Fear of missing out

"FOMO" redirects here. For the album by Liam Finn, see FOMO (album).
Smartphones enable people to remain in contact with their social and professional network continuously. This may result in compulsive checking for status updates and messages, for fear of missing an opportunity.[1]

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know about or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one's life better.[2] FOMO is also associated with a fear of regret,[3] which may lead to concerns that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, a memorable event, profitable investment or the comfort of those you love and who love you back.[4] It is characterized by a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing,[2] and can be described as the fear that deciding not to participate is the wrong choice.[3][5] FOMO could result from not knowing about a conversation,[6] missing a TV show, not attending a wedding or party,[7] or hearing that others have discovered a new restaurant.[8] FOMO in recent years has been attributed to a number of negative psychological and behavioral symptoms.[3][9][10]

FOMO has increased in recent times due to advancements in technology.[11] Social networking sites create many opportunities for FOMO. While it provides opportunities for social engagement,[2] it offers a view into an endless stream of activities in which a person is not involved. Psychological dependence on social media can lead to FOMO[12] or even pathological internet use.[13] FOMO is also present in video games, investing, and business marketing.[14][15][16] The increasing popularity of the phrase has led to related linguistic and cultural variants.[17] FOMO is associated with worsening depression and anxiety, and a lowered quality of life.[18]

FOMO can also affect businesses. Hype and trends can lead business leaders to invest based on perceptions of what others are doing, rather than their own business strategy.[19] This is also the idea of the bandwagon effect, where one individual may see another person (s) do something and they begin to think it must be important because everyone is doing it. They might not even understand the meaning behind it, and they may not totally agree with it. Nevertheless, they are still going to participate because they don't want to be left out.[20]

  1. ^ Anderson, Hephzibah (16 April 2011). "Never heard of Fomo? You're so missing out". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Przybylski, Andrew K.; Murayama, Kou; DeHaan, Cody R.; Gladwell, Valerie (July 2013). "Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out". Computers in Human Behavior. 29 (4): 1841–1848. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014. S2CID 12602767.
  3. ^ a b c Wortham, J. (April 10, 2011). "Feel like a wall flower? Maybe it's your Facebook wall". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Shea, Michael (27 July 2015). "Living with FOMO". The Skinny. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  5. ^ Alt, Dorit; Boniel-Nissim, Meyran (2018-06-20). "Parent–Adolescent Communication and Problematic Internet Use: The Mediating Role of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)". Journal of Family Issues. 39 (13): 3391–3409. doi:10.1177/0192513x18783493. ISSN 0192-513X. S2CID 149746950.
  6. ^ Tait, Amelia (2018-10-11). "Why do we experience the curse of conversation envy?". Metro. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  7. ^ "Why FOMO at uni is totally OK to feel". Debut. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  8. ^ Delmar, Niamh. "FOMO: Are you afraid of missing out?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  9. ^ Elhai, Jon D.; Levine, Jason C.; Dvorak, Robert D.; Hall, Brian J. (2016-10-01). "Fear of missing out, need for touch, anxiety and depression are related to problematic smartphone use". Computers in Human Behavior. 63: 509–516. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.079. ISSN 0747-5632. S2CID 10232130.
  10. ^ Gupta, Mayank; Sharma, Aditya (2021-07-06). "Fear of missing out: A brief overview of origin, theoretical underpinnings and relationship with mental health". World Journal of Clinical Cases. 9 (19): 4881–4889. doi:10.12998/wjcc.v9.i19.4881. ISSN 2307-8960. PMC 8283615. PMID 34307542.
  11. ^ Schreckinger, Ben (October 29, 2014). "The Home of FOMO". Boston Magazine. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Jonathan K. J. (1998). "Internet Addiction on Campus: The Vulnerability of College Students". CyberPsychology & Behavior. 1 (1): 11–17. doi:10.1089/cpb.1998.1.11. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13.
  13. ^ Song, Indeok; Larose, Robert; Eastin, Matthew S.; Lin, Carolyn A. (September 2004). "Internet Gratifications and Internet Addiction: On the Uses and Abuses of New Media". CyberPsychology & Behavior. 7 (4): 384–394. doi:10.1089/cpb.2004.7.384. PMID 15331025. S2CID 8927288.
  14. ^ Duman Alpteki̇n, Hazal; Özkara, Behçet (2021-09-01). "The impact of social identity on online game addiction: the mediating role of the fear of missing out (FoMO) and the moderating role of the need to belong". Current Psychology. 40 (9): 4571–4580. doi:10.1007/s12144-019-00392-w. S2CID 202277588.
  15. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia. "GameStop FOMO Inspires a New Wave of Crypto Pump-and-Dumps". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  16. ^ "Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)" (PDF). J. Walter Thompson. March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2015.
  17. ^ Carmichael, Sara Green (2020-04-27). "COVID-19 has taken us from FOMO to ROMO". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  18. ^ Elhai, Jon; Yang, Haibo; Montag, Christian (May 2020). "Fear of missing out (FOMO): overview, theoretical underpinnings, and literature review on relations with the severity of negative affectivity and problematic technology use". Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry. 43 (2): 203–209. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0870. PMC 8023172. PMID 32401865.
  19. ^ Lim, Yen. "How to Avoid Business-Related FoMO". PredictHQ. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  20. ^ Bloom, Linda; Bloom, Charlie. "The Bandwagon Effect". www.psychologytoday.com. Psychology Today. Retrieved October 17, 2022.