I don't text, tweet or use any of the so called 'social' media. I find it very annoying when people talk loudly on the phone in a restaurant or any public area. Just as bad are the people who don't answer their ringing phone. Put it on vibrate for god's sake!!!
I don't patranize any restaurant who touts how 'phone/computer' friendly they are. I want to eat and drink in peace and quiet.

Absolutely unacceptable in my book.

I take one of two avenues: either I check in and leave the phone alone for the rest of the meal, or I wait until the other person whips it out and I take that as the cue that it's okay. I'm not offended unless I'm looking at the other on the phone more than conversing with me ... and I don't allow my usage to interfere with others unless I know it's cool, I tell them it'll be quick (quick snapshot of food maybe), or if Mom calls (one missed emergency call cemented this rule).

This again, yikes.

Just turn them off people. Nothing is more important than spending quality face-to-face time with family and friends. NOTHING.

We built the Empire State Building and the Interstate Highway System, send men to the Moon, and in general had good quality of life before the advent of the cell phone. You can do it, people!

( . . . and now I'll quietly step back from the sermon box!)

I think it all depends on where you are at. Usually I determine cell phone acceptability by how loud and casual a restaurant is. However, if I am going to talk on the phone, I always excuse myself from the table and leave the facility. The phone is also always on vibrate only while anywhere but my home.

If I'm having lunch with someone, I make a point of switching to my phone's "Flight Mode." I won't be able to make or receive calls or texts, and the phone's internet connection is disabled, so I will neither be tempted to check email, nor will I receive any email or social media notifications.

If, however, I want to use my phone to take a photo, to save contact information, or to share photos of friends and family stored on the phone, I have that option.

I try not to use my phone when I dine out. The only time I may use it is if someone asks me the time (I don't wear a watch) or if one of my planned dining companions is running late and/or needs directions.

One of my friend's is quite shameless about pulling out his iphone when we dine out.We are trying to talk to him as he peruses news articles and reddit. It can be very annoying.

In my book, talking on the phone at the table is unacceptable, and so is texting; if you absolutely must make a call, it's best to excuse yourself for a moment.

However, in my family, smart phones have just slipped into the place that used to be occupied by someone getting up from the table and hunting down a reference book to fact check some point or other brought up in the course of heated discussion (seriously - this would happen at least once, and often more than that, during dinner). I don't think that's a habit I'll ever be able to break myself of, and it really seems much faster and less disruptive to go straight for google!

There have been a few articles written about this around the first of the year. To do my part, I made my New Year's Resolution to not take out (use) my cell phone while I am dining (anywhere) with at least one other person. I've faltered once or twice when the other party excuses themselves to the restroom but for the most part, I am doing really well.

I think it depends on who you're with. If it's someone I'm catching up with then phones off but if it's my best friend who I eat lunch with all the time then I don't really care as long as it's not mid-conversation.

@MID-C FRANK "This again, yikes."

My thoughts exactly. The constant discussion of poor cell phone etiquette is almost as annoying as the poor etiquette itself.

The best advice I read for this particular issue was as follows: If you are in a situation where it would be rude to pull out the newspaper and start doing the crossword puzzle, it is rude to talk/text/email/surf.

If I'm out for dinner with my parents, in-laws, anyone 15+ years older than me or with people I don't know very well, I leave my phone in my bag. Unless I'm expecting an important phone call, in which case I'll give a heads up.

If I'm out with a group of friends, we all usually have our phones out and will reply to texts if we get them. We still have good conversations and a text here and there doesn't bother me. But then again, I'm 22. I think things are a little different in my age group.

Once I was on a first date at a very nice restaurant. The guy took a call on his cell phone in the middle of dinner. I quietly excused myself, went outside and caught the first cab home.

"Don't interrupt....RUde!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1vk8yp5tx0

^_^

I think it depends on the circumstances. I rarely get out for lunch during the workweek as the nature of my job is just not conducive to being away. So when I am able to leave for an hour or so, my companion, if I happen to have one, understands that I may be checking my Blackberry to check on work. Things happen and on more than one occasion, I've had to conduct business from my phone. If I'm out to dinner with family or friends, then outside of the FB 'check-in' to get free valet parking, or something along those lines, then the phone stays in the purse.

Now one big caveat and I'm sure I'll get flack for this one-we have a 4yr old, and I am certainly not above whipping out the iPhone at the restaurant to ensure a meal in peace. Yes, I am one of *those* parents. She's well behaved but given her age has her limits.

It's just rude. If you're out with a group of people, enjoy the people and enjoy the moment. You can catch up with your other friends later.

I've recently heard of a "game" that deals with this problem. Everyone in the group puts their phone face down in the middle of the table. First one to reach for their phone pays the check!

