Irish least tolerant in the world of annoying mobile users (infographic)

20 Oct 2014

The Irish are seemingly the most polite users of mobile phones in the world, at least according to new research that has analysed the use of mobile phones internationally.

Expedia and Egencia had asked 8,552 employed adults across 25 countries a number of questions relating to their mobile phone habits when travelling abroad and their hate/hate relationship with existing roaming plans for companies.

However, of particular interest for Irish mobile users are the findings they simply can’t stand to be around someone who is blissfully unaware of their surroundings while on their phone.

Of the categories of phone usage that makes Irish people suppress their rage, ‘Taking photos/videos of people you do not know’ is considered a cardinal sin of offensive smartphone behaviour by 53pc of Irish travellers, trailing only ‘making calls on speakerphone’ (65pc) and ‘playing music/games/videos without headphones’ (58pc).

Worst offenders of those surveyed happened to be Brazilian and Thai folk, with 43pc of Thais polled admitting to taking photos or videos of strangers and over a fifth of Brazilians admitting to making calls while on speakerphone in public when travelling. 

With regard to roaming charges, despite Irish people spending 25pc more on average on roaming charges than they consider to be reasonable charges, only 31pc of Irish travellers purchase an international data/roaming plan when travelling.

In comparison, our Asia-Pacific counterparts are much more likely to purchase a roaming plan, with 68pc of Indians and 56pc of Thais would buy a plan for travelling.

Annoying mobile phone user image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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