Explain it like I'm 5: Why is everyone on speakerphone in public

[arstechnica@mastodon.social]

Explain it like I'm 5: Why is everyone on speakerphone in public?
Your phone still functions when held to your ear, people!
https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/03/explain-it-like-im-5-why-is-everyone-on-speakerphone-in-public/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

[robparsons@mastodon.social]

@arstechnica apparently it's because the Kardashians do it, so now everybody does it. Kardashians do it because it's necessary for the viewers to hear both sides of the conversation. The twats who do it everywhere now haven't figured out that nobody else needs to hear both sides of their conversations.

[finickydesert_1@social.vivaldi.net]

probably similar logic to why sound is so terrible in modern TV shows and movies.

[robparsons@mastodon.social]

@arstechnica a little while ago I was seated outside at a cafe and a man came to use the ATM next door. His card doesn't work. He phones his mate - on speakerphone.

He shouts, "What was the PIN?"

Mate (shouting back over the speaker): "6705, MATE".

Him, still shouting, "6705?"

Mate: "YEAH, 6705."

You'd think they would eventually get selected out of existence, but there's no sign of that happening.

[mjr@masto.bike]

@robparsons @arstechnica surely it's because you can't use the phone for calendar or notes if it's by your head, screens feel rotten against your ear and you ear-print the screen. If I've no headset, I prefer speaker. Not in public, though.

[mjr@masto.bike]

@arstechnica "more work to hold your phone out in front of you than up to your ear"... you what? Sounds like you're holding it odd!

[leeolds@mastodon.social]

@mjr @robparsons @arstechnica also, it's easy to accidentally hang up with the phone against the ear.

[mjr@masto.bike]

@leeolds @robparsons @arstechnica the screen is intended to switch off when it's up by your head, but its not totally reliable on most phones

[alpinefolk@sunbeam.city]

@arstechnica completely agree, except that I literally can’t hear my 8 year old phone unless it’s on speaker. I put it on speaker and still hold it to my ear. Luckily I rarely take phone calls and almost never in public.

[arildsen@mastodon.green]

@arstechnica I have been asking myself this a lot in the past few years. I just don’t get it.

[alanfleming@mastodon.me.uk]

Because they’re more used to Whatsapp and Facetime video calls than to ever making a voice call.

[drangnon@hachyderm.io]

@arstechnica there was a link between brain cancer and holding a microwave transmitter to one's ear, I'm pretty sure

[itsmeholland@mastodon.social]

@draNgNon @arstechnica gonna need a source for that one, my guy. Lots of people are in fact worried about this, but that doesn't make it a real or significant risk.

[dresstokilt@mastodon.social]

@arstechnica this isn't even a top 10 best SEPTA social shaming sign.

[shenanigans@chitter.xyz]

@alpinefolk tangentially related, but i was talking to a friend about phone calls the other day, and i said that i like my ringtone and it's funny but nobody hears it because i never get phone calls and when i do my phone is on silent 100% of the time anyways

[alpinefolk@sunbeam.city]

@Shenanigans ha. Same situation.

[flywheel@friendica.dk]

@arstechnica Yeah - it irritates the hell out of me.

[infinity@infosec.exchange]

@arstechnica

[lkanies@hachyderm.io]

@robparsons @arstechnica this is the best explanation I’ve heard, too. And I think knit’s reasonable to generalize it to, the tv shows have to show the calls, they use speakerphone, and people are copying them. It’s in all shows now

[munkisquisher@mastodon.nz]

@mjr @robparsons @arstechnica here I am like an old person saying "hold on a sec, I'll put you down and see what's in my calendar.... OK I'm back"