many peeves about moblie users, (several of which I have been guilty of myself,lol) but I think the one that annoys me most is people who text while have a conversation with you, next in line is people at store counters ordering/paying for stuff and chatting on their mobile and holding up the line. Haven’t they ever heard the term “I’ll call you back in 5” ???
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I’ve recently returned to college and some of the fresh out of high school crowd will get up in the middle of the lecture and just walk out of class to take a call – which we’ve all heard ring because they don’t have the courtesy to silence their phone. Exceptionally disrespectful!
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Anytime I have to overhear a phone conversation, I am annoyed. I really hate the way people use cell phones in public. Really you do not even want to get me started.
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I hate when people have cell phones but never turn them on but freak out when I don’t answer mine. I also hate when people talk on the phone in public restrooms.
I hope I win!
Shannon
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I’m not in retail but it peeves me to no end that people yap on their phones while at the checkout. For one, I don’t need to hear what so and so did to your boyfriend last year at whatever party, and two, it takes you that much longer to complete the process and be on your way. Hang it up, get your stuff, and call ’em back when you’re in private. PLEASE!
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Cell phone peeve: actually it’s a particular person at the chiro office I go to…she constantly talks in an overly loud voice in the waiting area on her phone…the first time I thought she was having a conversation with another patient…I was wrong! I know all about her parties and hangovers, etc. Honestly I’d rather not know these personal details of her life. lol!!!
A clover bag to hang out with while I endure it though would make it soo worth it!!!!
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The other day someone was yelling and swearing on his cell phone in the deli section at the supermarket. I hate cell phone use in public in general but 1 – yelling, 2 – *swearing*, and 3 – in an enclosed space like a store? The ultimate in rude.
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The worst is hearing someone’s ringtone go off during a wedding (and then them actually picking up the call frantically, rather than quickly turning the phone off!
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Oh so many of my greatest mobile pet peeves are already listed here! i’ll second all those who said anyone on a phone while at the cashier. Just hang up. I’ve been surprised by a fast moving line and found myself on the phone and at the front…and I just say “hey, gotta call you back” and drop the phone in my purse. No way am I making that cashier wait on me while i blather on.
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It’s gotta be people who are on the internet on their phones while you’re trying to carry on a conversation with them.
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Mine’s not too profound and I’m pretty patient with most people but my biggest peeve is when my husband answers work email on his black berry on the weekend when we’re out to dinner. He travels during the week so I only get to see him on the weekends; I figure work gets him 5 days a week, I’m not asking too much to have him for 2.
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My biggest pet peeve re: smart phones is people calling and not leaving a message- ESPECIALLY if it’s someone I don’t know. Leave a damn message! No message, no callback.
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Distracted parents! It really bothers me to see new moms pushing strollers and talking on the phone. You need to be engaged with your baby. These kids are going to grow up to the sound of 1/2 of a conversation and constant chatter.
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I absolutely hate it when a I’m talking with some one and they are texting another person… I mean, seriously, if you want to talk to that person you should have visited them instead of me! It’s just so rude and inconsiderate.
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I used to teach at a university and I finally had to ban electronic devices from the classroom – I really found it very distracting when I was lecturing to look out and see people not paying any attention at all because they were focused on their tiny screens instead of the lecture they were (indirectly) paying me a lot of money to give.
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When people use their phone in the bathroom! It makes it so uncomfortable to go to the restroom, I don’t want the person on the other end of their conversation hear me go to the restroom!
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i have a couple pet peeves…1) people who go up to the cashier to order/pay and are talking on their phone…2) when i see 2 people sitting at a restaurant and the other pulls out their phone to check on facebook or send texts.
both of these are SO rude.
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My ex uses his smartphone as a crutch for his crippled attention span. Whenever we went out to eat, and I stopped talking for more than ten seconds (I.e. long enough to chew and swallow), out came the Internet. “Oh, I’m sorry, was my pause for breath boring you?”
Brava for promoting mobile manners, Maggeh!
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I hate when you are having a conversation with someone and they are half listening and having conversations with others. I will even ask “is this a bad time?’ and they will say no.
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Oh my gosh I shouldn’t have read the comments first, they reminded me of so many other peeves! My biggest peeve is when people speak so loudly on the phone. I understand if you have to take a call, or if you have a long train commute you want to talk. I just don’t understand why you have to yell. Didn’t your momma ever teach you inside voices?!
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Peeve: When I’m standing in line at the Post Office for example and the person behind me answers their cell phone LOUDLY and proceeds to hold their conversation with whoever called them LOUDLY speaking directly forward right into my ear. I want to turn around and scream in their ears!
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professors who answers their cell phones during class.
seriously!!! some people do that!
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I do NOT like to hear other peoples phone calls when in the dr’s office .. I will usually only be there because I am uncomfortable and sick! Not listening to someones grocery list
CUTE CUTE CUTE bag!
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It irritates me to no end when someone comes to visit, either me or someone else, then stays on their phone constantly. Whether it be texting, socializing, or actually talking on it, it really bugs me. If you want to have a face to face conversation with someone, please put your mobile ones on hold for a few minutes!
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I’m taking college classes at age 45, and I think texting during class is incredibly disrespectful. Back in my day there was no such rudeness. (Shaking index finger at inconsiderate undergrads.)
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Agree with 207. Totally rude when people answer in the public bathroom! I mean if you are answering a phone in the bathroom isn’t that usually something you try to keep under wraps?!
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The ‘hold on a sec’ single finger held up with a serious look by the person talking on the phone while you’re there, in person, waiting to talk to that person.
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Professors who answer their cell phones during class.
they seriously do this. its appalling.
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I am a total nerd and I actually hate grammar and spelling errors in text messages. I figure with most people having a full keyboard on their phones today, there’s no excuse. Maybe it’s just me….
🙂
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o phones can be terrible – for example I hate it on spots events – when you pay so much money to see tennis match and then a person sitting next to you is on the phone the whole match,
phones in church also should be prohibid
it is also hard to talk with a client if they have their phone in their hands
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I *dislike* it when I am in line at the grocery store and i have to wait for the person to finish talking on the phone or finish reading their e-mails so that they can pay; and i therefore can get my turn…grrr. Plus i can not stand it when people call me & they really have nothing to say, it’s like why did you call for…just e-mail me.
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