Stop "Phubbing" and Start Hugging!

An Australian Y-Genner graduate, Alex Haigh, recently coined the term “Phubbing.”

I guarantee that even if you don’t yet know what it means, you’re all ready phed-up with it!

Phubbing is the anti-social act of someone having their face glued to a smartphone rather than the person they are supposedly with. In other words, something 99.9% of us are guilty of doing: snubbing our loved ones for something more interesting on social media via our phones.

The “Stop Phubbing” campaign already exists, and you can even send an e-pledge to the guilty phubber, your GF, BF, ex-BFF, colleague of rude family member who clearly cares more about their FB ‘likes’ than they do about sharing in your latest woes.

The Guardian recently reported on this phenomena, and while the founder of the campaign admits it’s meant to poke fun at how screen-centered our society has become, however, there is a serious message behind the act of being “phubbed”.

Kipling Williams, a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in Purdue’s College of Health and Human Sciences, says “Being excluded is painful because it threatens fundamental human needs, such as belonging and self-esteem. Research has found that strong, harmful reactions are possible even when ostracized by someone for a short amount of time.”

According to his recent study, just two or three minutes of ostracism, or phubbing can produce lingering negative feelings such as anger and sadness, and over the long-term, can result in alienation, depression, helplessness and feelings of unworthiness.

So, if you want your friends and loved ones to stick around, you’d better stop phubbing them and start hugging them!

Alte
atively, try these phab tricks to stop Phubbing from happening to you ; )

Next time you think you’re being phubbed, especially in a public place — restaurant, bar, event — scream “Phubber” out loud, then dive down to pick up an imaginary piece of trash from the floor. Result: The offending phubber will have a room full of people staring at them oddly while you chuckle with mirth into your socks!

After being phubbed by someone, send them this text: “You phubbed-up! Thanks to the fact that you have the attention span of a gnat and are incapable of engaging in healthy face-to-face human interactio
I will no longer be wasting my valuable time in your presence!” Then get-up and walk away, the text should arrive just as the dust from under your feet settles.

If you see a parent phubbing their kid in the park (they’re the worst, right?) then tell their kid to hide behind a tree for 15 mins. Watch as the offending parent gets a valuable lesson in why it’s important to pay attention to your child’s whereabouts as much as their development and enjoyment of the playground!