Communifaking – The Latest Fad!

Welcome to the world of communifaking. Even if you do not know what the word means, you would most probably have done it at some point in your life, more so if you are a youngster.

Have you ever pretended to talk on the mobile, when you are actually not? If yes, you are not alone, you are part of a huge new global phenomenon – communifaking. Most people are guilty of doing it at some time or another for different reasons. In fact, you would be considered weird, if you do not do it.

Communifaking is the act of pretending to be talking, surfing or texting on the phone, when in reality you are not communicating with anyone at all.

Recently, the British mobile operator 3, conducted a research and found that this is mostly done by the younger age group in the UK. They found that a large percentage of communifakers are teenagers and people below the age of 24. The percentage of women is seen to be slightly higher than men.

People revealed that they do it for all sorts of reasons, but the most common reason given by them is to kill time while waiting for friends. The second most popular reason is when they see somebody they wish to avoid speaking with. Because it is rude to ignore others, they just pick up the phone and pretend to be busy talking. It is also done to get away from undesirable salespeople.

A psychologist gives this unique phenomenon an exotic name, “impression management.” She said, for many people, communifaking is a way of relaying the required impression to others. If someone is alone at a pub, instead of giving an impression of being alone or of having no friends, engaging in a faux phone conversation makes them feel more desirable, as it would show people that they are seriously engaged with others.

Research results revealed that people not only fake communication but often do it to show off their exclusive and expensive phones. Owning an expensive phone is considered to be a status symbol. Studies showed that men show off more than women, and they do this to attract women. It is almost like birds preening their beautiful feathers to attract their mates.

For many others who do not believe in communifaking, it is a phenomenon that brings to fore the individual’s insecurity and the unsaid words are, “I’m afraid.” Although a majority of people may not agree with this definition.

When asked their opinion on this, a large number of people said that it makes sense when women do it to safeguard themselves. Women may communifake when they feel threatened and need to feel protected. They may be on a date and suddenly realize they have made a huge mistake or if they suspect potential trouble, communifaking is an escape route. This is also done to avoid unnecessary male attention when alone.

Are there any parameters for communifaking? There are no parameters and each to their own. But it does seem sensible enough to fake it in order to avoid male attention, when you are lonely at a party because you know nobody there, when you are buying time to think before responding to something, when you are trying to look productive, to get away from boredom or to get away from a tricky or uncomfortable situation. However, attempting to show off a new handset only because it is expensive or talking loudly to show off your latest feat or what you have been up to loudly is seen as immature behavior by others.

The worst mistake made by some communifakers is trying to do it on the tube. Believe it or not, there are still some people who do not realize there is no signal underground yet. Communifaking while waiting for a call or with the ringer on can also be quite embarrassing. Imagine the phone ringing mid “conversation,” making the person look like a fool. His happens to many people who fake conversations. Would it not be a better way to handle a lonely situation by actually calling some friend or family instead of faking the whole thing?