Virgin Mobile today announces a set of guidelines for the modern day usage of the mobile phone in conjunction with etiquette expert Jean Broke Smith. The Virgin Mobile Guide to Mobile Phone Etiquette Report provides mobile phone users with the Top Ten Golden Rules of mobile phone etiquette including: appropriate use of your phone in social situations, when to have your phone on and off, and how to avoid the potential minefield of mobile use when dating.
With over 50 million people now owning a mobile phone, the UK has become a nation of constant communicators. Whilst we talk to each other more than ever before, there are still questions hanging over how to behave correctly in everyday situations. Should a woman text a man after a date? Is it ever acceptable to answer your mobile phone on the train? And is it rude to text if you’re running late to an important meeting or date?
If you want to avoid driving your fellow commuters crazy, or work out why your date is giving you dirty looks over dinner, then read on as Virgin Mobile answers the nation’s talk and text dilemmas, with the Virgin Mobile Top Ten Golden Rules of mobile phone etiquette.
- DON’T… engage in a long and noisy conversation with a caller when in a bar or restaurant with a friend, either move yourself away from the situation or send a text
- DO… either switch your mobile to silent at a restaurant or hand it to reception and ask them to alert you if you receive an important call
- DON’T… have your mobile phone visible on a table in a restaurant or bar, this is bad etiquette and will turn your phone into the modern equivalent of a comfort blanket
- DO… place your mobile out of sight, in your handbag, briefcase or pocket. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that you check it regularly in case there is an emergency
- DON’T… walk along the road talking loudly on a handsfree phone – it is not only silly and disconcerting, but bad manners
- DO… keep your ringtone style and volume at a sensible level – not everyone will necessarily enjoy your selection
- DON’T… hold long, thoughtless unnecessary calls at the top of your voice on public transport – very few people are interested in your private life
- DO… text friends when they are abroad – in some countries, recipients have to pay towards the call, and texting is a cheap and easy alternative
- DON’T… forget your posture. Posture can be affected by leaning the ear towards the shoulder, locking arm and hand in a cradling position to hold the phone…Relax shoulder and hand and keep the head straight.
- YOU MUST… switch off your phone at theatres, cinemas, funerals and weddings.
And for anyone about to join the dating game, remember…
- DO… text a girl to ask for a date after your first meeting if you are shy (it’s OK)
- DO… phone to confirm the details if the date is accepted (don’t forget)
- DON’T… send a text if you are running late – CALL!
And Girls….
- DO… phone your date and thank him afterwards, (although, if it was just a casual drink you can text him). Either way, it is your prerogative to say thanks!
- DON’T….spend the whole date texting or talking on your phone, you might want to look popular but you will turn off your prospective partner
Alison Bonny from Virgin Mobile comments: ‘The mobile phone has never been more key to social interaction as it is now. Everyone is guilty of the occasional bout of bad mobile etiquette and Virgin Mobile’s new guidelines will prevent talk and text faux pas’.
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