David Carr of the New York Times is a social media pragmatist. It’s OK to keep yourself in the loop, he writes, but it’s too easy to lose track of the impressions we give off when plugged in. His list of 10 smartphone etiquette ideas is worth perusing.
Carr writes in a longer, traditional piece about the merits and drawbacks of smartphones in personal relationships. But his sidebar list of 10 Dos and Don’ts is a quick read that gets you thinking for a longer time. For instance:
2. Phones should remain put-away during dinner and lunch with friends, but it should also be permissible to ask for and take a mutual “phone break” if the meal goes on for longer than an hour.
Just like you don’t get up and walk away while someone’s speaking, without any notice, to use the restroom, so too should a break to check your feeds, tweets, text messages or other incoming data be announced. If it’s embarrassing to say it, it’s something you should perhaps save for later.
What points can you and Carr agree on, and which rules did he leave off?
A Guide to Smartphone Manners [NYTimes.com]
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