The Current Issue Of Phubbing In Society

In this review, I will explain more about what is phubbing and why people still don’t realize that phubbing is actually harmful and dangerous. It’s to focus about the current issue this society has and still ongoing, Phubbing. It’s also known as phone snubbing. Phubbing is when a person uses their mobile phones and ignoring the people around them. Phubbing can be very dangerous, it affects mental health, relationships, accidents, etc. Some people may think that they are not phubbing when they actually are. Mobile phone addiction is also the most common reason for phubbing. The “Phubbing” term first started in May 2012. It was started by an Australian advertising agency. The word is created to describe the increasingly number of people ignoring their friends and family member when they are with them or even talking to them. The word “Phubbing” was added into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016. According to HealthLine, there are three signs to tell if someone is a phubber. First, when a person is multi-tasking communicating. Talking in real life while texting on the phone. Second, when a person brings out their phone at dinner or any other social situations. By putting the phone beside the plate is a warning that someone will soon be phubbing. Third, when a person keeps checking their phone while eating their meal or halfway through a conversation.

James A Roberts, a Professor from Baylor University said “We are looking online for what we are not getting offline. It is a vicious cycle.”. Majority of them use their phones for social media. Posting, sharing, watching, tweeting, etc. These are what we normally do when we use our phones besides calling and texting. For example, we see posts that we can’t really see at the moment. Like if a friend is currently overseas for a holiday, we will actually be curious on what they are doing at that time and place.

“Phubbers” usually will use their mobile phone to scroll their social medias, posting of photos or videos, texting, playing games, etc. When a phubber posted photos of what they are doing with their friends or family members or partners, their involvement with their mobile phones will still be a distraction from real-life interaction. This is why technology affects communication. According to research, by having a mobile phone visible to sight and even nearby during an interaction interferes with the conversation. Also, with the phone being out there will affect the people with them.

The sense of connection, quality of conversation and the feelings of closeness will all change and decrease. “The presence of mobile phones can interfere with human relationships, an effect that is most clear when individuals are discussing personally meaningful topics.” Studies found out that using the Internet and mobile phone addiction has similar effects on the person’s brain as heroin and other drugs. So, it’s a main concern for the children and teenagers as their brains and social skill are developing. According to a research, people that are phubbed will be more likely to use their phones and tries to engage with their social media to fill that awkward situation/ being phubbed moment.

Phubbing can be harmful in different ways, like mental health, physical, relationships, etc. There was a study research involving 153 participants. They were asked to watch an animation showing two people that were having a conversation and imagine themselves being one of them after watching it. Then, each participant is assigned to one of the three different stages of phubbing. Which is, no phubbing, partial phubbing and extensive phubbing. Overall, the results were when the level of phubbing increases, people will experience greater threats to their fundamental needs. The participants also feel that the communication quality became poorer and relationship less satisfying. Awkwardness when in a group or on a date can also cause people to phub. They may feel shy and don’t know how to start a topic. If they were to choose whether to start a totally unrelatable topic and be embarrassed or use their phones to avoid anything, they might actually use their phones instead to make it less awkward. But using your phone already shows the awkwardness.

“A chain reaction will lead every person there to look at their phone and ignore the people physically next to them”. It’s just like yawning, when you see someone yawn, you feel like yawning too. So, phubbing can actually be contagious. People will feel the need to use their phones when they see their friends/partners/etc. does it too rather than staring into blank space and doing nothing. If the phubbing gets too overboard, the other person will start to be affected.

Phubbing can also cause victims to be depressed, anxiety, insecure, not cared, not listened to, not prioritized, not wanted in the person’s life, etc. With this, it causes fight and will eventually harm or destroy relationships. A research from the researchers at University of Poland, created the “Phubbing Project” to understand more about the psychology of phubbing. There were about 400 students from different colleges in India. The research shows that phubbers that phub has a great fear of missing out and lesser self-control. The researchers also found that people that phubs more has less healthy social lives and relationships and they also have higher rates of depression and distress. People that already have poor relationships tend to phub more too. (Neil Petersen, All Psych) The more common problem is using mobile phones while walking. There’s a trend a while back when everyone was playing Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is a gaming application for mobile devices which requires users to catch Pokemons and go to poketops etc. It got popular really quick and more people tend to stick to their phone throughout the day just to catch Pokemons.

