Let’s talk about phubbing, and why it is ruining this generation's ability to hold a real conversation. For those of you who don't know, 'phubbing' is the combination of the words ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’. Urban dictionary defines it as “snubbing someone in favor of your mobile phone." This new phenomenon of phubbing that is sweeping the nation is a result of the growing addiction to our mobile devices.

Our constant need to check our phones to update ourselves on pointless information and viral videos on social media has actually begun to replace real human interaction. We’ve all been phubbed at one point or another. That heart-breaking moment when you think you are having a genuinely stimulating conversation only to find the person you thought was listening was actually checking the latest post from One Direction on their Twitter feed... the horror. No one likes the feeling of being phubbed. It makes you feel unimportant and ignored.

But let’s face it. We’re all guilty of being the phubber too. Whether it’s with our parents, with our friends, or with our significant others. Maybe it’s your mom asking you how your day was and you find yourself halfway through a Buzzfeed article before you even realize she’s still talking. Or it’s your friend venting to you about her boyfriend problems when she catches you mid snapchat. Most of the time, we don’t even realize we are doing it.

Living in a generation where it’s the norm to have your cell phone glued to your hand at all times can make it difficult to realize that we are ignoring the real things happening around us. How many times have you gone to a concert and spent the majority of the time trying to snapchat or Instagram it rather than actually watching the concert? And how many times have you missed out on an inside joke with your friends because you were too busy scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed. Maybe if you’d have put your phone down for awhile and listened, you would have noticed that your mom was really excited to talk to you about your day because she’d had a rough day herself, and that your friend was on the verge of tears because her boyfriend had cheated on her.

Being constantly attached to our phones ultimately results in us ignoring the people right in front of us. We spend so much time phubbing others that we lose the opportunity to fully connect with people. We miss the body language and facial expressions that bring a dialogue to life because we are so detached. When was the last time you sat down with a friend or family member to talk and didn’t pick up your phone once? These days, you rarely have a conversation anymore without glancing at your phone every other minute.

It seems ridiculous to me that a group of friends can silently sit in a room and be so attached to their phones that they become completely detached from one another. I mean heaven forbid they lose their phones, then they might actually have to talk to one another. The beauty of human interaction is that it is between two humans, not a human and a phone. When you take technology out of the mix you’re left with the real people and things around you and forced to really listen and engage. We take our friends and family for granted when we pay more attention to a small rectangle sitting in our hands. That rectangle will never be able to have the same connection or bond with you that another person can, so why give it more attention than the people who really matter?

While we are all guilty of phubbing someone at least a couple times in our lives, it’s important to realize that no mobile device will ever be able to replace the interaction you have with another person. Granted, there are times when phubbing is seemingly the only solution to an awkward situation. For example, when your date reaches that point where the awkward silence can only be saved by a glance at your phone.

But isn’t that what makes life so interesting and exciting? Learning to deal with that awkward silence. Maybe you’ll dig a little deeper into your mind and find that there really is more that you can talk about. Sometimes, you need to take a moment and realize just how invested you are in a piece of technology. We take our friends and family for granted when we pay more attention to a small rectangle sitting in our hands. That rectangle will never be able to have the same connection or bond with you that another person can, so why give it more attention than the people who really matter? So next time you're in a conversation, think about that, put down your phone for a few minutes and remember what it's like to have a real interaction.