Are you an adept of approximeeting?

The Guardian has an article about the cultural changes that mobile phones are generating.

We are now used to approximeeting. You are no longer obliged to make firm plans about when and where to meet. It is no longer "see you here at eight", but "text me around eight and we'll see where we all are".

In their paper, Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging, Donna Reid and Fraser Reid (PDF of the report) distinguished between two types of mobile phone users: the Talkers and the Texters - those who prefer voice over text messaging and vice versa.

The mobile phone's individuality and privacy gives Texters the ability to express a whole new persona: "Texting may offer Texters more control over their interactions with others by affording them visual anonymity and asynchronous communication. As such the mobile may become more a matter of identity than a simple communication tool."

Self-discovery is one thing, but clear communication quite another. Another report claims that quick emails and casual text messaging is ruining our ability to express ourselves clearly.

Besides mobile phone create irritating situations like overhearing other people's conversations.

Researchers from the University of York have found that people instinctively listen more attentively to conversations where they can only hear one side. This additional attention means you can't ignore the conversation, and the tension created by the need to hear the other side means it rapidly starts to rankle.

This same one-sided tension occurs when you hear a mobile phone ring and it is not answered. Because a mobile belongs to a person and not a place, you are socially restricted from answering it. But a ringing phone compels you to answer it. This conflict can drive you potty.

Regine | 9:44 PM | SMS Studies & Research |
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