Once upon a time there was a man glued to a smartphone. At the rate we are going, there will be no choice but to change Quevedo's phrase. Israeli researchers have shown how smartphone users are retiring the old idea of privacy in public spaces. Unlike those with a normal cell phone, we forget the social conventions that are followed when one is in public.
It is not that we are losing our manners when we are with someone and we leave them with the word in their mouth to see the latest tweet, that too. What these hold researchers from Tel Aviv University is that we create a kind of privacy bubble around us thanks to the smartphone. Thus, smartphone users are 70% more likely to believe that our mobile allows us greater privacy, according to their survey. In addition, we are more willing to reveal data and private conversations in public spaces and, as we said before, we are less concerned if we are disturbing those around us.
However, according to his work, those who still have a normal mobile continue to respect social conventions, such as postponing a private conversation until when they are in a private space or limiting the use of mobile when they are in a public space. Something that we already knew and that they have checked again is that those of us who have a smartphone feel even more lost than those who do not have it when we do not carry it with us. It's like an arm has been ripped off.
The research, for which they have designed an application to track what volunteers do, aims to study how the progressive ubiquity of smartphones, their increasing adaptation to their use outdoors or the applications that use our location are impacting spaces public. For them, it is time for those who design squares, public places or shopping centers to take into account the omnipresence of smartphones in their designs. Who knows, the airport smoking booths are still coming back, but now for us.
Smart Spaces Project