Washingtonpost.com writes:
"If you didn't have the cell phone, you'd make more of an effort to be on time," says Kaine Kornegay, 21, an intern in the Senate. "It's more socially acceptable to be late," he says, "because you've given notice that you would be."(Source: Washington Post: Cell Biology via LinkMachineGo)"With that, the problem is resolved because the information was transmitted, although not his physical body," chimes in Ky Nguyen, 30, a Laurel freelance writer.
"There's a level of service agreement," he says. You expect people with cell phones to be available all the time. If they don't call back quickly, that's interpreted as a snub, and it causes anger. It would not be the same calling a land line because you might be out, so taking a day to get back could seem perfectly reasonable.
I've noticed the same phenomenon with my friends: after we were getting our first mobiles maybe 5 years ago, all things related to making appointments have softened. Now, we're all like "yeah - give me a call / send me a text later and we'll see what we do"...
It's not necessarily bad - it's just the way our social networks evolve based on new technologies... (email, ICQ and other technologies have had similar impacts) The only downside: having your phone battery die when you're on your way to meet people..... ;-)
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Anders Jacobsen [extrospection.com photography] |