Abstract:Background: The fear of missing out (FoMO) on social media refers to the apprehension that online content and interactions from others are unseen and reacted to in a timely fashion. FoMO can become problematic, leading to anxiety, interrupted sleep, lack of concentration and dependence on social media to generate gratification. The literature has mainly focused on understanding the FoMO experience, factors contributing to it and its consequences. Method: In this paper, we build on previous research and develop a FoMO Reduction (FoMO-R) approach that embraces technical elements such as autoreply, filtering, status, education on how FoMO occurs and skills on how to deal with it; e.g., self-talk and checklists. We evaluate the method through focus groups and a diary study involving 30 participants who self-declared to experience FoMO regularly. Results: The results show that the method was accepted by the participants and helped them to manage their FoMO. They also show that a set of extra functionalities in social media design is needed so that users can manage FoMO more effectively. Conclusion: FoMO can be reduced through socio-technical approaches, joining both social and technical skills, and literacy on how social media are designed and how social interactions should happen on them.Keywords: digital addiction; digital wellbeing; fear of missing out; FoMO
Have You Heard of Fomo Addiction: The Fear of Missing Out
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Many believe that the rise in FOMO is hindering our ability to forge strong social connections in the future. This could cause FOMO sufferers to never be happy with the connections they have, and to always be afraid of missing potentially "better" connections. Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT and scholar of technology studies, argues that our relationship with technology is still immature. Whatever the cause, it seems as if the only current cure for FOMO is to keep checking social media or discard the system altogether.
Fear of missing out (FoMO) is known to be associated with a decrease in emotional well-being in adolescents. However, few studies have investigated the possible mediating factors between FoMO and emotional symptoms. In this study, we studied the relationship between FoMO and emotional symptoms in a sample of 472 Italian adolescents aged 11-19. In particular, the study investigated the possible mediating role of perceived stress associated with experiences of neglect and negative reactions by other social media users, and social media addiction. Self-report measures were used. Results show that FoMO directly and indirectly predicts emotional symptoms. Additionally, FoMO is associated with increased sensitivity to stress associated with experiences of neglect and negative reactions by online peers, and social media addiction. Sensitivity to stress associated with neglect (but not to negative reactions) by online peers is found to mediate the relationship between FoMO and social media addiction, which, in turn, mediates the relationship with emotional symptoms. In general, the study shows that FoMO is a factor in experiencing higher sensitivity to stress associated with neglect by online peers, which in turn my act as a trigger for social media addiction, and ultimately showing a negative impact on emotional well-being of adolescents. Limits and future directions for research are discussed.
If you've been actively online for the past five or so years, you must have heard about a thing called the fear of missing out, colloquially known as FOMO. The definition of FOMO says that it's an obsessive feeling that there's always something more interesting and important happening to other people and not you.
Baseline readings for participants were taken at the beginning of the trial in several areas of well-being: social support, fear of missing out, loneliness, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, autonomy, and self-acceptance.
Meanwhile, both groups saw a decline in levels of anxiety and fear of missing out, which the researchers posit as potentially coming from users simply becoming more aware of their social media use by taking part in the trial.
As a trait, people differ in the extent to which they fear missing out [33]. People who fear missing out to a greater extent were more vulnerable to mood disturbances, social media addiction, fatigue, stress, decreased sleep, and poor psychological well-being [25, 26, 33, 37, 43]. FOMO predicted heightened negative affect over the week [44]. FOMO has also been linked with more alcohol consumption and higher incidence of alcohol-related negative consequences [45, 46], lower self-esteem [37], and decreased life satisfaction [47].
The premise that core members are more integrated and engaged in the group implies that their perceived group centrality (i.e., inclusion) might be partially driven by their higher belonging needs and that they may disproportionately experience higher degrees of FOMO (H3 and H4 in Figure 1). In other words, perceived group centrality is likely to mediate the positive effect of the need to belong on FOMO. In addition, based on the previous findings in the belongingness and group membership research [70, 80], it is logical to hypothesize that core members with higher perceived centrality and more appreciation from others will have relatively less fear of exclusion because they are more integrated into the group than peripheral members (H5 in Figure 1).
The study is aimed at further extending previous research on the general fear of missing out (FOMO) by investigating the effects of the need to belong, perceived centrality, and fear of social exclusion. The need to belong emerged as the best predictor of FOMO, accounting for more than 44% of the total explained variance. Participants with a higher need to belong reported significantly more fear of missing out. In addition to the direct effect, the need to belong positively predicted FOMO via social media use, such that participants with higher need to belong reported more social media use, which, in turn, heightened their FOMO experience. These findings echo previous research conclusions, further affirming the pervasive influence of the need to belong in increasing both surveillance for social opportunities and exerted efforts for both group inclusion [68, 70, 72, 73, 80, 97], social media use [91, 98], and FOMO [40, 55]. Social media offers a platform for social interaction and opportunities to fulfill the need to belong, but it also brings the risk of social comparison concerns, which are often portrayed as FOMO [33, 73]. Moreover, consistent with the literature [33, 41, 99], females reported greater need to belong and social media use and consequently more FOMO.
This research provided an additional empirical assessment of the influence of socially driven factors on FOMO. The literature has validated the link between fundamental psychological needs and FOMO [25, 26, 33, 37, 43, 44]. Based on the results of the study, it is fair to conclude that the need to belong largely determines the feelings of fear of missing out in the social context. Taken together, these findings all point to an underlying human desire for social connection, which, when unsatisfied, has detrimental consequences [7].
Although not statistically significant, the impact of perceived centrality seems to be functioning indirectly via social media use, such that core members of the group are more likely to use social media and suffer fear of missing out than peripheral members. These findings further support the theoretical underpinnings of the group membership research highlighting the varying degrees of engagement between core and peripheral members [63, 77]. The fact that core members are more active and engaged in the group suggests that they might be more inclined to use social media and consequently experience greater FOMO. However, since this is the first empirical examination of the effects of perceived centrality and fear of social exclusion on FOMO, further research is necessary to corroborate these findings.
Are you unsure of whether you are suffering from FOMO? The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a serious issue only in recent years being accounted for by medical professionals. A build up of extreme anxiety from FOMO can result in significant stress to an individual that may require some form of therapy to help overcome these fears.
An overwhelming urge for having friends, colleagues or associates is a sign that you suffer from the fear of missing out. If you suffer from being alone and constantly find yourself at the end of the phone to reach out to someone you may already be experiencing FoMo.
Recently, online learning and online environments have become even more important. Students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction are seen as interrelated components that affect students' online teaching and learning process. In this context, university students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments, the relationship among them and students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles as their predictors are examined in this study.
This is a relational study and is carried out with 179 university students. Personal information form, student's engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction scales were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, hierarchical linear multiple regression analysis are used for the analysis.
According to the results, variables related to students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles together significantly predict the students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments. When students think positively about taking courses online, their engagement increases accordingly and their fear of missing out levels decrease. Increase in student's academic achievement leads to decline in Internet addiction. 2ff7e9595c
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