by Fahmida Y. Rashid
While technology, such as cell phones, e-mail and instant messaging, have in many ways made life easier, these same devices may make users lazy and oblivious to their surroundings. The constant pressure on workers to be accessible means manners often take a backseat. In consumer circles, lots of people apparently believe that because they can take or make a phone call, they should.
In a recent national poll by market research group Synovate, 68% of Americans claimed to observe poor cell phone etiquette at least once per day. Eighteen percent said they ran into poor e-mail etiquette. The study noted that the Americans showed the poorest etiquette when using the very devices they rely on the most (52% said they would "die" if their phones and e-mails were taken away).
"Poor tech etiquette is something most of us don't really think about as we pick up our cell phones or send an e-mail," said Steve Levine, senior vice president at Synovate.
The survey results follow on the heels of a marketing push by a company called Moderati, which sells ring tones, cell phone wallpaper and ring-back tones. The company claims that "nothing says 'I hate you' like a DisTone." A DisTone is a rather unfriendly greeting users assign to callers they want to avoid.