FOMO: Social Media Overuse, Mental Health, and Addiction
The fear of missing out, or FOMO, causes social media users, particularly young people, to feel a responsibility to spend more time on social media. The seeming urgency and necessity of being logged on and staying in the loop blurs the line between an intentional sociality and one of compulsion. Though social media usage may make users feel socially gratified, excessive social media use due to the fear of missing out leads to negative effects on users’ lives and mental health.
What is FOMO?
FOMO is the fear of missing out, of being out of the loop compared to everyone else on one’s timeline. In the major study “Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out”, FOMO is defined as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”(5). This fear motivates masses of social media users to feel a desire or urge to be constantly connected.
FOMO is often characterized by feelings of restlessness, envy, exclusion, and self-loathing. It is forever focused on the potential for a different connection or experience — this connection or experience may have been ultimately good or bad for us, but we mourn the loss of the option anyways (4). Fear of missing out is most often associated with young people, but this is an expanding range as it can affect any social media users.
People can experience FOMO in several different ways that depend upon the motivations, goals, and feelings of the user. Some experience a feeling of missing out in realms of digital socialization and information, and thus feel compelled to maintain a constant presence online in order to participate. Some experience a feeling of missing out in life, based on what they see online — whether it be that they missed a party their friends all attended, or a feeling that they have not accomplished as much as others in their lives. There is also an ever growing fear of missing out professionally and academically if one does not cultivate an online persona (2).
Networking and Availability: the Influence of Social Capital
Users are afraid of missing out on information, experiences, and opportunities by logging off. Social capital is built through cultivation of an online presence where high levels of engagement are most often rewarded. Participation is voluntary: but not nurturing an online presence would mean forfeiting opportunities available in such large networked spaces as social media (2). On YouTube, creators who don’t produce content consistently and frequently suffer the consequences, and don’t get promoted by YouTube’s algorithm. As a journalist, realtor, or business owner, social media presence is essential to completing business every day, and greater social capital increases their success. This can affect any job or position, depending on the employer. More and more often, employers want to see a LinkedIn profile or digital record in order to approve a candidate.
Social media and other digital sites are also becoming a common classroom tool, and this has only been exacerbated by the pandemic shutdown as students shifted to virtual learning. Now that students are no longer meeting in person, forming online communities through social media seems like the only way to connect with people and to build social capital, and they are gaining experience for building these communities in virtual classrooms.
Gaining social capital and the validation of interaction from others leads to a cycle of posting and receiving positive reinforcement and validation, which can be increasingly difficult to break out of (2). What makes this most difficult is the fact that positive social stimuli online results in a release of dopamine, rewarding the behavior that preceded it (6). A user’s brain changes itself to anticipate online interaction and is encouraged to continue and then increase their social media habits.
Social Media Addiction
Many have scoffed at the idea of social media addiction. But studies show that users experiencing FOMO use social media in ways that parallel the effects of substance abuse. These symptoms include:
salience (social media being on your mind constantly),
mood modification (using social media to feel better or relax),
tolerance (needing to spend increasing amounts of time on social media),
withdrawal (feeling irritated, anxious, or restless when use is discontinued),
conflict (losing control over social media use, and and developing problems with people in their environments),
and relapse (going back to social media after a period of not using them)(4).
Those reporting to be high in FOMO check social media immediately after waking up, during meals, and before going to sleep (5). Students experiencing FOMO were also found to be more likely to check social media during university lectures, and were more likely to check their notifications while driving (3).
Overuse of social media and the fear of missing out can also lead to or be a part of nomophobia, or the fear of being without one’s phone (4). This demonstrates a fear of connection that is also at the heart of the fear of missing out.
If you feel panicked at the thought of missing an opportunity to check your social networking sites and you resonate with these behaviors, it may be time to evaluate your relationship with social media.
Here is a list of stories about digitally-addicted people.
Happiness and FOMO
FOMO often originates in a lack of life satisfaction. Social media users have a high likelihood of comparison with others, and believe more frequently that other people lead better or happier lives (3), reinforcing this lack of life satisfaction due to constant comparison possible on social media. Andrew Przybylski’s study on FOMO found that,
“those with low levels of satisfaction of the fundamental needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness tend towards higher levels of fear of missing out as do those with lower levels of general mood and overall life satisfaction” (5, my emphasis).
The same study also found that increased use of social media (tested with Facebook users) led to a “marginal increase in depression” compared to those who did not experience FOMO and did not use social media as frequently (5). So, sadness and anxiety pushes us towards social media, which ultimately makes us feel worse — yet our brain’s reward response tells us that it makes us feel good. Ultimately, people grow ambivalent towards social media — because while it makes us feel isolated, anxious, and depressed, it also makes us feel connected, secure, and knowledgeable (5). Users believe that the negative effects of missing out can’t possibly outweigh the negative effects of overuse, and don’t realize the toll that social media use and the fear of missing out takes on one’s mental health — and how easily it can become an addiction.
Beating FOMO
It can be overwhelming to think about controlling FOMO while it is tied up in our mental health. Everybody has their own triggers and experiences with social media, FOMO, and mental health, and different approaches may be more beneficial for some than others.
- Remind yourself that you don’t need to be available 24/7: Whether it be for social, academic, or professional purposes, no one has a right to demand your availability at any hour.
- Limit Screen-time: Smartphones show you how long you’ve had your screen on each day, and show you where that time is going app by app. If you can’t remember or don’t trust yourself to follow limits, you can lock certain apps after a set number of hours is up. If you aren’t expecting an important call or text, you can even try putting your phone in a box for a few hours (or a full day, a la Emma Chamberlain)
- Turn off Notifications: Studies have shown that the presence of notifications make us more inclined to open our social media apps (3). You can turn off notifications for specific apps, so if you need to leave Facebook on for work, you can limit engagement on other social media sites.
- Turn off Email Notifications: Many social media sites will send email updates, notifications, and messages, filling your inbox with targeted keywords and phrases to make you click on. If you turn these off, you won’t be so bombarded with advertising.
- Try Gratitude: Write something you are grateful for in a journal every day to use your free time to focus on yourself, instead of others (1).
If negative thoughts are persistent and disruptive, please reach out to a mental health counselor or seek mental health assistance in your area.
National Institute of Mental Health
international hotline: 1 (800) 273–8255
text: HELLO to 741741
References
(1) Baker, Eric. “The Best Way to Overcome Fear of Missing Out”. Time. 7 June 2016. How to Overcome FOMO: Fear of Missing Out | Time
(2) Faucher, Kane. “Capitalism and the Ideologies of the Social.” Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation, vol. 7, University of Westminster Press, London, 2018, pp. 39–60. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5vddrd.6.
(3) Kuss, Daria. “Mobile Technology and Social Media: The ‘Extensions of Man’ in the 21st Century.” Human Development, 2017, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 141–143. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26765167.
(4) “Scared to Stay In: The Psychology of FOMO”. King University Online. 4 Sept 2019. https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-fomo/
(5) Andrew K. Przybylski, Kou Murayama, Cody R. DeHaan, Valerie Gladwell, “Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out”. Computers in Human Behavior, 2013, Volume 29, Issue 4, Pages 1841–1848. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563213000800)\
(6) Haynes, Trevor. “Dopamine, Smartphones, and You: A battle for your time”. Harvard University School of Arts and Sciences Online. 1 May 2018. Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time — Science in the News (harvard.edu)
