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NEW YORK — It’s the pain of crowds: Texts, photos and video streams take forever or just can’t get through.

You might have run into this at a concert where everyone’s trying to post selfies with the headliners at once, or at big conferences and sporting events.

Fans at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., might see a similar cellular jam. Here’s why it happens and what phone companies are doing about it:

Why doesn’t my phone work in a crowd?

Lots of phones are competing for the attention of a cellular network’s antennas. Networks are further strained because these are times when people are apt to use data-heavy applications such as photo and video sharing.

You might see bars on your phone showing there’s a signal available, yet nothing’s getting through. That happens because the phone’s failing to get “associated” to the network, says Don Bowman of Sandvine, which sells networking equipment.

“Your phone knows it’s there but doesn’t know how to use it,” he says. “You’ll have the bars, but it won’t seem to connect.”

One clue: The “LTE” letters fail to show up next to the bars.

What can cellphone companies do?

Phones have gotten better at sending requests to the network, and networks have gotten better at managing traffic. But then again, smartphone use continues to grow, so jams are difficult to avoid.

Phone companies can mitigate congestion when they know of a big event ahead of time.

The phone companies have a mix of strategies, but collectively they have added or upgraded antennas in the stadium and cell towers nearby and installed “small cells” that will improve capacity in the stadium. Small cells typically look like boxes, says Monica Paolini, the president of wireless advisory firm Senza Fili Consulting, and, yes, are smaller than the cells you’d find on rooftops and cell towers. These small cells have a smaller range than regular cell towers, but they can supplement those towers to boost capacity in dense areas.

Many of these improvements are permanent, so coverage should improve even after the game.

Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile also are bringing in temporary cell sites, called “Cell on Wheels,” or cows, to cover Santa Clara and events in San Francisco.

Wi-Fi helps, too

Newer sports venues are more likely to have Wi-Fi, which relieves stress on the cellphone network. For example, Comcast put in Wi-Fi at Levi’s Stadium, where the Super Bowl is taking place, when the stadium opened in 2014. It’s free for visitors.

Historically, Wi-Fi equipment has been installed high up in ceilings or walls. At Levi’s, Comcast sprinkled routers underneath seats throughout the stadium to improve Wi-Fi performance. That helps prevent obstructions from steel and other construction materials and gets people physically closer to the routers.

At some events such as golf tournaments, Comcast has brought in temporary Wi-Fi systems.

Why is the Super Bowl more complicated?

People are expected to use more data than the 6.4 terabytes at last year’s Super Bowl. Last year’s number alone is more than double what’s typical for a San Francisco 49ers football game at Levi’s. A million visitors are expected in the Bay Area, which Gartner analyst Bill Menezes says has traditionally been a hard area for cell companies to cover because of its hills.

My phone isn’t working.

“You hate to think of this, being the old-fashioned way,” says Menezes — but holding your phone high in the air and walking around could help you find a signal. And texts will get through more readily than a phone call.

Menezes also recommends using apps put out by signal-testing companies like RootMetrics and OpenSignal. They can show you where connectivity has been working better recently.

Paolini recommends going outside if you’re indoors, trying to find a Wi-Fi spot and holding off on sending photos and video.

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Whether you know it or not, you’ve been phubbed.

“Phubbing” — snubbing someone you’re talking to to look at a cell phone — may not be part of your everyday vocabulary, but it’s almost certainly part of your everyday life. Just think about how often a conversation stalls because your friends (or you) have pulled out a phone and descended into an Instagram black hole.

The phenomenon may seem like a relatively harmless, if annoying, part of modern life, but research is finding that it may be hurting your relationships. “Ironically, phubbing is meant to connect you, presumably, with someone through social media or texting,” says Emma Seppälä, a psychologist at Stanford and Yale universities and author of the Happiness Track. “But it actually can severely disrupt your present-moment, in-person relationships.”

Here’s what else you need to know about phubbing.

Phubbing makes you feel less connected

Several studies have shown that phubbing makes face-to-face interactions less meaningful. A paper just published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that even people who imagined they were being phubbed while viewing a simulated conversation felt more negativelyabout the interaction than people who didn’t picture phubbing.Another, published in Computers in Human Behavior in 2016, found that texting during a conversation made the talk less satisfying for the people having it, compared to people who interacted without phones. A 2012 study even found that the mere presence of a cell phone during a conversation — even if no one was using it — was enough to make people feel less connected to each other.

Phubbing can hurt your mental health

In the latest study on the subject, phubbing was found to threaten four “fundamental needs” — belongingness, self-esteem, meaningful existence and control — by making phubbed people feel excluded and ostracized. That may be particularly harmful because phubbing happens all the time, the researchers say.

Other research has shown that phubbing can affect relationships. Two separate recent studies found that when spouses phub each other, they’re more likely to experience depression and lower marital satisfaction. “If your life partner is on the phone, that means that they are prioritizing something else over you in those moments of togetherness,” and that hurts, says Seppälä, who was not involved with the research.

Phubbing isn’t good for anyone

Of course, the person being snubbed is the one most hurt by phubbing. But the phubber is affected, too.

A February study found that people who used their phones while eating with friends or family said they enjoyed their meal less and felt more distracted and less engaged than those who didn’t use tech at the table. A follow-up experiment found that phone use may make face-to-face interactions away from the table less enjoyable, too.

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Phubbing may also hurt your reputation. “Phone users are generally seen as less polite and attentive—and as poorer conversationalists,” Seppälä says.

Perhaps most important is that phubbing may be a sign of problematic technology use. Many experts consider a device habit worrisome when it begins to interfere with everyday life, and feeling compelled to text or scroll through the phone during face-to-face conversations may fit that bill.

“You might miss critical impacts of human moments that really make up what a human life is,” Seppälä says. “It’s really scary that we’re replacing that with looking down at a screen.”

But you can stop phubbing

If you’re a chronic phubber, creating and following strict technology rules, such as putting your phone away while eating dinner, can help you form new habits, Seppälä says. Other attention-based practices, like meditation and mindfulness, may also help re-train your attentional capacity.

If you’re the one being phubbed, Seppälä recommends first shifting your perspective. “Be patient and compassionate and don’t take offense, because they’re following an impulse,” she says.

Do, however, take the time to calmly explain how phubbing makes you feel, especially if the person isn’t as bothered by the behavior as you are. (Research suggests women and older adults have stronger reactions to phubbing than men and young people, Seppälä says.)

“Their goal is probably not to exclude you,” Seppälä says. “They’re looking for inclusion; that’s probably why they’re looking on their phone.” Having a meaningful conversation in real life, then, may be exactly what you both need.

Write to Jamie Ducharme at .