What is Phubbing?
What does phubbing mean? It would be more appropriate to answer this question from a long way back. For centuries, human beings have been conducting scientific research to overcome the difficulties they have encountered or may encounter. Especially the studies in the field of science and technology continue at full speed. Developments in communication technologies have transformed very large electronic devices into lighter and more portable mobile technological products. These products have started to be offered to people.
Significant developments in mobile technology enabled the transition from large-sized landline phones to portable handheld phones in the 1980s. Both the difficulty in transportation and the need for high energy have led to the need for independent, smaller, lighter, more ergonomic and easily portable mobile communication devices. In fact, the contribution of people’s individualization to the emergence of this need cannot be underestimated.
The transition to modern and small mobile phones with desirable features occurred in the 1990s with mobile phones. In the early 2000s, development efforts began to evaluate mobile phones and information and communication technologies so that they could work together as a whole. The technological level reached today still continues to advance.
With the spread of internet technology, GSM companies are constantly strengthening their infrastructures for internet technologies such as 3G and 4.5G so that mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, PDAs, etc.) can easily access the internet. This reinforcement has the effect of accelerating the integration process. As a result of this continuous development process, individuals are affected in various economic, cultural and social dimensions. The most important of these inevitable effects is the concept of “phubbing”, which we frequently encounter in daily life.
The concept of phubbing , which has English origins , is formed by combining the noun “phone” and the verb “snub” (to disregard, ignore). The concept of phubbing emerges with the combination of the words phone + snubbing. If you stare at your smartphone screen for longer than normal and do not communicate with people around you, this situation is called “phubbing”. The person who does phubbing is called ” phubber “. This English concept, which was introduced into our language about 7 years ago, has not yet found a Turkish equivalent. The meaning of phubbing can be briefly expressed as the negative effects of developing technology on people’s social and cultural life.
Phubbing: A Technology Addiction
We can list the types of technology addiction as follows.
- Computer addiction
- Game addiction
- Mobile phone addiction(Phubbing)
With the introduction of smartphones into our lives, we have started to listen less and pay less attention to the other person. Phone addiction, which has become an important disease of the modern world, is seen as one of the important diseases of the period, showing that people are becoming slaves to their mobile phones. Phubbing can also be considered a type of addiction. Although the term addiction is generally used for alcohol, heroin and cigarettes in the health literature, unconscious use of technology is also called phone addiction .
People with phubbing disease have difficulty in limiting the time they use their mobile phones. As a result, they are negatively affected socio-psychologically, and even their educational or academic processes may be jeopardized. Despite this, they tend to continue their mobile phone usage behavior. It is seen that they feel uneasy in environments where there is no internet connection.
What are the Stages of Phubbing?
People do not suddenly get phubbing disease. It is extremely important to understand the situation and take precautions in one of the four stages of the disease.
- The first step is to turn to the phone as a result of the person’s curiosity and it usually does not pose a problem.
- The second step is for the individual to exhibit social behavior in order not to be excluded by the people around him.
- In the third step, a goal such as escaping from the problems around the person or getting pleasure emerges.
- In the last step, no matter what is happening around the person, he wants to use his mobile phone and becomes completely dependent on it.
What are the Causes of Phubbing?
According to research, one in every four people in the world is addicted to a mobile phone and most of these people are not even aware of it. Although the factors that cause this disease are diverse, there are some points that stand out. The first reason can be considered as the fact that individuals cannot control their curiosity about technology. In addition, having a circle of addicted friends increases the risk of phubbing . In addition, as in all matters related to spending indefinite and unproductive time, not having enough information increases the risk of addiction. It is necessary to use technology for a purpose. Otherwise, wasted time increases. Living an asocial lifestyle independent of the environment is also one of the reasons that pushes a person to addiction. Those who have problems such as not being able to control their internal impulses are likely to suffer from this disease. In fact, it can be said that the most important reason is that the individual can easily access things in the virtual world that they cannot obtain in real life. Spending time with a smartphone, a technological tool, instead of trying to solve the problems in our lives, invites addiction.
What are the symptoms of phubbing?
Phubbing is difficult to detect. Confessing is even harder. Therefore, the most common symptom is that a person denies spending too much time on their mobile phone. In order to understand whether the individual is suffering from phubbing, it is necessary to evaluate whether he/she exhibits the following behaviors;
- Increasing time spent on smartphones over time.
- It becomes a habit as the time spent on the phone increases.
- Not realizing the time spent on the phone.
- The emergence of withdrawal syndrome symptoms such as anger, fatigue and restlessness complaints when the individual does not have his/her smart phone.
- Failure to fulfill daily responsibilities.
- Experiencing negative psycho-social and health situations.
Results of Phubbing
If the habits you have acquired over time have started to make you ‘asocial’ within your ‘social’ environment, alarm bells are ringing for you. The danger here can be evaluated from two perspectives. The first is that disrespect towards the people around you may damage the relationships between you. The second is the fact that the value of face-to-face sharing has begun to decrease day by day.
If a human being, who was created as a social being, gives up sociality, what remains? People started to think that they only need each other financially. However, looking into the eyes and communicating through talking have a much more important place in our lives than we think. A social media status update you share about your emotional state may receive hundreds of likes. But what really matters is whether there is someone knocking on your door to support you in your unhappy moments. It can be said that the greater the difference between your virtual life and your reality, the greater the trauma you may experience. Just for this reason; It is necessary to put your smartphones aside when you come together with people who are listening to you or who you can listen to. You know, there is a saying: ‘Animals get along by sniffing, people get along by talking.’ Unfortunately, today this saying has slowly begun to lose its validity.
What Can Be Done Against Phubbing?
The first initiative against phubbing was launched by Australian Alex Haigh (2013) with the “ stop phubbing ” campaign. With this campaign, people are called to organize and the negative effects of technology against socialization are revealed. However, there are many things that can be done on a personal basis. Phubbing patients often experience stress, anxiety, depression and social phobia problems. Just as you start a food diet to lose weight when you gain too much weight, you should start an internet diet to get rid of this addiction as soon as you feel that you have the symptoms of phubbing. The most effective way to combat phubbing is to introduce your children to those old activities that you inherited from your childhood, where you spent time together and had fun. In this way, you can keep them away from technological devices that they may be addicted to.
