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.