For the majority of us, the only thing more irritating than listening to someone yap away on their mobile phone on public transport is the realisation that we ourselves don’t have reception to facilitate our rant.
Studies have indicated that this mid transit talk is not just about asking your partner if it is steak or chicken for dinner, or talking to your friend about the weekend party, but an effort to seem important.
If you think that is feeble behaviour, consider this; studies also found that many people are not actually talking to anyone.
In Korea and other Asian countries, however, talking on your mobile phone on public transport is forbidden. Instead passengers will continually text or use online services in a bid to persuade other passengers of their demanding social life.
This might seem a bizarre observation, but what is more bizarre is an apparent inability to just be alone whilst travelling from A to B in Korea.
Nothing illustrates this more than the above photo, taken at 8.30am on a Thursday morning.
However, In Korea at least, the dedication to maintaining social appearances seems to be done with a lot more tranquillity, favouring online and messaging services over voice conversations.
When it comes to being courteous on public transport, Korea could be teaching the rest of the world a thing or two about mobile phone etiquette.
Analyst Michael King suggests that the good conduct of our mobile chat in this part of the world may have less to do with a tendency to be more respectful but rather to do with advanced technological services.
According to King, it is mobile phone technology facilitating wireless use in such societies that “helps us to be more polite”
However, with a strong work ethic and most Koreans working long hours on a six day week, it may just be that connecting via wireless facilities is easier and less tiresome than engaging in voice calls, saving that much needed energy for the week ahead.
Korean mobile users more courteous in transit
82
previous post
