Texting in Theaters
Jul. 17th, 2012 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithSo there's a debate about whether texting should be allowed in theaters. Here are arguments against that. I couldn't really find a good list of arguments in favor. Texting seems to be something people just do, and rarely bother justifying. It's annoying when there's a debate going on, but not a concise presentation of both sides.
Some of my thoughts ...
1) If people don't like your parameters, they won't buy your service. So if people hate texting in theaters, you'll lose them if you introduce that; whereas if people aren't comfortable unplugging for the duration of a movie, you'll lose them if you don't allow it. When there's a sharp division, offering both options may be prudent to maximize service.
2) Dear movie dudes, you don't have a captive audience. Even in a movie theater, people will walk out if you bore or annoy them enough. If you don't think your movie can hold someone's attention, maybe you should worry about making movies that are more interesting than "hi wat r u up 2?"
3) I wouldn't want to watch a movie with people texting or phoning or otherwise using equipment around me. I don't want people do that around me in general. But my preference is in the minority, so I use my rules in my home, and out in public I just walk away. I'm perfectly capable of putting my folding vote in my pocket and choosing a book over a movie, if the theater annoys me. In fact I have greatly reduced my movie viewing not just for financial reasons, but because I find the experience increasingly aggravating as parameters shift. I'd rather people with different tastes have a place to indulge theirs so they aren't bugging me in my space, and so I'm also not bothered by enforcers traipsing around looking for naughty people.
Some of my thoughts ...
1) If people don't like your parameters, they won't buy your service. So if people hate texting in theaters, you'll lose them if you introduce that; whereas if people aren't comfortable unplugging for the duration of a movie, you'll lose them if you don't allow it. When there's a sharp division, offering both options may be prudent to maximize service.
2) Dear movie dudes, you don't have a captive audience. Even in a movie theater, people will walk out if you bore or annoy them enough. If you don't think your movie can hold someone's attention, maybe you should worry about making movies that are more interesting than "hi wat r u up 2?"
3) I wouldn't want to watch a movie with people texting or phoning or otherwise using equipment around me. I don't want people do that around me in general. But my preference is in the minority, so I use my rules in my home, and out in public I just walk away. I'm perfectly capable of putting my folding vote in my pocket and choosing a book over a movie, if the theater annoys me. In fact I have greatly reduced my movie viewing not just for financial reasons, but because I find the experience increasingly aggravating as parameters shift. I'd rather people with different tastes have a place to indulge theirs so they aren't bugging me in my space, and so I'm also not bothered by enforcers traipsing around looking for naughty people.
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Date: 2012-07-17 08:34 pm (UTC)