Social Media Addiction: Signs of Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)

Social media has gone from being a part of our life to being an elaborate canvas of all our lives. Our mind has become small place to record thoughts and memories so we rely on social media to do this for us through status messages, photo uploads and check-ins. But it’s not just recording our life, it’s also about keeping a check on everyone else’s lives too.

We are so connected and addicted to social media that we can’t live without it anymore. There’s always a slight anxiety that disconnecting yourself for a bit will cause you to miss out an opportunity for social interaction or an experience that you could have been a part of. Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a form of this social anxiety that is widely prevalent today and you could be suffering from it too! Read on to find out the signs of FOMO.

You check your Facebook and Twitter news feeds every 5 minutes

People are constantly updating their status messages and photos, but if you find yourself striving to keep up with all these updates, then you may be venturing into FOMO territory.

You take pictures of your food first and then you eat

Whether you’re cooking your own meal or dining in a restaurant, you can’t begin your meal before you’ve taken pictures of your meal and uploaded them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

You have a nervous breakdown if you forget your phone at home

Do you have a nervous breakdown when you realize you’ve forgotten your mobile phone at home? This a sign of FOMO combined with nomophobia (fear of being without your phone).

You need to be updated about your friends so that you can compete with them

FOMO persists when you look at your friends updates and feel the need to experience the same things as them. Whether it is about who visits the most number of restaurants in town or who takes the better selfies, most of your updates are in sync with your friends and are very competitive.

You want to participate in every activity and event

You have plans for the weekend but when something new comes up you can’t just ignore it and you end up committing yourself for both the plans. You believe in YOLO (you only live once), and that further triggers this fear of missing out on things.

Source: healthmeup.com

Image Credit: news.byu.edu