The accident rates for people playing Pokemon Go was high. Some Pokemon Go players are too engrossed in the game that they don’t even care about the surroundings around them. This game caused injuries, deaths and crashes. They can bump into walls, fall down the sairs, step into the traffic or even more while playing the game. There was a period of time when there were too many crashes because of this this game. Now, they updated and once the game noticed that if a user is speeding, they will send a notification to make sure that the user isn’t driving and that they are actually a passenger while riding. To help someone else stop phubbing, one has to model a better behavior in front of the people around them. It’s like monkey see, monkey do. When someone phubs, they feel the need to use their phone too. They can also stop encouraging the other person to show something that is on their phone during a date or conversation. They just have to focus on the topic and the people that is currently with them.

There is a popular campaign called “Stop Phubbing” created by Alex Haigh, 23 years old Australian graduate student. The website for this campaign is “www.stopphubbing.com”.The campaign website shows statistics, votes, petitions, posters and information about Phubbing. It also has a feature that allows users to fill up an email called “Your Phubbing Intervention”, once it’s completed it can be sent to offenders in their life. The whole campaign idea was to address and educate about people’s real issues with them being addicted and stare at their phones.

The website was shut down for a while due to it being viral. This whole campaign was considered a success as it shows 72 percent of people are against phubbing. Alex Haigh isn’t the first person to go against Phubbing.

A 23 years old, Californian man, Brian Perez, came up with a game to stop diners from using their phones before and after eating to socialize even more. Brian first posted this idea on his website and four hours later he had 900 hits. Slowly, other bloggers picked up the idea and share it on Twitter.

Diners have to put their smartphones together and place it in the middle of the table. If the first person reaches and uses their phone first, the person lost the game and has to pay for everyone’s meal. Brian Perez told the New York Daily News that he didn’t want to be that person who is going out to meet people who is going out to meet people and be on his cellphone all the time. I think that this idea is really creative as it helps people to bond with each other more while having their meal. Everyone can actually engage in the real word instead of being in an awkward situation that cause phubbing. With phubbing, it can cause distractions while driving or crossing the road. A person tends to get distracted when they have notifications while driving or crossing the road. This problem has been a growing danger even up till now. The chances of vehicle accidents that leads to injury and death has increased a lot. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 660,000 drivers use their mobile phones or any other electronic devices while driving in the United States. Also, in 2012, 3,328 people was killed, and 4221,000 people was wounded in car crashes caused by driver distraction.

According to New Port Academy, there are five ways to stop phubbing. First, to set the consequences for phone usage. While having a meal, everyone has to agree to put their phones down and whoever picks up their phone first has to face the consequences. It’s like the game Brian Perez created. Second, to create a no phone zone. Friends, families, love ones, etc., can plan to have a certain period of time where no phones will be allowed. They can even make a room that is phone-free which no devices will be allowed in the room. By doing it, families and friends can bond together by talking or playing board games rather than everyone phubbing one another. Third, to turn off phone notifications. When we receive notifications, we have the habit to check our phones immediately. It’s less distracting with the sound and vibration off and sometimes by doing that we will even forget about it and continue in our reality life. Fourth, if there’s a need to use the phone, excuse yourself and use the phone somewhere else. This rule can be set to one person or even as a group. By doing this, no one is phubbing anyone while talking/chatting and the victims will not feel affected. Fifth, to let the phubber know how phubbing makes you feel.

Let the phubber know that you felt hurt and ignored. The phubber might be phubbing you because they felt uncomfortable or in an awkward situation, but they wouldn’t know how their behavior affects the victim. After telling them, they will realize it and put their phones aside. By doing this, it helps improve the relationship. At least they will know that they shouldn’t do it again. A phubber doesn’t have to stop using their mobile phone to prevent phubbing, they just have to be more aware of it. They have to be mindful of their actions when they are around with other people.

Overall, I think that Phubbing is still a major issue in the current society. Not everyone takes this issue too seriously and it’s as harmful as everyone think it is. We live in a society with technologies now. It’ll be hard to stop using our mobile phone/ laptops/ etc. as we use it to communicate. We all just need to play our part and not step over the line to phub. Not only should we think about ourselves, but we should think of the people around us too. It takes time to stop the habit of phubbing someone else. But if the person has the determination to stop being rude to the companions/loved ones/friends/etc. then they definitely can do it. If everyone help each other and we’ll soon have a ‘phub-less’ society.