Aussies are getting ruder and its all thanks to generation smartphone, warns Telstra.
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Ever pull your iPhone out at dinner? Or halted mid conversation to update your Facebook status? Well if you are then you’re a peacock.
But you’re not the only one. Mobile users are increasingly using their mobile phones inappropriately, and four out of five people believe we’re getting worse.
Thirty per cent witness a phone-pas daily but most of us are actually guilty of the etiquette offences we most dislike others doing, like having loud conversation on the bus or talking whilst driving.
The top 4 most cited mobile personalities include:
The Peacock: constantly posting status updates, checking-in friends and talking loudly on your mobile phone. (All designed to make sure everyone knows you have a ‘fabulous’ life.)
Mover and Shaker: regularly gets caught-out answering a mobile in meetings or responding to SMS at the dinner table.
Stimulation Seeker: can’t sit still and need to be in the know, and needs pass the time – whether you’re on the bus or while crossing the road – browsing Facebook, downloading the latest apps.
I see, I Do: tend to follow the crowd and exhibit poor mobile manners because everyone else does – checking emails during a work meeting because those around are.
However, less than half would call someone to heel on their bad behaviour, according to the latest Telstra research.
But it’s down to smartphones encouraging a new wave of behaviour, says Telstra Consumer Exec Director, Rebekah O’Flaherty, which isn’t surprising considering Facebook use on mobiles has tripled in the past year alone.
“More than one third of the mobiles we sell are smartphones and so it’s not surprising some of us aren’t sure if it’s acceptable to check-in friends on Facebook during lunch or show-off their latest apps over the dinner table.”
To reduce rudeness, Telstra has joined forces with etiquette expert Anna Musson to create “a new set of etiquette rules to help turn around mobile misbehaviour.”
Here are some of the smart tips:
“Firstly, save it for later – there are some discussions that should not take place over a mobile phone or in public,” says Musson.
Also, be ‘socially sensitive’ – a picture, status update or check-in can say a thousand words, so always think before you post,”.
And its seems tablets can also be a major social no-no (and increase blood pressure). Using an iPad at dinner or forcing peers to look at personal pics are some of the major annoyances asociated with their social use, Telstra’s research also showed.
So it seems cut down to avoid being cut out (from you’re real time mates, that is!).
