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 
It bothers me when someone “blows up” my phone. I will call you back – you don’t need to continue calling every minute until I can find where I set my phone down!!
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It really irritates me when people talk on the phone while driving, and they don’t pay attention to the road; driving under the speed limit and driving reclessly!
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hmmm where do i start w the mobile pet peeves? lol i get annoyed by those who feel they must converse so loudly while on their phone. no, i do not want to hear your conversation, and it just makes you look ridiculous. i also hate when people don’t stop to text. they just walk as their texting and don’t pay attention to their surroundings. this is not good for a couple of reasons: one, they can get hurt if they accidentally walk out into the street, they bump into people, and the most important reason? the fact that they leave themselves open to any attacker who notices that they are not aware of their surroundings. i take criminal justice courses w an ex-cop, and it annoys him, too, because he knows what kind of risk some people put themselves in.
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My mobile etiquette peeve is when I see teachers (I’m a school librarian) at a conference twittering away while a speaker discusses the importance of keeping electronic devices out of the classroom.
Fail all around.
Fail for the speaker suggesting we can hold back progress (instead of growing with it), fail for the teachers for acting in such an obnoxious “do as I say, don’t do as I do” way.
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Definitely texting while driving, weaving all over the road and if children are in the car a big no no.
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Using a cell phone (in any way) while at a play or movie or sorting event. If it is important, go outside!
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I get super peeved when I’m in line for coffee behind a person that is yammering on their cell phone, and when they get to the front of the line, they haven’t bothered to decide what they want! They take another few minutes to figure it out, and it wastes precious (pre-caffeinated and cranky) moments of my day.
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My biggest peeve is the all of the abbreviations!! I mean, how hard is it to spell out “you” instead of “u”?? Not to mention, I’ve seen people use these abbreviations when they’re NOT texting!!!!
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I really can not stand people who put their cell phones on speaker as they’re walking through a store. I don’t get it??!!?? I don’t want to hear your conversation…
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Worst I’ve seen. A woman walking around a store with her cell phone on speaker. The person she was talking to giving details of a medical issue. I’m guessing the person on the other end had no idea everyone in that grocery store department now knows all about her medical problem.
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This is going to sound out of place without any context, but my biggest etiquette pet peeve is when people throw up and then try to hide it/don’t tell you about it. I’ve spent years working in hotel banquets and the number of people that get sick under a table/behind a coat rack/into a planter/on a wall and then try to act like nothing went down is nothing short of staggering.
A more common etiquette pet peeve? People who don’t wait for you to cross the sidewalk when they are driving. YOU ARE IN THE CAR. I AM ON FOOT. YOU WILL STILL BEAT ME THERE, 5 SECOND WAIT OR NOT.
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My wife will answer her cell phone when I’m in the middle of talking to her.
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My biggest peeve is when people don’t use any punctuation.
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Pinky up… my biggest mobile etiquette peeve is when people remain on their cell phones while interacting with cashiers. There is nothing more annoying to me to watch someone pick up a pizza or order a chai and perform the entire transaction while on the phone. I think it’s awfully rude and a bit condescending.
P.S. I ADORE your Clover Laptop and Camera Bag!!
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Also ohmigod I can’t believe that I typo-ed my own name. Wow that’s not embarrassing at all.
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I think mine is pretty common – texting while you’re actually having a face-to-face conversation with someone else, at coffee, dinner, what have you. Also, I am really not a fan of text-speak (i.e. How r u?). It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me.
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I hate when people text someone else while we are having a conversation…UUGGHH so frustrating.
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I don’t like it when I’m on speakerphone and I haven’t been informed–it’s unlikely that I’ll say something inappropriate, but I don’t like that I have an audience.
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My pet peeve is when I’m trying to have a convo with my husband and I’m interrupted with a text( on his phone) and he sits there halfway listening to me… THEN gets a phone call ( out in public) a proceeds to use his megaphone voice to talk! I have to tell him to lower his voice , cause I know it’s annoying to everyone! Even me!
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Pet peeve, asking for a “dat” via e-mail or text or Facebook page. Worst ever, breaking up via e-mail…and he was 42yo!
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should have read “date”..duh
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Really annoying when the person who sits next to you talk on his/her mobile phone on the bus on the way to work every morning disregarding the big sign that says NO PHONE on board!
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Loud cell phone conversations while in public places, like the bus. I really don’t care to know about how crazy your mother is, OK?
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phone tag!!!
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People texting or answering the phone at the table while you are out to dinner really annoys me. Excuse yourself and go outside if you have to take the call, but be warned that if I eat dinner by myself because you’re on the phone and it wasn’t an emergency- we won’t be dining together again.
