The advent of social media has created an information outburst that phones have more or less become an extension of a human being essentially a basic need.
Although the devices are multi-efficient and are used to order almost everything from food to uber rides and keeping memories, their applications and content could make one distant from those immediate others.
Phubbing does not only affect physical friendships but also relationships, making almost everyone a perpetrator or victim. It also affects and disrupts family time for marrieds, resulting in poor communication among the couple.
Commenting on the phubbing practice Olive Najjuma a Fatboy Show presenter on RX Radio said, “there’s a lot of content on the phone today. There’s Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat that will take your attention from the people you love. So for many people, it's like they care more about connecting with the virtual world than with the people sitting across them at the dinner table.”
A caller on the show named Bashir, also affirmed that phones have widened relations between people since they can hardly notice those close to them.
He narrated how phone addiction was a basis for rules in his home, such as switching them to silent mode, so that the family could have their time at the dining table. This according to him should apply to relationships.
“I believe that if we have both been working the whole day, let's keep phones away for us to have alone time. When my partner gets home, the most they should spend on social media should be 30 minutes, so that we can have the rest of the time for us,” Bashir said.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.