“Along with being more tolerant than their elders about cellphone use in public, younger adults also tend to use their phones for a wider range of purposes while out and about in public”, according to Pew.
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Eighty-nine percent said they used their phone during a social gathering – 61 percent to read a text message or email, 58 percent to take a photo or video, 52 percent to receive a call, and 25 percent to surf the web, for example.
Those surveyed found it to be generally OK to use phones while riding public transportation (75 percent) or waiting in line (74 percent), but not so much in a restaurant (38 percent), at a family dinner (12 percent) or while taking in a church service (4 percent).
As you also probably guessed, some people out there simply use their phones to avoid whatever it is you have to say.
When cellphones are cool: Even if it’s always on you, knowing when to pull out your phone is key. About 90 percent of them say their phone is always with them. Some 76 percent of mobile phone owners report never or rarely turning off their phones.
He said that fully public venues are viewed by all age groups as generally acceptable places to use a phone, but that “usage in quiet or more intimate settings is mostly frowned upon by all”.
A new study has revealed quite how rude some people think these activities are, and it suggests that the Americans asked still have a strong feeling that it’s often inappropriate to whip out our smartphones in company. Women (41 percent) and those over age 50 (45 percent) are more likely to think cell use hurts the group compared with 32 percent of men and 29 percent of younger cell phone owners. Case in point: When we go to a social gathering but don’t really know anyone, or just want to occupy ourselves, we’re more than likely to skip conversation and whip out our cell phone. An overwhelming 82% of adults say that when people use their phones in social gatherings it frequently or occasionally hurts the conversation. Some 15% said they wanted to interact with others outside the group, and 10% used their phone to avoid participating in whatever the group was doing.
Even though people may be trying to contribute or engage socially with their cell phones, it still removes that person from the group, Pew noted.
In defense of humanity, not all of this phone time is necessarily bad.
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In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.