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My pet peeve is when people talk too loudly into their phones in public places, forcing everyone in the general vicinity to hear their entire conversation.
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When people text me using abbreviations only known to them. I don’t like to decode the message.
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My biggest mobile-related pet peeve is the dog park workaholic. You know… that person who stands at the furthest corner possible and pays absolutely no attention to their dog (who almost invariably is poorly trained and insists on instigating spats with other dogs). See also: Playground workaholic.
Get off your phone! Pay attention to the world around you for a few minutes! Oy.
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I hope it’s me, too!
Texting while driving is the worst!
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Texting while I teach my students. It’s so aggravating.
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People who talk on the phone while they’re in the checkout line at a store. Do not multitask while making purchases! Gar!
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I’ve recently been finding voicemails so very annoying. I don’t even listen to them….I’d rather call the person back than listen to a voicemail. And since I’ve become annoyed with the whole listening to the voicemail….when I call someone and get sent right to voicemail, I just hang up without leaving a message. I opt to send a text instead.
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I really can’t stand someone walking up next to me in a store and starting a conversation. Of course, I turn to look because I assume they are speaking to me but NO, it’s the hidden blue tooth in the ladies’ hair she’s speaking to.
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While attending an event, particularly involving kids (sports games, parties, etc), the parents are not paying attention as they are too wrapped up in their texting or making a phone call. I’ve seen where kids come up to the parent and ask if they saw them make a goal or hit the ball and the parent is dumbfounded because they missed the entire thing!
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I hate when people make a server wait at the table so they can finish a call before ordering. So rude.
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my biggest peeve is people texting while driving & talking while driving too! Get off your phone & pay attention people, so everyone on the road can be safe! On a happier note: love the Epiphanie bags!
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Oh I can’t stand when people don’t respond back to text in a timely manner, but when with you are just all over their phone. WTF? Either put it up or GET BACK TO ME ASAP!
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Pet peeve: teens who plug into their iPods when they are alone with you. I’ve instructed my kids that when it is just the two of us in the car (and in the front seats!) that it is rude to check out into any electronic device. Unfortunately, ignoring the person you are with is so normal nowadays that both of my kids were surprised that I thought it was rude.
But I make them take off their hats once they enter a building, too, so I am a bit old-school.
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I take TriMet every day and my absolute biggest pet peeve is people who have loud, personal conversations while on the bus.
Seriously, nobody needs to know about that boil you had lanced or the fact that he’s getting out of prison and your ever so detailed plans for welcoming him home. Ick!
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I hate it when I see someone on their phone as they approach a check-out counter at a gas station, 7-11, or anywhere really. I always make sure to say, “Hold on for minute,” and put my phone in my pocket or at my side as I approach the counter and take care of my purchase so as not to deprive the cashier of a face to face personal interaction and “thank you” for her/his help.
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I really think it rude to take a phone into a nice restaurant and leave the ringer on.
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Just one? It has to be insanely private conversations happeing loudly on public transportation…. egad!
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I hate when I am riding in a car with some one and they talk on their phone the entire time…especially when they are the ones driving.
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I was at Target a few days ago when I overheard a conversation a patron was having about *another* patron, who happened to be using a scooter and obese. I thought it was bad enough that the woman behind me was saying rude things about the woman in the scooter within her earshot, but when I turned around (to glare), I realized she wasn’t even talking to another shopper – she was on her phone! In retrospect, I kind of wish I’d run her over with my shopping cart.
(I guess this is more a general etiquette/humanity faux pas than a mobile one, but I’m still stewing over it. Grrr.)
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A work voicemail in which someone instructs me to call them back, without telling me what it’s about. Does that count?
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I wish people would put their phones away at dinner. Even if it’s at a restaurant at someone else’s table. If I see people glancing at the phones an inch from their dinner plate instead of each other it makes me worry about loneliness taking over. I want to take their phones away and make them look at each other.
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My biggest pet peeve is kind of a gross one – there are people in my office who decide to take private calls, not in the library or stairwell or office, but in the BATHROOM. They’re in the stall, chatting away. I try to be extra noisy washing my hands, flushing, etc., just to be a pain, but seriously!
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My biggest peeve is when a mother (or father) is towing at least 3 children in a public place and talking on the phone at the same time. Then they start yelling at their children for ‘misbehaving’ and to pay attention. Hello?? Get off your phone and watch your children!!
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I cannot stand when people in public locations speak so loudly on their phones that you can’t even hear your own thoughts. And I really like it even more when they’re yelling about private matters that should maybe be discussed in a private location.
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My biggest pet peeve is when I’m out with a really good friend catching up and they answer their cell everytime it rings. It interrupts out conversation and I have to sit there and listen to their conversation. I don’t mind if it is really important. But most of the time it can wait.
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