@whatyousay, I agree with you. I don't think it's rude to use one's phone momentarily when you're with people who feel the same way. But I don't do it around my Dad.

Unacceptable, unless what you're checking on your phone will somehow benefit the group - taking a photo, checking on a fact for everyone, etc. If you pick up your phone to check your messages, make comments on social networking sites, or because you just thought of something clever to add to Twitter, I will immediately think that you have become bored with my company. I really hate when people do this.

Oh, I should add that there seems to be the impression that this is an okay practice among young people, but to be avoided among older folks. I am 28, and probably in the minority among my peers in disliking this so much.

I would say more dinners have been enhanced by cell phones than detracted by it. Maybe I just have more considerate friends and family but cell phones have never been a huge problem. They always come out for sharing pictures, videos, looking stuff up etc. Sure someone may check a text message or take a quick call (away from the table), i dont really think that is rude unless its constant.

If it is an intimate 1-on-1 type setting, or something fancy, that's unacceptable. But if you're out to dinner with a group of friends or family where your participation isn't a keystone of the evening, shooting off a quick text/taking or showing a picture/looking something up is fine. I think it is pretty easy to use common sense on this kind of issue about balancing whatever is going on in your phone with what is going on around you and not removing yourself from a situation and offending the people around you by overdoing it. If you're glued to your phone, then there is no point in going out, but I feel like most people outgrow that when they graduate highschool (or at the very least, college).

Screw people who hate it unilaterally, though. Pull the stick out already. I recently got into this same discussion about people who talk on the phone while doing mundane things like waiting in line, and basically, if hearing a stranger having a phone conversation makes your blood boil, fix your life. It isn't like waiting in line, or riding a bus or whatever is some intense, life-changing experience that a conversation with a friend on the phone is going to totally shatter. It's different when you hit the front of the line and actually are engaging with someone, that is still a douche move, but I can't get my head around the number of people that just seem mortally offended by the mere thought of talking on a cell phone in public.

QUOTE: When it comes to table manners in our socially connected world, has cellphone usage become acceptable?

No.

and no *if's*

@ BLINX: love this...
*I've recently heard of a "game" that deals with this problem. Everyone in the group puts their phone face down in the middle of the table. First one to reach for their phone pays the check!*

I'll never have to pay for a meal out again!

Funny, those who dislike people who are irritated by others using their phones in public seem to be assuming that it is about ONE person having a CONVERSATION. There are buses in my city where every second person talks on their phone simultaneously, and some of the rest of them are either playing music loudly (as though we were going to suddenly like them because they listen to rap) or playing a game loudly. Let me tell you, between hearing my left-hand neighbour discussing how she got chlamydia, my right-hand neighbour trying to drown some other guy's music and the lady in front of me playing a slot machine game, it is pretty damn hard to stay calm.

I think it is not the mere use of smart phones that is an issue, it is WHAT they are used for that makes all the difference. You can check your Facebook account whenever and wherever you want to, but you can't have dinner with me whenever, wherever. I work from home, and my circle knows that I might get mail from clients that I need to reply to. They understand that there is no way around it and tolerate it well. I ensure to be brief and to the point in my reply out of respect for my friends. But never do I even feel slightly tempted to check my social media accounts, exchange text messages or, worst of all, do crossword puzzles. And even if I were tempted to, I still wouldn't do it. That is just totally rude and is the equivalent of turning your back to someone who is talking to you.

A little unfair to be ageist about it folks!
I'm not in my 20s yet and I consider it extremely rude. My parents in their 50s and 60s fail to switch it off and instead take calls, surf the net, text etc. It has little to do with age, more to do with ignorance and lack of empathy for fellow diners.

Sitting over your food, texting, surfing the net, snapping and other such technological things are TOTALLY unacceptable if sharing a meal with others. It's just unfair. I don't see how leaving a phone on the table is any different from taking out a massive newspaper and spreading it across the table. It alienates just about everyone else and takes away what is fundamentally important about going out to eat with others. We share them! We break bread, talk and enjoy. We don't separate into our own little bubbles. We’ve been sharing meals for thousands of years and I don’t see why this important bond between food and friendship should be harassed because someone fails to PUT IT AWAY.

Still acceptations have to be made... you're hardly going to rage at someone for putting their phone on vibrate because they're waiting to hear news of their ill grandma, whether they got the job or not etc. So long as they tell you and leave the table, I hardly think it's a matter worth raising your nose at.

I think this topic should be posted weekly, everywhere! People need reminders. I am SOOO tired of hearing other people's phone conversations. (Why must they RAISE THEIR VOICES in restaurants and other close places?) It's very irritating. (Maybe I'm biased because I'm so sick of them driving around corners and into my lane when zoned out on their phones!)

