Are You Committing This Social Sin?
By Movieguide® Contributor
A new epidemic of inconsiderate behavior is running rampant, although some might not realize that what they’re doing is bothering those around them.
Using FaceTime and speakerphone in public is becoming more and more common as people choose not to wear headphones when using their devices.
“They’re thinking about themselves,” Taya Cohen, professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University, said, explaining the inconsiderate behavior. “When we have a narrow focus on the content we’re consuming or the interaction we’re having, we’re not thinking very much about how other people might be affected by that and how negatively other people might be affected — that they might not like the noise, that they could even hear it.”
The increase in different kinds of technology doesn’t help either. With phones, tablets, smartwatches and other tech devices, it’s no wonder the world is becoming noisy.
“It just seems now there’s more opportunities for people to do so because we all have technology that makes noise,” Cohen said.
A thread on Reddit discussed the issue, with many users weighing in on the reason behind it.
“I often see people in high traffic public places on speaker phone or FaceTiming someone, no matter the conversation,” one user began. “I recently saw someone in front of me at a superstore who was FaceTiming and the phone was in her purse with the camera just pointing up at the ceiling.”
Many people commented their disapproval.
“Because they’re the main character,” one person said, implying that people who don’t consider others are selfish.
Others gave people the benefit of the doubt.
“Because they got a call/made a call. That’s the end of the thought process. Not ‘I want to annoy everyone!’ It’s not necessarily a sense of entitlement. Some people are just unaware that it could upset someone.”
Regardless of each person’s heart behind it, using noisy devices in public ultimately doesn’t consider those around us.
Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Maybe you use Facetime in public, and maybe the speakerphone is just easier. But next time you click the speakerphone icon, think of those around you. Sometimes an act of showing love to those around us is as simple as putting our headphones on.
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