Instances of people being loud and annoying when talking on their cell phones in public are common, but less common than they used to be.
Overall, about three-quarters of adults (74%) say that they witness this type of behavior “frequently” or “occasionally,” while 25% say that they witness it “rarely” or “never.”
However, the proportion of adults who say that this happens to them frequently has decreased significantly in the last six years. In March 2006, half (50%) of all adults said that this happened to them frequently, compared with 39% who said so last year.
Although most Americans (including most cell owners) have witnessed other people behaving in a loud or annoying manner using their phones, few admit to doing it themselves. Just 6% of cell owners say that they themselves have drawn criticism or dirty looks from someone else because of the way they were using their phone in public. This is largely unchanged from the 8% of cell owners who had experienced this the first time the question was asked in early 2006. Read more
