Argument Timing
Argument Timing
[Shown is a curved time plot. There is a black line, marked "Before Smartphones and Facebook" and a red line marked "After." On the y-axis the label reads "Odds of getting in a friendship-ending argument." while there is no scale shown. On the x-axis, at uneven intervals some times of the day are marked as "Wake up", "Get out of bed", "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner", "Go to bed", and "Fall asleep."]
[With the exception of "Waking up" and "Falling asleep", the red line is slightly lower than the black line. Directly after "Waking up" and during the interval between "Going to bed" and "Falling asleep", the black line is near zero while the red line peaks.]

This comic comments on how (a) the prevalence of using mobile devices in bed, combined with (b) burgeoning use of social media, especially Facebook , has increased the potential for conflict by encouraging early morning and late night communications, when those involved may not be at their most clear-headed.
Before mobile devices were common, the ability to argue on-line usually ended when a person left their computer to go to bed. Before social media was common, arguments with friends would mostly occur in person or during a phone call. The 'old-fashioned' cycle for arguing suggests that the odds start at near zero, because most people didn't interact with others immediately after waking up unless they lived together, and even then were unlikely to get in arguments first thing in the morning. The frequency increased as the day went on, with peaks at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a final peak in the evening. This likely indicates that people would frequently share meals with friends and loved ones, then spend time together in the evenings, meaning those times had the most potential for conflict. As the evening ended, the odds fell away dramatically, becoming very low by bedtime, and effectively zero immediately afterward.
The red line, indicating argument frequency with mobile devices and social media, has a similar trend, but is distorted by massive peaks between waking up and getting out of bed, and then between going to bed and going to sleep. This suggests that, in Munroe's experience, most relationship-ending arguments in modern times happen over social media and electronic communication, while still in bed. It's not clear whether this indicates people primarily using their devices in bed, or just that people tend to get into arguments more while posting in bed (possibly making less inhibited and diplomatic comments due to fatigue). It could also be that people objecting to their partners using social media in bed is also contributing to the number of arguments. Interestingly, this line indicates the chances of conflict in the mobile/Facebook era remains above zero for a short time after one goes to sleep. This may suggest that Randall sometimes falls asleep while writing a social media post but finishes it while sleep-typing, or it may be that he is prone to sending out ill-considered messages just before going to sleep, which are only later picked up, unwelcomed, by the recipient.
The title text talks about different types of arguers, saying that some people argue more at certain times, or in certain states. "Hangry" is a portmanteau of "hungry" and "angry", meaning bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger.
490: Morning Routine covers similar ground to this comic.
[Shown is a curved time plot. There is a black line, marked "Before Smartphones and Facebook" and a red line marked "After." On the y-axis the label reads "Odds of getting in a friendship-ending argument." while there is no scale shown. On the x-axis, at uneven intervals some times of the day are marked as "Wake up", "Get out of bed", "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner", "Go to bed", and "Fall asleep."]
[With the exception of "Waking up" and "Falling asleep", the red line is slightly lower than the black line. Directly after "Waking up" and during the interval between "Going to bed" and "Falling asleep", the black line is near zero while the red line peaks.]
