To find it SO annoying when people have phone conversations on speakerphone?

[squaahedalmondcroissant]

You know, where someone is holding their phone in front of their face with the speaker on and talking as if the person is sitting next to them rather than putting the phone to their ear like a normal person

Is this a new (ish) thing? I'm noticing it everywhere at the moment and it's doing my bloody head in!

It's been a thing on TV for ages but I assumed that was because the programme makers needed the audience to hear the other side of the conversation but WHY the ever loving fuck do people do this in real life?!?!

It's not like when 2 people are having a real life conversation in public because in those cases people normally moderate their volume so they aren't speaking super loud but people doing this always turn the phone volume up to 11! Plus it's that tinny, weird sound that a person's voice makes through a phone not a 'normal' sounding voice.

Dp and I were on holiday recently and had a lovely meal out ruined by some selfish fucker at the next table blaring out their conversation for the whole restaurant to hear. We left early because of it!

Aibu? Or Is there genuinely a good reason I'm just too old and tech unsavvy to understand for people to do this?

It is annoying generally. My dad though sruggles to hear the other person on the other end of the phone so puts it on speaker and still holds it up to his ear lol

I see it a lot with people doing video calls at naff angles. Usually teens on buses. It is rage-inducing.

It does my head in too. I just wish they would hold the phone to their ear as I don't really wish to hear their bloody conversations.

I do this but I try to keep the volume as low as possible. I'm sure my hearing is OK, but for some reason I struggle to hear when holding the phone by my ear!

My fellow dog walkers love to do this! I don't get it, it actually gives me the rage.

They will be walking their dog off lead, paying no attention to what their dog is actually doing while holding their phone under their chin or in front of their face. Dog is usually taking a shit while the owner is miles in front or they will be annoying an on lead dog like mine.

They always seem to shout down the phone too, they can't just talk. If you are holding your phone anyway why not just turn loudspeaker off and hold it to your ear?

Saying that though there's this one annoying man that I see most days on my dog walk, he just goes for a walk by himself but he has his earbud things in on a telephone call. They always sound like work calls and he shouts so loud you can hear his one sided conversation from a mile away. It literally ruins my entire walk because he generally does the same route as me so once I hear him coming there's no escaping him and the call doesn't end ever.

My father does this and it gets right on my last nerve.
I refuse to speak to him if he has me on speaker.

Are they definitely not on FaceTime?

It's no different to people having a face for face conversation in your presence.

It's very different

YANBU, OP, it's irritating and they look like utter twats.

It's bad enough having to listen to one side of a phone conversation, both sides is beyond the pale imo.

Sadly I think this is here to stay.

My teens think my way of using a phone (holding it to my ear) is weird, it's completely alien to them. That being said, I don't think they would make voice/video calls in a public place like a cafe, train etc. They'd be messaging using Snapchat etc. I would certainly bloody pull them up on it if they did.

You are not BU. My mother does this and whilst I have now learnt so ask her to tell me if she is loudspeaker before taking on the phone. In the recent past she has let me have VERY personal conversations with her in front of her friends and my step dad. It was my step dad who eventually told on her when I’d discussed outcome of transvaginal scan and fibroid diagnosis with her and her mate was listening as well as my step dad.

Very annoying!

I do this at home because I am old and have a very big phone so I can see it! It's exhausting holding it up to my ear for too long so I either use headphones or speakerphone. I would NEVER use speakerphone in a public place though! So rude and intrusive!

It’s intensely annoying. And there’s always someone doing on my train into/out of work and it drives me mad. So inconsiderate and rude.

YANBU but I think we're a dying breed. I think young people today (Christ I sound old) don't relate talking on the phone to holding the phone to your ear, they don't see that as how you talk on the phone. Whereas people who grew up with landlines do. Though I see people old enough to know better doing it too, so maybe it's part of the culture of living your life in public, along with social media etc? I dunno, but it's bloody rude IMHO.

It’s so annoying and completely unlike two people speaking in real life.
I really wish that, alongside all the other warnings/advice that we get on the London (amongst others) network such as please give up your seat, don’t be rude to staff, there was also an acknowledgment of noise from phones and a campaign to tell people to watch their phone noise. Why isn’t there?

I have to do this as I’ve noticed phone call quality has deteriorated. I think it’s a ploy to get us all to buy ear buds but I too find they are useless for calls, they don’t cancel out background noise very well so loud speaker angled at my mouth it’s is !
Though I do avoid this in public, I send a text if I can’t speak.

And how do we start it?

It drives me absolutely crazy - especially for example when people do this in the work environment, such as in the break room etc when you just want a bit of peace of quiet, especially without first asking the other people present if they mind. I think it's incredibly inconsiderate and very annoying.

Same but I’m 40. I can’t hear well.
I only do it in private in my home office.

I felt part of an awkward conversation the other day on a train. A lady was saying bye, very loudly, then she said, "say you love me." The guy went quiet then she kept saying, "say you love me". After repeating this he said it half heartedly and she said, "see it wasn't that hard was it?" I wasn't sure if she had learning difficulties, so you can't get upset about it.

I know a lot of people with hearing loss who can only hear their phone on speaker, some hold it to their ear , some have it in front of them perhaps because it is easier to hear with two ears. It won’t sound loud to them but I get that it will to others around and there are privacy issues. People will increasingly be using Bluetooth hearing aids paired with their mobiles, so people who can cope with that won’t need to use the speaker to hear calls. But some people using their phone on speaker don’t know they have hearing loss and will say that everyone mumbles these days.

My speaker doesn't work on my phone unless it's on loudspeaker.

I do hold the phone to my ear though.