@discerning: I absolutely love the game you described. Thank you!

I saw a guy leave his girlfriend alone to take a call on Valentine's Day, but a bit after he got back they were both sitting at the table texting on their phones. How interested are they in each other if they can't spend one hour talking to each other and not to every friend that texts them.

I was a bit annoyed when I invited people over for dinner and a few of them kept "stepping out" to take a call, without at least explaining.

I'm still in the "rude and unacceptable" camp when it comes to how I feel about using your phone at the dinner table. It's disrespectful to your fellow diners. They should be your priority, not your phone. Just put it away for a couple of hours.

@Blinx - brilliant idea! I'm going to suggest that the next time I'm dining out with a group of incessant phone users.

Yeah, I have to go with rude and unacceptable, and frankly, not only at dinner, but any time you're in a conversation with anyone. I have a friend, whom I love dearly, who almost always reads and replies to texts when we're doing something socially together or in a group, and it drives me nuts. Unfortunately, it's very hard to just say, "Please don't do that," and have anyone actually listen to you.

The phone is OFF when I'm with another human being. Would you flip on the TV right when someone is in mid-sentence (okay, how about this: would you do it to your boss?)

No yapping in public places, either. Take it outside, for gods sake.

UGGH! So I'm 25, and I do NOT have a smartphone. Just text and talk. But when I am with out (usually with my husband) my phone stays home. I *used* to be friends with a girl who was constantly texting...constantly. Nothing important. If I was lucky enough to get a word in when she wasn't speaking , she'd text away saying "I'm listening" Nope, no you are not. And it shows. If I texted in front of her, it irritated her. Yeah, no longer friends. But another gal pal of mine is starting to do the same thing. Even during very serious or personal conversations, and whenever she sends off a text she is instantly distracted into another topic.
Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest! Ha! But really, if you care about the people you're with, you'll be WITH them, and not stuck to your phone. The drawbacks of being connected to everyone means we have to disconnect ourselves with the flesh and blood we are with here and now.

Cell phone activity at the table has always been distasteful to me. Meal time has always been thought of as a sacred time, to connect, share and engage. If I could choose, all electronics would be banned from the precious moments friends and family are afforded at the table. Old fashioned? Maybe. But it's plain good medicine!

I f'ing *hate* it when people text during social outings. I took time out of my day to spend time with you, please afford me the same courtesy-- if not, I'm outtie. I remember at my last birthday, at a bar, looking up from a conversation that I was having, and seeing a line of six people [friends with each other, BTW].... all fiddling with their smartphones. It blew my mind.

I'm with MRSBERG on this-- just turned 26 and still have my old, wizened Motorola KRZR (though it's certainly on its last leg.)

I've instigated the game Blinx refers to- Its called Phone Stack, when I dine out with friends. If we've gone to all the trouble to dress up and go out for a nice dinner the least my dining companions can do is actually engage in conversation and not sit on Facebook reading about their other friends who are off doing other things. If you wanted to see them, go and see them, no need to sit across from me and ignore me. Here's a link explaining the game: http://www.news.com.au/technology/smartphones/phone-stacking-game-to-get-friends-off-mobiles-at-meal-time/story-fn6vihic-1226247534506

I have been known to be rude enough to chime in on a neighboring diner's LOUD cell phone conversation to alert him/her to just how LOUD they are talking and that everyone near you can hear your personal business. Lord the looks of shock! It's considered totally shocking to butt in on something going on at the next table, but ok to bellow into your phone? After the huffiness I get surreptitious smiles from other tables. I can do this, because I'm an aggressive bitch. But I don't talk or text in restaurants or while I'm with someone--unless we're lost and calling for directions.

I never use my phone at the table unless someone requests me to. Eating a meal with other people is so you can enjoy their company and the good food, not so you can be glued to your virtual world and ignore others, especially those that took the time to be there with you.

No it is not acceptable and I run with a very social media savvy crowd (some professionals even). I am rather strict and call folks out unless we are at a tweet-up or other social media prompted gathering.

A few years ago, I was at the bar in a restaurant waiting to be seated. I was standing behind a couple who were seated at the bar. They both had their phones in hand. The woman received a text and turned slightly away from her boyfriend to read it. I was bored/curious and read it over her shoulder. (I figure if you're gonna text in public, fair game!) It was sexual. She responded, in kind, still tilting the phone away from her boyfriend, who was now watching a game on the bar television. Scandal! I was about to furiously whisper in my husband's ear what was happening when the boyfriend received a text of his own, read it, looked over at his girlfriend and indicated that he had just received her filthy text. Ha! I've never looked at public cell phone use quite the same since then.