While you may have no idea what it means “to phub”, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve had it done to you—and also done to it to others. And it could be the single worst thing to happen to your social life since Netflix. 

“Phubbing” is the unscientific term for “partner phone snubbing”, which is just a fancy name for when you ignore (or are ignored) by someone you’re with because they’re too busy liking cute baby animal pictures on Instagram (or more likely right now, checking the Jays’ score). 

It’s such a problem that real scientists at a real university have conducted a study on the effects of “phubbing”, and it’s not good: According to a study out of Baylor University, 46 percent of the adults reported being phubbed by their romantic partner. Of the 46 percent who’d been ignored in favour of a phone, 22 percent that caused conflict in their relationships. 

And even if it’s just a quick peek at a text or to Snapchat, the researchers still warned against regular phubs. As Meredith David, the author’s study put it in a press release:”Our findings suggest that the more often a couple’s time spent together is interrupted by one individual attending to his/her cellphone, the less likely it is that the other individual is satisfied in the overall relationship.”

BE PRESENT PEOPLE.