Monday Morning Mobile: End of the Social Etiquette Era

Has making plans or, more importantly, keeping plans become a lost art? In today's mobile world where we can text, tweet, e-mail and call one another at the touch of a button, many feel that what was once social etiquette is falling by the wayside.

In a recent article in the New York Times, sry gotta bail mayb nxt tme, Caroline Tell explores this phenomenon of how people are now navigating their social lives in real time and either confirming or cancelling plans on the fly. She points out that not only are people using text and other mobile communications to cancel, but they cancel as close to the last minute as possible.

In addition, people are often making multiple sets of plans, all at the same time, and choosing which to attend based on how and where others are going and the surrounding circumstances of the evening. As Ashley Wick, founder of Wick & Co. put it, "Offline rules of etiquette no longer seem to apply ... people hide behind e-mail or text messages to cancel appointments or do things that feel uncomfortable to do in person."

Unfortunately for those who despise last minute cancellations and take pride in social etiquette, this phenomenon is poised to only get worse with the growing shift to mobile devices. According to eMarketer, the time spent on mobile devices for activities such as internet, apps, gaming, and music has more than doubled in the past two years here in the US.