FOMO vs. JOMO

Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO, is "a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent". This social anxiety is characterized by "a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing". FOMO is also defined as a fear of regret, which may lead to a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, a profitable investment, or other satisfying events. In other words, FOMO perpetuates the fear of having made the wrong decision on how to spend time since "you can imagine how things could be different". – Wikipedia.

One of the most important elements of online communication is self-presentation: we only want to show our best side. We post photos of perfectly prepared dishes, perfect holidays, perfect parties, perfect scores, perfect or rare or trendy achievement, …… you name it. And this starts a vicious circle: when we feel bored or alone, we look at our smartphone. But what we are looking for? We basically want to see that others have seen us – a ‘like’, a ‘share’, a ‘retweet’ is proof of that. But when looking at social media we also see the apparently perfect lives of our friends – which we are not part of – and how those lives are being ‘shared’ and ‘liked’. Scientists call the ‘uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that we are missing out – that our peers are doing or in possession of more or something better that we are’ – ‘Fear of Missing Out’, or FOMO. A team of psychologists at the University of Essex came up with this name.

People under the age of 35 suffer more from this, teenagers more than adults, unhappy more than happy people. To clarify; it’s not a question of REALLY missing out on something: it’s about the FEELING of having missed out on something. We’ve all been there: when we’re feeling down, bored or stressed out, we check our smartphone. But all this does is make us feel even worse. Smartphones act like accelerator when it comes to FOMO.    

Can we do anything to minimize FOMO feeling? How about JOMO or 'Joy of Missing Out’?

JOMO simply refers to the gratifying feeling you get when you break away from the (real or virtual) activities of your social group and spend time doing exactly what you most want to do. JOMO is of course achieved in many different ways depending on personalities and the lives we lead, but it typically consists of shunning parties, bars, restaurants or several hours on Facebook in favor of things like a good book, a walk, bathing the kids, or lounging on the sofa with a movie and bowl of popcorn. For many people, true JOMO is only possible when they take a brief digital detox, shutting themselves off from social media and any virtual connection to the world around them so that they're not bombarded with unsettling thoughts about what other people are doing or expecting of them.

JOMO is often described as a backlash against the hyper-connected society we live in, where technology pushes both social and professional activity constantly in our faces, so that it's virtually impossible to be blissfully unaware of what everyone else is doing. This often forces us into spending time in ways which we wouldn't necessarily have chosen. JOMO then, is about stepping off the social bandwagon and reconnecting with what really makes us happy.

Do you think JOMO can be a sweet play on FOMO?