How to Handle Other People’s Bad Phone Habits
Staying silent about bad technology habits is making things worse for all of us. A simple trick to stop it is to call out the offender and tell them what you think about their bad tech use and how you feel about the behavior you’ve witnessed it in the first place.
Social Antibodies
The solution to screen indiscretion may be developing new norms that make it socially undesirable to check one’s phone in the company of others
- If we don’t build social antibodies, distraction will become the new normal
- Tech makers design products using the same psychology that makes slot machines addictive
- Variable rewards built into apps make time pass quickly and can make people oblivious to what is happening around them
Let’s do something
Asking a direct question and declaring device-free meetings are simple tactics that spread social antibodies.
- The idea is not to disavow technology completely, but to encourage people to appreciate its power, and to be aware when its power over them is becoming a problem.
At Work
Take an explicit approach
- Mandate a “no-screen meeting”
- This sends a message to everyone in the room that gadget time is more important than their time
- It distracts people who assume the boss is sending work their way
- Prevents the person using the device from participating in the discussion
Among Friends
One way to effectively call someone out while keeping things cordial is to ask a question.
- The goal is to snap the offender out of the phone zone, and give him two options: either excuse himself to attend to whatever crisis is happening, or put away the tech.
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