Fear of Missing Out
Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a phenomenon experienced by individuals
who are afraid of being absent in situations in which others might be
having entertainment (Przybylski, 2013). As a result of FOMO, people
experience social anxiety, which they want to prevent by having constant
connection with other members of the society. This phenomenon also
causes people to exhibit remorse since they fear that they have missed a
possibility for social interaction, a new experience, beneficial
associations, or other gratifying occasions. Due to this constant
apprehension, people are concerned about their time utilization. The
word was first coined in 2004 by author Patrick J. McGinnis who
published an article in a magazine of Harvard Business School with the
title “Social Theory at HBS: McGinnis’ Two FO’s”.
The phenomenon FOMO is particularly prevalent among young adolescents,
especially students starting high school, college or graduate schools
(primarily the Millennial demographic). Majority of these individuals
are obligated to use websites for retrieving information in order to
complete projects and assignments on online platforms. Nevertheless,
this constant access to internet/technological devices also expose these
individuals to deleterious and addictive social media websites
(Przybylski, 2013). For example, when these individuals spend time on
the internet finishing a project, they will be tempted to browse social
media websites out of boredom just to take a glimpse at what their peers
are doing. During the exploration process, if an individual comes across
the information that a group of friends are having a night-out, it can
incite FOMO in that individual. A social media post consisting of images
has high media richness and could influence the individual to feel
vulnerable and detached from the community. This negative emotion has
the potential of demotivating an individual and thus prevent him/her
from completing the planned task at hand efficiently.
As a result of the emergence of social media websites, individuals now
prefer communication via technology rather than a face to face
interaction (Koestner & Saffran, 2016). Technological devices such as
smartphones, laptop, tablets and smartwatches have changed the way how
individuals interact in the society today. This modern method of
communication has enabled people to process information in a fast and
efficient manner. The usage of internet via these technological devices
has changed how individuals interact as well. Internet doesn’t come free
of cost, however, the proportion of expenses allocated to this method of
communication is minimal. As a result, individuals are likely to utilize
the service of internet frequently and their daily lives are affected
significantly. Emotional dependency on the internet can incite
extraneous anxiety in majority of the people which can give rise to the
FOMO mindset in individuals (Swan, 2017). Furthermore, the reliance and
addiction to social media websites can lead to adverse mood symptoms
such as anger and depression. For the purpose of this study, we will
focus on the use of social media websites and applications such as
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.
The usage of social media websites can result in deviation of attention
by individuals from projects at hand due to digital immediacy contact.
This influences individuals to check their digital devices consistently,
seeking for an update on emails, personal message, social media app
notifications, calendar notifications, etc.