Should I put my phone away during dinner?

Question.

During lunch, my friends ask everyone to put their phones away from the table and not to be distracted by messengers. Should I do the same? Is it a violation of etiquette and a sign of disrespect to have a parallel online conversation during a personal meeting?

Answer.

In any company, the rules are set by its members. We know of cases when members of the same family prefer to correspond on social media with each other while staying in the same or adjacent rooms. And everyone is comfortable! This is, of course, an illustration of an extreme, but it is also an example of the fact that "respect" and "comfort" are different for everyone. It all depends on your personal characteristics, preferences and agreements.

In our culture, it is still customary to demonstrate attention to the interlocutor and involvement in the general conversation. Therefore, parallel correspondence with someone can indeed be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. At the same time, we repeat that this rule may vary depending on the company.

Yes, digital technologies have transformed our everyday communication. People often criticize that nowadays people are sitting, "hiding" in their gadgets, and the chances of them talking to each other are much lower. However, if we look at it from a less pessimistic perspective, it becomes clear that communication is not going anywhere, it is simply being transferred to the virtual space (and we need to be understanding of this).