FOMO is a word in slang that is being widely discussed. FOMO stands for "fear of missing out". FOMO is nervous or anxious feeling a person gets when they realize they are not attending a social event either because they were not invited, couldn't attend, or they just did not feel like going. FOMO causes people to assume that they have a low social rank. This belief, in turn, can create anxiety and feelings of inferiority. What's more, FOMO is especially common in people ages 18 to 33.
Meanwhile, research suggests that people who experience FOMO are more likely to value social media. In fact, some psychologists even suggest that the fear of missing out is what makes social media platforms so successful. For instance, they claim that FOMO drives people to use technology to let others know not only what they are doing but also how much fun they are having doing it.
But this should not be surprising. It is very easy for teens to define their lives based on what they see online. In fact, watching, critiquing and liking every move someone else makes online is what leads them to constantly measure their own lives against these posts.
How to deal with FOMO
- Change Your Focus. Rather than focusing on what you lack, try noticing what you have. This is easier said than done on social media, where we may be bombarded with images of things we do not have, but it can be done.
- Take a hiatus from social media. Try staying offline for a day, a week, or maybe even a month. Examples abound of people cutting themselves off and waking up to the wonders of the real world.
- Delete social media apps. This is a quick and relatively easy way to reduce social media use when you are away from the computer.
