Mobile etiquette 'getting worse'

Ninety one per cent of US 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 behaviours 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 US adults wished people practiced better mobile etiquette and found the lack of cellphone manners extremely annoying, even though about 20 per cent admitted to poor etiquette themselves.

Nearly 75 per cent said the lack of mobile manners has created a new form of public rage and 65 per cent admitted they became angry around people who misused mobile devices. The most annoying behaviours 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 offences every day, according to the poll.