The latest dating trend

Phubbing

Imagine this happening to you, going on a date with someone who has zero attention for you and is only focused on their phone. Guilty, I admit I sometimes get caught up with my iPhone too, but ignoring a date because I constantly have that thing in my hand? No way. And yet it happens more often than you think, and if you thought that ghosting was bad: it seems even more painful when someone is sitting right in front of you and would rather scroll through Instagram, check Facebook, and try to beat their high score in that one game than have a nice time with you.

 
It has a name: phubbing. It’s a combination of ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’. Someone who pays more attention to their phone than to you. And don’t think this only happens during the dating phase of relationships; phubbing has also become a relationship dealbreaker in committed relationships. Research from Baylor University, conducted with the help of 143 people in committed relationships, shows that phubbing occurs very often in 46 percent of relationships. And from phubbing comes arguments, and from arguments often come break-ups.

 
143 is of course not a very large number for a country as big as America, but let’s talk about our little frog country. We are also smartphone addicted here. Do you remember the story of Kiki who once spent 8 hours and 7 minutes on her phone in one day? Yes, you might think that’s crazy, but believe me: she’s not the only one.

 
Look, those phones of ours (or should we just call them an extension of our arm?) are also ideal. You are reachable, have the information you need within seconds (like Netflix news and so on), but what your phone should not be is a threat to your relationship. So what are we all going to do on our next date? In any case, no phubbing. Let’s make that trend go out of style, s’il vous plaît.