The latest generational divide: How to hold a phone
Young people hold their phones upright to do everything: texting, making video calls, scrolling on social media. Most egregiously, they record videos vertically — an act that causes consternation among Gen Xers and boomers when these generations are forced to squint at the resulting strip of video on their TVs or computers, the picture flanked by huge swaths of squandered screen space.
The plague of vertical videos is likely to get worse. Some 56 percent of Gen Zers and 43 percent of millennials find social media content more relevant than traditional TV shows and movies, according to a Deloitte survey. Even Netflix recently announced that it will pilot a 'TikTok-like' feed of virtual video on its mobile app.
Still, passions run deep when it comes to our screen real estate. In fact, we've seen this movie before. In the 1950s, the film industry began to shoot movies in wider aspect ratios to distinguish themselves from conventional 'full screen' televisions with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Frustration ensued over the incompatibly shaped screens, lasting until Americans largely transitioned to high-definition wide-screen TVs in the early 2000s.
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Theatrical films couldn't fit 4:3 TV screens without using a crude cropping technique called 'pan and scan.' Discarding part of the original picture violated the director's vision, some argued, and led to unseen actors speaking from the void. An alternative method, called 'letterboxing,' could be deployed to preserve the entire image. But showing the full width of the movie meant inserting large black bars above and below the image — it was like watching a movie through a mail slot.
Fast forward to today's smartphone-dominated culture, and something I call 'picket-fencing' now irks viewers. This technique involves displaying columns of nothingness to the left and right of a vertically shot video on a wide-screen TV — like viewing a picture through a slot in a picket fence. (Ironically, vertical videos would have been a much better fit on 4:3 screens.)
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I understand the younger generation's reluctance to turn their phones sideways. Social media platforms are designed for vertical scrolling; holding a phone horizontally may feel awkward and unnatural. However, as a member of the elder generations, I empathize with the aversion to this new-age vertical eyesore: If God intended for us to shoot vertically, he would have created man with one eye above the other.
To hold a phone vertically or horizontally? I've created an accessible table to break down this generational clash over smartphone orientation.
11 of 11 Thoughts on a chain of vertical-screen movie theaters called 'Profile Cinemas'?
😃
Yay!
🙃
Meh.
10 of 11 The solution I prefer for ill-fitting video
📱
Turning my phone 90 degrees
🖥️
Reinstalling my TV on a pivoting stand and praying the software flips the screen 90 degrees
9 of 11 Which types of scenes are more annoying to watch?
🚩
Scenes with horizontal shots of human pyramids or flags getting lowered
🎭
Scenes with vertical shots of actors conversing from opposite sides of frame
8 of 11 I'd swap my TV for an even wider model if given the opportunity.
🙃
Meh.
😃
Yay!
7 of 11 What are your sources of solace?
📱
TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat
🎞️
The Criterion Collection
6 of 11 Do you walk down the street looking at your phone?
📱
Yes
🌎
Never!
5 of 11 Which sport do you prefer to watch?
🧗♀️
Rock climbing
🎾
Tennis
4 of 11 What's your retort in the debate?
🧒
These old farts may as well be screaming: 'Kids, get off my lawn!'
😇
'If the director meant for us to watch 'Charlie's Angels' in 9:16, they'd have given us just one angel.'
3 of 11 What makes you grumpier?
📱
Being criticized for not holding your phone correctly
📺
Being forced to watch vertical videos on your widescreen TV
2 of 11 My natural-born aspect ratio is ...
📱
9:16
🖥️
16:9
1 of 11 Which lifestyle would feel most comfortable for you?
✨
Influencing
🥔
Being a couch potato
← Drag left or click
Drag right → or click
Congrats!
You are in Team Horizontal! You see the full picture, and think wide.
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