FOMO (fear of missing out)

Overview

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a psychological phenomenon referring to the anxiety and restlessness of thinking "maybe I'm the only one being left behind" or "maybe other people are having more fun than me." It's a feeling that existed before social media spread, but because social media timelines make other people's fulfilling daily lives visible, FOMO has become easier to amplify.

The vicious cycle of social media and FOMO

Social media timelines are lined with positive posts: friends' travel photos, scenes from parties, announcements of success at work. People tend to compare their own everyday lives with other people's highlights, and easily fall into the feeling that "everyone looks like they're having fun, and I'm the only one doing nothing."

A vicious cycle easily sets in: you check social media even more to ease this anxiety, and seeing other people's posts makes you even more anxious. The habit of checking your smartphone every time a notification arrives is also sometimes explained in connection with FOMO, the feeling that "I might be missing something."

Question boxes and FOMO

A question box can either cause FOMO or ease it. On the causing side, there's the phenomenon of seeing a flood of questions arriving in other owners' question boxes and panicking that "none are coming to mine." You see a popular owner sharing fun Q&As and end up comparing yourself: "I want to be like that."

On the easing side, the experience of connecting directly with followers through a question box gives you a real sense that "someone needs me too." Receiving questions is itself a sign that you're socially connected, and it can help ease feelings of isolation.

How to deal with FOMO

One way to deal with FOMO is to practice JOMO (Joy of Missing Out). You don't need to take part in everything; focus only on what you truly enjoy. Deliberately make time when you don't look at social media and focus on your own life.

When running a question box, too, it's important to stop comparing yourself with other owners. The number of questions, the number of followers, and engagement figures vary widely depending on an account's size and genre. Enjoying your relationship with your own followers at your own pace is the secret to keeping a question box going for a long time. An attitude of valuing each exchange of question and answer, rather than chasing numbers, tends to make your question box more appealing in the end.