By Angela Gunn, Betanews
Self-awareness, etiquette and Internet polling probably shouldn't even appear in the same sentence, but now and then they combine for a good laugh. For instance, Intel this week revealed the results of an online poll they commissioned from the pollsters at Harris Interactive, which asked 2,160 US adults about behavior -- theirs and other people's -- on their mobile phones and other devices one uses in public.
The study defined various alleged etiquette breaches ranging from speaking too loudly on phone calls to being rude to cashiers (by chattering during a transaction) and texting in the presence of others. Some so-called faux pas were the sort of thing it's hard to fathom people actually doing (using a laptop in a public restroom, really?).
82% of those surveyed said they'd seen someone behaving badly in public while using a mobile device, with over half (56%) complaining about people using poor etiquette in restaurants and cafes, 47% spotting mishaps at concerts and movies, and stores tripping up 41%. And 26% are seeing bad mobile behaviors in restrooms.
Some complaints aren't just fussing, but reasonable concern. 72% of those surveyed said their biggest "etiquette" annoyance was with drivers who text or type while the car is hurtling along. 63% don't like it when people nearby speak loudly on phones, and 55% would rather you not discuss personal or gross stuff around them. 54% also said they didn't care for people texting or typing in front of them, but your reporter suggests that those people haven't yet experienced what true rudeness is. (And if confronted, she's apt to show them.)
Human self-awareness being an inconstant phenomenon, a remarkable number of adults claimed they never, ever do such terrible things. Just 28% admit to discussing private matters in public, while only 38% say they've texted or typing in the company of others.
Maybe we should all just cut each other some slack. (Except for the restroom people.) In a commentary concerning the survey results, Genevieve Bell, an Intel Fellow and cultural anthropologist who studies technology and culture, said that we're all still figuring it out. "We have more and more technology in our lives -- much of it in our handbags, backpacks, and pockets as well as our homes, offices and even cars. It is hardly surprising that we are still working out what is socially appropriate and what isn't -- we are still developing our techno-etiquettes," she said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009