Senator on Blackberry during Obama Speech
// September 10th, 2009 // BlackBerry
Last night, President Obama delivered an important speech to the Senate on his controversial plans for healthcare reforms. Commentators including the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson have pointed out that the President’s job was made easier by the rudeness of some of his political opponents, one of whom shouted out “You lie!” at one point.
But it is House Minority Whip Eric Cantor that Robinson singles out for using his Blackberry during the speech. This behaviour is now commonplace for attendees of meetings and presentations when they should be paying attention to what’s being said in the room. I am reminded of research conducted by Glenn Wilson of Kings College, London University, who found that while nine out of 10 of his reseach subjects agreed that answering messages during face-to-face meetings or office conferences was rude, a third nonetheless felt that this had become “acceptable and seen as a sign of diligence and efficiency”.
How can something be perceived as both rude and acceptable at the same time? It surely has something to do with the perceived importance of the individual’s own messages and emails outweighing the possibility of social censure for rudeness. The persistent use of mobiles on “quiet” carriages in trains is an example of this.
There may be a groundswell forming against behaviour such as that of Eric Cantor – Luke Johnson writing recently in the Daily Telegraph announced that he was banning the use of Blackberries in all board meetings that he chaired. Good for him.
