Gary Martin: How to turn down the volume on your eavesdropping habit

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Gary Martin: How to turn down the volume on your eavesdropping habit

As phone chats become routine on trains, personal conversations spill over in cafes and workplace discussions echo through open-plan offices, conversations which were once considered private are increasingly becoming public.One of the downsides is that accidental listening has increased as we often find ourselves drawn into conversations we never intended to hear.This has left many of us struggling with how to navigate the awkwardness of being an unintentional eavesdropper.Eavesdropping has always been part of life.Whether it is overhearing muffled arguments through thin apartment walls, catching snippets of confidential chats in the office kitchen or picking up gossip in crowded public spaces, we have always been tuned into each other’s lives, even when we did not mean to be.But in more recent times, the opportunity to tune into someone else’s business has reached new volumes.With public spaces like cafes, parks and transport often used as makeshift offices, work and personal conversations are frequently within earshot of strangers.

The increased use of mobile and video calls in public, combined with open-plan spaces and a more casual approach to discussing personal matters in communal areas, also makes overhearing more common.Eavesdropping comes in different forms.Intentional eavesdropping is when someone deliberately listens in for juicy details.Passive eavesdropping happens when you cannot help but overhear, like catching a colleague’s phone call while waiting for coffee.

Ethical eavesdroppers understand that sometimes you just cannot help but overhear things.

Forced eavesdropping occurs when someone’s loud conversation fills a space to leave you no choice but to listen.There is a sense of irony attached to increased opportunities to eavesdrop.Just when we are becoming more mindful about privacy, it is actually getting harder to avoid overhearing other people.Some people believe if you are having a conversation in public and do not want others to hear, it is on you to keep your voice down.

Others argue accidental eavesdropping is just part of modern life and that listeners should tune out or move away instead.

Confusion about how to act when overhearing sensitive information has led some to call for “ethical eavesdropping”.Ethical eavesdroppers understand that sometimes you just cannot help but overhear things.They choose to keep what they accidentally hear to themselves, unless the conversation involves something ******** or directly affects someone’s personal affairs or professionalism.Either way, the way we think about eavesdropping has to change.Maybe a touch more consideration from both talkers and listeners could make these awkward interactions a little less common.So next time you find yourself overhearing — or being overheard — ask yourself: are you the talker who could turn it down or the listener who could tune it out?Professor Gary Martin is CEO of AIM WA and a specialist in workplace and social trends

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Gary #Martin #turn #volume #eavesdropping #habit

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up