Boundaries
shift in the U.S. on what cellphone use is rude: survey
Send a link to a friend
[August 26, 2015]
By Ian Simpson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Do you text or
otherwise engage with a small screen during a social gathering? A U.S.
survey suggests you are not alone, even if you are annoyed when other
people do exactly the same thing.
|
The Pew Research Center survey on shifts in what is acceptable in
an always-wired world found 82 percent of American adults say that
using cellphones hurt conversation in social gatherings.
But even more people - 89 percent - say they used their phones
during their most recent get-together, including for texting,
talking and for a photo.
Lee Rainie, Pew's director of Internet, science and technology
research, said the survey underscored big issues about how
technology is disrupting longstanding rules on human interaction.
"We're in the middle of this enormous social transformation where
the rules of the road aren't clear and so they're constantly being
negotiated," he said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/26/images/ads/current/dare-sda-daily-fair-2015.png)
The survey of U.S. adults showed that 92 percent had a cellphone. Of
those, nine out of 10 said they were always with them.
Cellphone use in social settings tends to be tied to the event
itself, with 45 percent of people posting a photo or video of their
most recent gathering, the survey showed.
A smaller number - 16 percent - said they turned to their small
screen because they had lost interest in the group.
Some cellphone use is practical: while in public spaces, almost
two-thirds of cellphone users look up information about where they
are going or how to get there.
But about 23 percent of cellphone users said that at least
occasionally they turned to their devices to avoid contact with
other people.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/26/images/ads/current/cia_2_lda_031115.png)
Asked when cellphone use was "generally OK," 77 percent said while
walking down a street and three-quarters said on public
transportation. Five percent said it was usually OK at a movie
theater.
Cellphone etiquette became a policy issue in the United States in
2013 when Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler
said the agency was considering allowing in-flight calls on planes.
After criticism about passengers having to listen to neighbors
during flights, Wheeler said he personally opposed in-flight
cellphones and the decision would be up to airlines. The FCC
cellphone proposal is still pending.
The survey was done from May 30 to June 30, 2014, among 3,217
adults, including 3,042 with cellphones. The margin of error for the
full sample is 2.2 percentage points, and for the cell-user sample
2.3 percentage points.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Frances Kerry)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/26/images/ads/current/atlantanationalbank_sda_072114.png) |