Comments on: Jabberwalkie-talkie

By: Ben Tausig

Ben Tausig — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:56:34 +0000

TMI is key. I think it's often the case that the sharer, being functionally anonymous, cares much less about revealing private details than the listener, whose normative private space is violated.

The fact that you're troubled by silence also raises interesting questions. It's as if, absent audible response, you yourself are being petitioned to fill in the gaps – if only in your imagination. That is very distracting.

Thanks, JSA.

By: J. Stoever-Ackerman

J. Stoever-Ackerman — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:17:54 +0000

my annoyance with overhearing cell conversations has nothing to do with tone or volume or public and private–in my experience, people have always shared TMI on public transpo–it is the fact that I can only hear one side of it. Cell talks are not qualitatively the same as an old-fashioned dialogue in this regard. It isn't just about thwarted voyeurism, either, for some reason I am able to tune out the patter of back and forth conversation in ways that I am unable to when the cell conversation proceeds by fits and starts. Perhaps my ear knows conversational cues so well that I hear the give and take of two speaker's voices as seamless and expected, and I don't have to actively listen for anything (unconsciously or not). For me, i think the silences of a cell convo are more disruptive than their actual sound.

By: Ben Tausig

Ben Tausig — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:52:19 +0000

That's a keen observation, thanks for sharing. I think we all carry pretty strong expectations about what it means to responsibly present somewhere. This is at the root of debates about cell phone, smartphone, and iPod use on the street and in cars, for example.

Weird things definitely happen when fragments of the private realm float through public space.

By: Ben Tausig

Ben Tausig — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:46:49 +0000

Thanks, Toby

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:06:35 +0000

This is interesting. I think I has something to do with the disconnect between physical and mental presence. Whatever space we're in, we expect those around us to be as mentally present as the rest of us. When they're not, there's something off-putting about it.

For instance, if someone bumps into me on the sidewalk because they're staring at the top of a building or whatever, I'm OK with it – they're preoccupied with something within our shared space. When it happens because they're on a phone, though, it's annoying. I'm not exactly sure why this is. Something for me to think about.

By: Toby

Toby — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:30:54 +0000

I love this blog, excellent commentary!