Are you a Phubber

‘phubbing’, a concept that describes the new normal where people are losing out on personal relationships due to their addiction to smartphones, is causing quite a stir in India too

Macquire Dictionary recently constituted the term ‘phubbing’, where people are so addicted to their smartphones that they’re losing out on personal relationships. While most prefer the virtual world to real life these days, it raises a question — are we snubbing our loved ones by paying more attention to technology and gadgets Research shows that more and more people are coming to greatly depend on their smartphones, but should an excessive use of gadgets during social meetings be avoided so that people don’t feel left out

Consultant psychologist Sneha Hindocha feels that it’s not just smartphones that people are addicted to, but cyber life itself. “I know many people who keep browsing information (both necessary and unnecessary) on their phones. The worst is when googling illness symptoms becomes an obsession — to such Internet-powered hypochondriacs, a mosquito bite becomes brain cancer,” she says. “Some cases of addiction can be explained by social shunning — such people do not feel like socialising and choose the safety of their phones,” she explains. However, phubbing is not to be ignored. “Don’t abruptly snatch a device — that may lead to depression. Instead, gain a phubber’s trust before you introduce changes. They may be able to find solace in other hobbies or with animals, so take things slowly with care and patience,” says Sneha.

“Technology is ruining relationships these days. Youngsters are blindly becoming hooked to apps on their phones due to peer pressure and insecurity,” feels Ranga Yali, an assistant film director. “I know so many of my friends’ siblings who are obsessed with WhatsApp or Snapchat. They can’t stay away from their phones even for five minutes — even when we try talking to them, they ignore us,” says Ranga, who is himself able to draw the line and is not obsessive about attending to notifications during family time or resting hours.

On the other hand, Communications student Prarthana Bekal feels that texting or speaking on the phone all the time need not be considered a taboo. “There have been times when I will be discussing a project with my friend over the phone and would have ignored my mother asking me what I wanted for dinner. My parents get offended, but this doesn’t mean that I’m addicted to my phone,” she clarifies. “Sending a text message is easier than meeting a person simply because everybody has their own busy schedules these days. I don’t think this so-called norm should be over analysed,” she adds.

“I recently happened to see a picture on the Internet comparing people travelling in a train now and back in the 60s. They were strikingly similar photographs — people were sitting beside each other and were lost into their novels and newspapers then, and the present day photograph just had smartphones in their hands instead. So, accusing technology of ruining human interaction is actually just unfair. Phones have only made human interaction better in my view,” says Pranav Rajkumar, a filmmaker. “But addiction is unacceptable,” he concludes.