BENGALURU: Ghosting, turnt, bromance…these are juts some of the words coined and common among millennials. The latest term to enter their dictionary is phub (phone +snub)which means ignoring a person in favour of their smartphone. The relatively new term is especially common among youngsters under the age group of 30 tends to make conversations less interactive and meaningful and can result in the person feeling disconnected.
The Australian-originated term was first coined in 2012 as part of Stop Phubbing campaign. City Express did a survey with 100 youngsters in the under-30 age group and found that 72 per cent of them phub at least five people a day, and majority of the people getting phubbed are friends, followed by extended family members. 65 % point out that they are aware of phubbing a person while the rest consider it a passing habit.
20-year-old student, Fatima Alam says that when she get an urgent call from work or if it is anything related to work then she is ‘conditioned to ignore whoever is with me.’ “I just have to pick up work-related calls. In fact I am more available on my phone than in person,” she admits. 50 per cent, we found, either ignore the person on their smartphone whilst the rest snub them in-person.
Getting phubbed can be annoying but surprisingly, the results show that in most cases, people do not react or are not aware of getting phubbed. Only 20 per cent of the cases have people reacting severely to the situation. In one such case, a 20-year-old sister was asked to stand outside the house for an hour for having phubbed her brother. In another similar case, a student was not allowed to attend her physics class for a week for phubbing a college professor.
26-year-old Anna Mary Jane, a corporate employee working in the corporate industry explained her not-so-pleasant experience after she phubbed her family and friends. “So, my mum and friends sat me down and had a talk about it. Ever since I’ve tried changing my habit. But unconsciously I end up ignoring people when I am texting someone or playing with my phone,” she says.