Phubbing, A Bad Habit Of Modern Life

Smartphones are key tools in our day-to-day lives, but their inappropriate use could lead to certain disadvantages both in the short and long term.

Today we are more connected than ever. The era of globalization has brought with it a degree of closeness that has never been experienced before. However, it also brings bad habits such as phubbing.

According to the Cervantes Institute, this neologism has been approved to designate a very recurrent social phenomenon : the need to share everything that is thought and done at all times through social networks. It is a bad habit. Many people do it without realizing it. And it is that they hardly notice their surroundings (and their reality) because they are connected to what is happening elsewhere, or simply to share their life.

What is phubbing?

This term refers to the fact of ignoring the people around you to focus attention on any smart device through the use of social networks.

The origin of this word dates back to 2007 after the launch of smartphones. It is the result of the combination of the Anglo-Saxon terms for: telephone ( phone) and despise ( snubbing ).

Main causes

1. Little self-control.
2. Immaturity.
3. Technology addiction, especially cell phones.
4. Fear (and in many cases, it is already a phobia) of being disconnected from the Internet and not having a smartphone.

Phubbing causes you not only to be ignored by others around you but also to be ignored by others. In other words, interactions are reduced to the virtual realm and this impoverishes sociability.

Consequences of phubbing

• Poor interpersonal relationships.
• Superficiality in the deal, in general.
• Disorganized priorities.
• Loss of values.
• Attention deficit.
• Discourtesy.
• Detachment.
• Coldness.
• Anxiety.

It is considered disrespectful to interrupt or ignore a conversation, by paying attention to any smart device with an Internet connection. It does not matter that it is for “a moment” or that the person can carry out two actions at the same time (like looking at the phone screen and listening, for example).

Technology is known to be an extremely useful tool, but no one likes to feel ignored or displaced. Much less for an electronic device.

What makes cell phone use so additive?

The addition of cell phone use is given by the need to satisfy an emotional need. The lack of an immediate response to our emotions, results in an exaggerated and dependent on the telephone.

Surely, many are not addicted to the cell phone, but to the affective relief effect produced by getting in touch with something or someone that fulfills your emotional expectations.

Tips to avoid or correct phubbing

• Speak now and write later. Think that, really, it is not necessary to be connected all the time.
• Choose a day without Internet and without electronic devices. Take a day to enjoy the world around you, your home, family, your children, your pet without your mobile phone and without sharing information through social networks.

• Avoid consulting the Internet every time they talk to you about something you do not know. You don’t have to be suspicious of the other person’s information. Yes, it is good to be up to date and contrast the information but it is not respectful (and healthy) to have the habit of checking everything.
• Put down the phone at lunchtime. Enjoy the food ritual without looking at your phone screen.
• You don’t have to photograph everything, everything. Although photographs are memories preserve pleasant moments, we must not go out of our way to capture everything with the camera lens. We must allow ourselves to live longer and photograph less.
• Rest your eyes. These devices emit a blue light that affects our eye health and impairs our night’s rest.
• Get away from your phone at least twenty minutes before you go to sleep. It will help you rest better.

It is necessary to become aware of the use we make of technology and learn to do without it. This will prevent unnecessary dependency from being created that ultimately incapacitates or completely disables us.

On the other hand, knowing how to move away from the screen of our phone will prevent us from ignoring the people around us. That you are the one who has control of the technology and not the other way around.