How Cell Phone Etiquette Is Different Around The World [Infographic]

You probably haven’t thought about this before, but manners are generational. What I mean is different generations think different things are rude or inappropriate. I could probably list five or ten of those types of things off the top of my head just based on what my mother thinks is rude. For the sake of this article, lets talk about cell phone etiquette. As odd as this might sound to some people, cell phone etiquette changes depending on the age of the people involved.

For example, if a group of teenagers or University students meets at a restaurant for dinner, it’s not considered rude for everyone to be on their smartphones during the conversation. As a matter of fact, according to this article on NPR, it’s the ‘new normal’ so to speak.

There are of course situations in this country where I think everyone would agree about the cell phone etiquette. For example, answering your phone during a job interview would be considered rude regardless of your age (or at least I think so). According to this infographic called Worldwide Cell Phone Etiquette (by RepairLabs), people in Thailand don’t think it’s rude to answer a call during a job interview.

It’s always interesting to learn what’s customary in different countries, and that even includes what’s considered rude or not rude when it comes to our beloved phones. Some of the stuff on this infographic is so out there it almost makes me wonder if it’s true. I mean, can you imagine calling someone in Italy and that person answering the phone by saying “Pronto” instead of “Hello?”

In China, phone calls apparently take priority over face to face conversations. They will also call someone and let it ring 10 – 15 times, hang up, and call right back. If someone did that here in the States, it would be considered very rude. If you plan on doing some international traveling soon, be sure to check out this list so you know what to expect when it comes to cell phone etiquette!