Mobile Communication Device Etiquette
Family loyalty and compassion or empathy are the two values relevant to deciding when and when not to use your mobile communication devices. Human values like family loyalty and compassion dictate etiquette, and safety issues when using a mobile communication device are integral to humanity. “Family loyalty” describes the obligations, ties, and closeness family members feel toward one another. Mobile devices negatively impact beliefs that the phone’s presence may harm social evaluation conversation. People are perceived as less engaged, violating the cultural expectancy of undivided attention in a conversation (Johnson et al., 2019). When we have family meetings or get together, it creates a special moment to show family loyalty, and using mobile communication devices is the last thing you would do.
Compassion requires us to suffer together with those suffering and show our concern to help them. When we show compassion to others, we do not need to use our mobile devices because we need to connect with them, recognize the challenging situation they are dealing with, and behave in a way that will help them. You need to speak and listen to convey that you are immersed in the conversation, so displaying your sincere interest in others.
Using mobile devices at the wrong time can cause value conflict with others. Situations when using our phones are inappropriate: driving, walking, at funerals, during a date, on the trail, while watching movies in a theatre and when in the middle of a class (Kadylak et al., 2018). These situations mainly address your social behaviour when interacting with others and security measures that can be compromised when you use a mobile communication device at the wrong time.
I am slightly tethered to productivity tools such as calendars and marketing tools. These tools are not essential to my ability to live and work well. The devices negatively impact my ability to live and work well in several ways. I am addicted to phones and cannot resist the urge to use them when they are close. They affect my concentration levels because I mostly think about what I miss when not using them. They have affected my sleep, and I spend more time on the phone at night than sleeping. My personal use habits are inconsistent with family loyalty and compassion values, which I greatly value.
References
Johnson, T. J., Kaiser, M. Y., & Swan, A. B. (2019). Social and cognitive effects of smartphone use in face-to-face verbal interactions. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 24(4), 265-273.
Kadylak, T., Makki, T. W., Francis, J., Cotten, S. R., Rikard, R. V., & Sah, Y. J. (2018). Disrupted copresence: Older adults’ views on mobile phone use during face-to-face interactions. Mobile Media & Communication, 6(3), 331-349.