Sidebarring is the new social media sin you’ve already committed

You know that moment you’re talking to a group of people and you ‘sneakily’ grab your phone to message your buddy.

Well that is a new social media trend called a sidebar conversation. They’re the secret – or really not so secret – non-verbal chats we have on our phones whilst in meetings or at dinners.

And they’re actually pretty rude when you come to think of it, given that it means a person is clearly not interested in the current situation.

There is nothing worse than being out with a group of friends, for example, and noticing that one of them is laughing at something on her phone.

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Or even worse than that, two friends at the same table are messaging each other, rather than being present with everyone else.

You’ve definitely experienced it, and probably been guilty of it yourself. And you’re not alone.

Sidebarring is actually incredibly common with a new study from Facebook revealing that 71 per cent of people have been guilty of it.

The biggest culprits are the millennials, but a decent chunk of baby boomers also admitted they had sidebarred before.

The research showed that 39 per cent of Aussie’s actually do it daily if not more.

So we reckon it’s time to introduce the phone pile at dinner time again, and keep your phones off office tables during meetings.

Because there is nothing better than being in the here and now.

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