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Poll Ranks Top 12 Most Irritating Things About Technology

Selfies, unaware pedestrians, meal photos, what's #1?

By Rain Noe - October 31, 2018

Part of the reason I left New York City is because it's not New York City anymore; it's been invaded by a bunch of trend-following people walking around and staring into their phones, joggers stopping in the middle of the street to Instagram sweaty selfies, people yapping into Bluetooth earpieces on line at the deli.

I'm not the only one irritated by these practices, which have obviously spread far beyond NYC. "We've entered the age of digital overwhelm and tech fatigue," says Susan MacTavish Best, the founder of lifestyle brand Living MacTavish. "We're tiring of the constant distraction and intrusion of technology in our relationships and daily lives."

To quantify this, Living MacTavish commissioned pollster organization YouGov to conduct a survey on what the most annoying "common features of the modern digital age" are. Here are the results:

12. Not being able to get a seat in cafes because of people on laptops (19%)

11. People posting 'perfect' holiday and/ or party snaps on social media (23%)

10. Parents boasting about their family on social media (29%)

9. 'Perfect selfies' on Instagram or other social media, where the person is always 'beautiful'/ airbrushed/ smiling etc. (38%)

8. People constantly photographing their food/drinks in restaurants and bars (41%)

7. Social media "mobs" acting as "the moral police" (i.e., in online discussions/ debates about controversial issues) (48%)

5. (Tie) Having to compete for attention with people's phones during meals and/ or other face-to-face conversations (53%)

5. (Tie) Endless requests to "rate" or give feedback on a company or service you've contacted (53%)

4. "Phone Zombies"/"distracted walkers" bumping into you and/ or lampposts or each other on the pavement (55%)

3. People playing music or videos on their phones at full volume on in public places (59%)

1. (Tie) People having loud and endless phone conversations in public places (63%)

1. (Tie) Online ads for something you once clicked on, that then keep following you around (63%)

Methodology: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 5,029 adults, of which 2,201 were UK adults and 2,822 were US adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 12th - 16th October 2018. The survey was carried out online. The figures for each country have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults and all US adults (aged 18+) respectively.

So what's the solution? "The more digital that the world becomes," says MacTavish Best, "the more people are realizing that all real relationships and business deals happen offline, in an analog world."

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Poll Ranks Top 12 Most Irritating Things About Technology

Charles Waugh

2 years ago

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These are mostly problems with people, not technology. Though, arguably, all 'problems with technology' are people-based at inception.

The most irritating thing for me about technology is the ongoing 'upgrade/update' cycle that requires re-learning and re-habituating to everyday things continually. It feels like someone is constantly moving the doorknobs in my house, and changing their shape, or making them transparent, or suddenly needing to push a button to pop out the doorknob before it can be used, or having them turn left instead of right to open... sigh.

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Pete Schirmer

2 years ago

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itjc14Fm-gs I rank this one up there, both 5's are my tie for #1. none of the rest of these bug me that much. I'd also add: e-waste / disposable tech culture, reduction / homogenization of functionality to 'make it simple' (see iphone headphone jack removal, etc) engineered obsolescence, right to repair, walled garden vs open source, startup culture of "ask for forgiveness instead of permission" used in defense of circumventing public safety policies and government regulations... etc etc are much bigger problems than 'people are taking photos of their food near me is distracting' or 'people that I choose to follow online are vain'

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Randall Michael Jr.

2 years ago

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I'm curious about the median age for the sample sizes included, because these all seem like things old people would complain about.

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Chris Haar

2 years ago

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If we're looking at Technology as a whole, #1 should be how inescapable it's become.

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. JC

2 years ago

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Japan has partially tackled the noise problem with their trains informing you to set your phone on vibrate, don't talk on the phone, ensure your music on your ear/headphone is not leaking sound.

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David Beck

2 years ago

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Everything listed, except 12, 4, 3 and 1a, are choices. I don't do things that irritate me, why do others?

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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.