Phubbing, A Bad Habit Of Modern Life

Fully featured cell phones are important tools in our daily lives, but their improper use could bring certain short-term and long-term disadvantages.

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 with it bad habits like phubbing.

According to Instituto Cervantes, this neologism was approved to designate  a very present 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 this without realizing what they are doing.  And so, they isolate themselves from their surroundings (and their reality) by being connected to what happens elsewhere or simply sharing their lives.

What is phubbing?

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

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

Main causes

1. Lack of self-control.
2. Immaturity.
3. Addiction to  technology , especially with cell phones.
4. Fear (and in many cases it’s already a phobia) of being disconnected from the Internet and not having a cell phone.

Unfortunately, it seems that phubbing has become a habit, and for this reason it is often not noticed or corrected in time.

Phubbing causes you not only to ignore others around you, but also the person 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 dealing in general.
• Disorganized priorities.
• Loss of values.
• Attention Deficit.
• Unkindness.
• Detachment.
• Coldness.
• Anxiety.

It is considered disrespectful to interrupt or ignore a conversation to pay attention to any device connected to the Internet. It doesn’t matter that it is just for “a moment”  or that the person can manage two actions at the same time (like looking at the cell phone screen and listening, for example). It is obvious that technology is an extremely important and useful tool, however,  no one likes to feel ignored  or even slighted.  Much less for an electronic device.

What makes using a cell phone so addictive?

Dependence on cell phone use comes  from the  need to satisfy an emotional need . The lack of an immediate response to our emotions, brings as a consequence an exaggerated and cell-dependent attachment.

Certainly, many people are not addicted to touching the cell phone, but rather to the affective relief effect it produces by putting in contact with something or someone that satisfies their emotional expectations.

Advice to prevent or correct phubbing

• Chat now and write later.  Just think that you don’t actually need to be connected all the time.
• Choose a day with no Internet and no electronics. Set aside a day to enjoy the world around you, your home, your family, your children or your pet without your cell phone and without sharing information through social networks.

• Avoid checking the Internet every time they talk about something you don’t know about. There is no reason to be suspicious of information given by someone else. Of course it is good to be aware of everything, to check the information, but it is not polite (and healthy) to have the habit of verifying everything.
• Put away your cell phone at mealtimes. Enjoy the ritual of meals without staring at your cell phone screen.
• There’s no reason for you to go around photographing everything. Although photographs are memories that preserve the pleasant moments of our lives, we should not photograph everything around us with cell phone cameras. We must, rather, allow ourselves to live longer and photograph less.
• Rest the view. These devices emit a blue-colored light that affects our eye health and impairs our nighttime rest.

• Separate yourself from your phone at least twenty minutes before bedtime. This will help you to rest better.

It is necessary to be aware of the correct use we give to technology  and learn to do without it. This will avoid creating an unnecessary dependency that, over time, disables us or makes us completely unusable.

On the other hand, knowing how to distance ourselves from our cell phone screen will prevent us from ignoring the people around us. May you be the one in control of the technology and not the other way around.