Should Mobile Phones Be Allowed on the Tube?
Being a Londoner offers many exciting experiences and opportunities to interact with people from all walks of life more than any other city in the UK. However, we can all perhaps agree that despite this eclectic mix of personalities and backgrounds the attitudes to connecting with people once you step on to the tube are the same — keep yourself to yourself and whatever you do, don’t look up and make eye contact! Well, why can’t we take advantage of the opportunities around us and embrace the possibility of serendipity?
ITN’s most recent story reports on plans from TfL to invite bids from mobile phone companies to set up an underground network. Currently, if you want to access wifi underground you have to channel Usain Bolt when you arrive at a tube station. Firstly, you have to search for a wifi connection, connect and access whatever material you’re interested in. If TfL’s decision becomes implemented everybody will have access to the internet and phone service the entire time and so the question is posed, is this a good thing or perhaps the opposite?
ITN questioned blogger Amy Dicketts and technology writer Zoe Cunningham to debate these differences in opinions to see if we can find an answer to this question.
Amy currently takes photographs and speaks to people on the tube for her blog and by her own admission “it’s only when you start to try to speak to people that you realise how many people are plugged in to their phones. They have their headphones in, they’re texting and actually no one is in the moment. It’s very hard to catch people’s attention already so people trying to make phone calls is just another obstacle. As a commuter, I don’t really want to have to hear what someone is planning to have for their dinner while they’re discussing it with their wife. And if you want to avoid an awkward conversation you no longer have the excuse of “I’m just about to get on the tube.”
Technology writer, Zoe Cunningham, offers the counter argument admitting that we do need to detox and unplug from time to time, however, we should have the chance to choose that time for ourselves. Arguably the tube may be the best place and most productive time to do your work which gives you the opportunity to relax, pour that glass of wine and not have to make up for it at home.
The Verdict
Both women make valid points and although they disagree on the question at hand, it is interesting to see that they both agree on the fact that we do indeed need time to switch off from this digital world that surrounds us.
Here at Causr, we transcend both points of view. By embracing technology we want to create more face to face connections. The three pillars that Causr is built on are context, confidence and permission.
Connecting on Causr provides users with context to connect with like-minded people around you whether that’s answering a query on someone’s status or saying hello due to a shared interest and passion from viewing the groups they are a part of. A confidence is created as this format gets rid of the fear of rejection that can play on the back of our minds and the profile you create inevitably gives permission for people to speak to you and you to speak to others.
I believe that Amy sums up the situation best, “If you’re on your phone all the time you lose the ability to be in the moment and you actually miss lots of interactions with people around you rather than just your friends on your phone.”
We want to bring back the sense of community and those face to face connections we are ironically losing in being more digitally connected than ever. Counter to Amy, we see that the technology can actually be used to enable the connections and opportunities that Amy refers to — seeing technology not as the barrier it is currently perceived to be.
Causr is a location-based app that introduces its users to others within the local area. It makes finding nearby professionals with similar jobs, interests and ambitions easy. Scroll through a network of users, see who’s free, meet for coffee, share business advice or simply connect. Causr plans those chances encounters, and makes missed opportunities a thing of the past.
Download the App to see who’s nearby and start connecting today. Now available on the Apple App Store.
Pre-register today to Download on Android.
