Dr. Sue Varma

A lot of these older folks are like, I don't even talk to my kids anymore.

And so the only way for me to stay connected is through Facebook.

But then the problem is they become addicted to the likes and may go down dark rabbit holes of communities.

This older population is so vulnerable to scams.

They're not aware that there is an algorithm that has its own agenda that wants to make money.

And, you know, I have patients who will tell me that one patient in particular was like his mother who is not, you know, doing well financially.

She's retired.

She almost lost a million dollars to this one scam that kept repeating itself.

It was like one of those Saudi prince leave money or somebody in Nigeria, like leave money in a locker where a lot of people get hooked into these romantic schemes where like they might be they're older and they're lonely and maybe they're widowed or divorced or single and they're getting catfished or pictures being sent to them.

Yes, no, that's great.

And you know, what you're referring to is this idea, there's a term called fubbing, like snubbing somebody with your phone.

And there's so much data to show that even the mere presence of a phone on the dinner table, like even if it's face down, almost always guarantees that the conversation will not go deep.

because somebody is anticipating that this phone is going to go off.

So you end up staying in a very superficial and also, I think, hypervigilant state.

You may not even be aware of it, but I feel like if I'm having dinner, let's say, with friends that I haven't seen in a long time that are so dear to me, if one of our phones is on the table, we're anticipating an interruption.

We're saying that somehow you are less important or I need to leave my phone.

And look, we get it.

If there's physicians on the table who are on call, or if you're a mom or a dad, you want your phone available.

But it says to me that you're not able...

to prioritize and assess what is really important.