What is a ‘Phubber’ and are you one?

‘Phubber,’ not to be confused with the feature film starring Robin Williams, that’s “Flubber,” is a pormanteo of the words Snubber and Phone.

What it essentially means is that when you’re in the company of other people, you choose engagement with your phone over interaction with other people.

An article from the Huffington Post explains it best:

“To be phubbed is to be snubbed by someone using their cell phone while in your company. The “phubb” could be an interruption of your conversation with someone when he or she uses their cell phone or is distracted by it (furtive glances when they think you’re not looking) instead of paying attention to you. Maybe worse, you’ve been phubbed if someone used their cell phone instead of communicating with you while in close proximity to you. Oh, the shame.”

Phubbing, the Huffington Post writes is one of the prime symtoms of smartphone addiction, which is a very, very, very real thing.

Don’t believe us. Well, take a look at what we reported last year in our post about managing your smart phone addiction:

“As of January 2014, some 90 percent of Americans had cell phones, smartphones, e-readers or tablets. Of this total, 67 percent of cell owners found themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts or calls, even when they didn’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating. Forty-four percent said they slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages or other updates during the night, and 29 percent of cell owners described theirs as “’something they can’t imagine living without.'”

Sounds pretty legit, doesn’t it?

If you think you might be a Phubber the Huffinton Post has a quiz to help you see the light.

Congrats on learning a new word you can use to scold your friends and loved ones with!

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.