Feb 25 (Reuters Life!) – Whether is it texting
during dinner, talking on a cellphone in a public restroom or
using a laptop while driving, most people think mobile etiquette
is getting worse, not better.
Ninety one percent of U.S. adults questioned in a new poll
by computer innovation company Intel said they have seen people
misuse technology, and three quarters think mobile manners have
decreased in the past year.
"New digital technologies are becoming a mainstay in
consumers’ lives, but we haven’t worked out for ourselves, our
families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of
behaviors and expectations will be," said Genevieve Bell, the
head of interaction and experience research at Intel.
The poll of 2,000 adults revealed that most U.S. adults
wished people practiced better mobile etiquette and found the
lack of cellphone manners extremely annoying, even though about
20 percent admitted to poor etiquette themselves.
Nearly 75 percent said the lack of mobile manners has
created a new form of public rage and 65 percent admitted they
became angry around people who misused mobile devices.
The most annoying behaviors were the use of mobile devices
during driving, followed by talking on a cellphone loudly in a
public place and walking in the street while texting or talking
on the phone.
People reported seeing, on average five mobile offenses
every day, according to the poll. Nearly a quarter said they had
even seen someone using a laptop while driving, and one in five
said they checked their mobile devices before getting out of bed
in the morning.