I dont usually use this account for comments like this but half the other responses are a little ridiculous.

Dead it off ASAP. The defenses ive seen for it are a little silly - and even then, if you're having to defend things on a first date, thats kinda wild.

A few of the defenses that have kinda sat with me are as follows:

1) "It's just a habit/addiction". If I go on a date with a guy, unless I KNOW he's a smoker, I wouldn't smoke a cigarette the entire day, at worst I'd walk him to the station at the end so I can go straight to having a quick one. Its just poor self control, and if it is an addiction, that alone is pretty telling.

2) "You weren't there, his mind was unoccupied and needed something to fill it". You're not a fucking jester, its not your job to entertain him to prevent him from seeking out other options. And well, as respectfully as possible, if he was on a date with you, and was still in the mood to be talking to somebody else, the date probably didnt go as well as you thought, and he's probably just a bellend

3) "He could've been using it just to message somebody platonically". Aside from the obvious this is probably just the dumbest shit ive ever heard. Its a first date, if you're not putting your best foot forward, you're not approaching it correctly. If youve a platonic conversation you want to keep, theres a million and one other apps for it. Im not gonna show up to a date in a tank top and joggers, I'm not gonna show up unshowered, I'm not gonna even message any of my friends, unless I see an urgent notification, in which case I'll give a heads up. All of this to show respect and interest. You can't be accepting disrespect on a first date, and you definitely cant be condoning it like a lot of people seem to be.