This infographic gives information on one early social reaction to the development of the telephone: telephone terror. As the infographic explains, telephone terror was the fear of answering, speaking into, having, or using a telephone. From my initial searches, I found it a tad bit difficult to find information on this subject (apparently, there was a video game character called “Telephone Terror”); however, I did find an article from the Atlantic from 1920 that detailed this fear in a poetic manner. The article is a must-read and is beautifully composed to show the author’s exasperation and contempt for themselves for having telephone terror. I used four different quotes from the original article and modeled my infographic to look generally like a newspaper article. Overall, I thought this assignment was quite interesting, and I’m over the moon that I found a primary source as entertaining and passionate as the “Telephone Terror” article.
Sources:
“Telephone Terror.” The Atlantic. Accessed 15 February 2023. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1920/02/telephone-terror/646546/.
The History Channel. “The Machines That Built America: Alexander Graham Bell’s Revolutionary Invention (S1) | History.” YouTube Video. 8:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ8Kkgf4J3Y.
