The Rise of British Metrotextuals

Nick Jones summarizes the differences between two conferences on mobile projects – one in Orlando and one in Cannes. His brief analysis of the attitudes of Europeans versus Americans in regards to innovation is fascinating. He says, “Europeans tend towards interminable analysis before action…Americans lean towards action before analysis.”

But this paragraph at the end caught my eye:

While I’m on the subject of undemonstrative Brits, Reuters reports a survey from T-Mobile showing the rise of the British metrotextual. Apparently 22 percent of British men are signing SMSs to male friends with a kiss (x). Some of my colleagues think this is positive indication that the Brits are getting in touch with their feminine side and maybe soon grown British men will actually embrace male friends in public as the French and Italians do. I think it’s a sign of serious degeneration of British moral fibre.

Greetings and endings in person or in e-mails are pretty interesting. In Canada, the habit in meeting others you know well is to kiss one cheek of the woman and shake hands with the man. For some gay men I know well, I kiss them on both cheeks on meeting, because that is what the local gay community does with each other, and I want to show solidarity. For friends from France I kiss on each cheek twice or three times, depending on what their local practice is. On email, I sometimes pause over whether I end with “Regards”, “Best Regards”, “Warm Regards” or nothing (for example, with close colleagues).  (I expect that someone will write a doctoral disseration on this soon).

What do you do? (GW)

European Mobile Projects and British Metrotextuals | Gartner Blog Network | Nick Jones | 6 November 2009