Ever use "Surfer's Voice"?
Category: Internet... Society & Culture...
Posted Sunday, November 09, 2003 at 10:01 PM [GMT-6]

This article by Dennis K. Berman in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal documents an increasingly-observed phenomenon: web-surfing, email checking or other computer-centric activity while talking on the telephone.

A new plague of inattention is spreading. It's called "surfer's voice" -- a habit of half-heartedly talking to someone on the telephone while simultaneously surfing the Web, reading e-mails, or trading instant messages.

On one end of the phone is an annoyed colleague or family member discussing an important topic. On the other end, a party puts on a meager soundtrack of knowing participation: "OK ... uh-hum ... right ... OK." It is punctuated with surreptitious tapping of a keyboard.

The brainy people who study these things call this phenomenon "absent presence." For years, researchers have discussed how cellphones have trampled over the once communal public space of sidewalks and restaurants. The idea is that we may be physically on a street corner, but our distracted minds are not. We do little bits of everything, and none well.

I confess to be ever-so-occasionally guilty of this behavior. Well, more than occasionally. In fact, I can see the irony in the fact that I was skimming the WSJ article while talking on the phone with my parents during our regular Sunday night call. But I quickly stopped (skimming, not talking) when I realized what I was doing.

I'm sure we can all relate in some way to the increasing demands on our time that require -- require! -- the spasmic behavior that we like to dress up in the term, "multitasking." Again, from the WSJ article:

Some research findings from the University of California at Irvine show the frenetic multitasking that can exist on the job. The UC team dispatched stopwatch-toting researchers to chart the work patterns of 14 people at a California financial-services company.

The preliminary findings showed that, on average, workers switched tasks -- from say, e-mail to the phone, to a computer spreadsheet -- about once every three minutes, either from interruptions or by their own choice.

So, how about it? Do you engage in such behavior? I've admitted my propensity; it's your turn!

How often do you surf the web while talking to a friend or family member on the phone?

All the time...and I don't feel a bit guilty about it.
All the time...but I feel really bad, and type very softly.
Occasionally...only when someone really boring calls.
Occasionally...only when I'm up against a deadline.
Rarely...I get a pain in my neck when I try to do it.
Rarely...I think it's impolite, but sometimes necessary.
Never...I think it's impolite.
Never...I'm not that coordinated.
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com
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Comments

Actually, my answer is "Never," but not because I'm uncoordinated or find it impolite. We have one phone line. So if I'm on the internet, it's impossible to talk to someone on the telephone.

Posted by: Jared at November 9, 2003 11:14 PM

Shame on me for forgetting about the one-line dial-up folks; I should have made that one choice in the poll!

Posted by: Eric at November 10, 2003 06:28 AM
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