Should We Fear FOMO?

Imagine: It’s Friday night and you have 3 exams next week. Your friends are all going out tonight, but you have to stay home and study.

     If you feel angry, anxious, or depressed—or have the strong desire to scrap the studying and just go with out with them—you may be experiencing fear of missing out (FOMO).

FOMO is the feeling that you are being left out of something that others are benefiting from. The experience of FOMO is associated with:

• Negative emotions and mood (i.e. depression and anxiety), 
• Low satisfaction with life,
• Problematic social media use, and
• Decreased sleep, as a result of regret over being left out or increased participation in experiences that conflict with sleep schedules

     For students, the issues associated with FOMO may be translated onto the quality of our school work and overall well-being. Furthermore, social media—which offers a window into the seemingly amazing lives of everyone else—is pervasive in the lives of students. Whether it be an Instagram post, Snapchat story, or tweet, social media provides students with frequent updates about everything they could be missing out on.  

Studying FOMO in Students

       In a recent study, Milyavskaya, Saffran, Hope, and Koestner (2018) investigated how often and when students experience FOMO, whether FOMO is related to certain personality traits, and what the consequences of FOMO are. 

       To do so, the authors used surveys to measure undergraduate participants’ feelings of FOMO, the activities they were engaged in, how tired they were, and the physical symptoms they experienced in a given moment throughout a week-long period.

       While unrelated to personality traits, FOMO was found to be a common experience for students throughout the day and later in the week, with the experience of FOMO occurring most often at night and on the weekend. FOMO was also more likely to be experienced when students were working or studying. The more frequent participants experienced FOMO, the more likely they were to experience an increase in:

• Negative emotions and mood,
• Fatigue,
• Stress,
• Sleep problems, and
• Physical symptoms    

FOMO, Socializing, and Social Media Use

       After finding that FOMO is common among students, Milyavskaya et al. (2018) then conducted a second study. The authors explored the context in which FOMO occurs and the role that social media plays in experiencing this phenomenon. Specifically, Milyavskaya et al. (2018) investigated whether:

• FOMO is related to personal self-control  
• FOMO is only experienced while alone
• FOMO is experienced more when social media provides information on alternative activities participants could be doing 

Results indicated that:

• FOMO is unrelated to self-control—it can be experienced regardless of whether the activity you are doing is a requirement (has to get done) or optional (for pleasure)

• You experience less FOMO when you are doing things with other people

• FOMO does not differ when we find out about alternative activities through social media compared to when we find out through word-of-mouth.

• Social media increases the likelihood that you find out about alternative activities, therefore increasing your chances of experiencing FOMO.

• FOMO, overall, is related to more negative feelings, more distraction, and more feelings of regret in participants.

Should Students Be Afraid of Fear of Missing Out?

       Students have a lot going on in their lives: school, work, friends, volunteering, and more. FOMO is an added distraction to these in-the-moment experiences. FOMO is associated with the degradation of our emotions, mental health, and physical well-being, and interferes with the school-related activities that we need to accomplish. Since the experience of FOMO is related to these negative experiences, I would say that for students, FOMO is definitely something to be fearful of. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t fight it.

Tips to Help Fight FOMO:

• Be mindful of your “in-the-moment” feelings and try to recognize when you start to think about alternative things that others are doing that seem more fun.

• Challenge the regret you may feel when you are studying and your peers are doing more fun, alternative activities. They may be partying, but you’re going to kill it on those exams!

• Study in a group or take study breaks every once in a while to socialize with friends. Isolating yourself increases your chances of experiencing FOMO and getting distracted.

• Limit your social media usage. You can’t think about alternative activities if you have no idea they are happening. You can still use social media, but remember to be mindful of when you start to feel sad or anxious. That’s the FOMO talking, which means it is probably time to put your phone away.

Milyavskaya, M., Saffran, M., Hope, N., & Koestner, R. (2018). Fear of missing out: Prevalence, dynamics, and consequences of experiencing fomo. Motivation and Emotion, doi:10.1007/s11031-018-9683-5