Are you listening?

People pretend they are busy on the phone to avoid boring friends.

LONDON: If you think that your friend often gets busy on the phone while you two are spending “quality time”, chances are that he or she is simply trying to avoid you because the ongoing conversation is not interesting enough to hold their attention.

A study has found that many people, when bored of talking to individuals around them, pretend talking to others by making fake phone calls. The survey conducted by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that at least 13 percent of those who own a mobile phone resorted to this tactic rather than talking to someone nearby, reports Daily Mail.

The survey that interviewed 2,277 Americans concluded that figure gets dialed up to 30 per cent for people in 18 to 29-year-old age group and down to six per cent for those aged between 50 and 64. In the 30 to 49 age group, it was found that 11 per cent are regular fakers.

Smartphone owners, meanwhile, did their bit to bring the average up, with one in five of them admitting to conducting fake calls. Forty two per cent out of the 2,277 Americans that were interviewed turn to mobile phones to play games, browse the internet and look for other sources of entertainment when stuck in a dreary situation. At least 40 per cent declared their device was something they’d found useful in an emergency.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd,  2011.