It was expected that such conditions would appear. And they did not take long to show up. Although this FOMO has been discussed for some time, it has now become increasingly visible and is constantly intensifying.
What is FOMO?
FOMO is an acronym that comes – of course – from the English Fear of Missing Out. In other words, it is the fear, the anxiety of people connected to social media of being left out. The desire to remain continuously connected to what others are doing exists outside social networks as well, but at a much lower level. In other words, FOMO is favored and fueled by technology, by people's ability to be constantly connected to what others are doing, to the news in their lives.
The FOMO phenomenon is generally widespread among people up to 30 years old. A study conducted in the spring of 2014 found that over 56% of people experienced the effects of this condition, but this percentage is much higher among young people.
For those who suffer from this syndrome, the large number of updates, messages, emails that accumulate when they do not check their personal accounts for a few days can often be overwhelming.
From a psychological point of view, specialists explain this phenomenon by the fact that what our acquaintances make known to us causes us to think about our own lives. The interesting things happening in others' lives make our own life seem much more mundane and uninteresting. Thus, our self-esteem decreases and feelings of dissatisfaction with ourselves arise, as well as envy towards those around us who do many interesting things. All these feed our fear of failure, the fear that we are not good enough, that we will not get what we want, and that we will remain isolated. From here, more serious problems can arise, such as depression or antisocial behaviors.
Out of fear of missing something interesting, a party, an event, out of the desire to witness the moment rather than be the one told about it, many people end up spending more than they can afford to go wherever their friends go.
Social networks feed all these fears and dissatisfactions that each of us has, to a greater or lesser extent. This fear extends to other areas, not just events in others' lives: a new gadget we haven't tried, a movie we haven't seen, a new book, etc. And the more often we check what others have posted on social networks, the more affected, upset, or anxious we become.
For those who work online, and in promoting activities on the internet, especially on social networks, this phenomenon translates into broad implications. People are increasingly interested in what is happening, what is new, what has appeared, and want to know first. Marketers must know, before others, what is new and fashionable, must be the ones setting the tone, and not those who find out last and try to integrate along the way. Advertising constantly fights to obtain such a thing/event/status that no one should miss.
Interest in this phenomenon has been continuously growing. If it was first highlighted in a study in 2012, in 2013 the term was included in the English dictionary. To date, based on research conducted by specialists in psychology, a website has been created that tells you, based on a few questions, where you stand in relation to this phenomenon. You can check your status here.
