FOMO and social media

What is the first and last thing you do in the day? Some 20 years ago, the answer to this question would have been very different from what a large number of people would give today.

To begin with, no one would have answered “look at social networks on the cell phone” in 2002. But they would these days, especially young people and adolescents, many of whom do not remember a life without a smartphone.

Smartphones provide us with an almost unlimited amount of stimuli that can make real life seem a bit unfunny.

It is not uncommon to see people who they prefer to look at their social networks when other people talk to them (phenomenon known as "phubbing"), when they are at work or family meetings, at religious events, at funerals... Or even when they are driving.

If you identify with any of these behaviors that I have been naming, it is possible that you are suffering from what is known as FOMO syndrome.

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What is FOMO Syndrome?

FOMO stands for Fear Of Missing Out.

, is a syndrome that has become popular over the last few years in the specialized literature on mental health.

It is, according to Franchina et. al., of those feelings of anxiety that arise from thinking that other people may be or have enjoyed certain enriching experiences of which one is not a part.

With social media giving us unlimited access to other people's posts, many fall into the trap of constant comparison with these. And what is worse, one is comparing his "gray" and "sad" life not with the real lives of others, but with what they decide to show or project, so we do not have access to a real vision of the experiences of others.

Someone can brag on Instagram about their wonderful vacations, about how much fun they had with their friends, but they can hide that maybe it rained all the days or that the group of friends that seems so united, in reality, did not get along so well during that week on the beach, nor is it so united on the day to day. Even if they decide to show the opposite.

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The psychological impact of FOMO

FOMO has been pointed out by some authors, such as Haidt and Allen, as one of the main reasons that explain the compulsive use of social networks, and would explain, at least in part, the crisis in mental health that has been experienced especially in adolescents and young people during the years in which access to these platforms became universal, especially in countries of the first world.

This syndrome is associated, according to Pérez-Elizondo, in addition to higher levels of anxiety, with depressive symptoms, frustration, a growing feeling of loneliness and a higher amount of stress.

The problem is aggravated by the fact that who suffers from it enters a kind of vicious circleYou feel great emotional discomfort that other people may be enjoying certain activities or experiences that you are not a part of. This generates that, in an obsessive way, they are aware of their networks, to control if this happens or not, which takes away their time and motivation. necessary to live their own experiences, leaving the smartphone aside and focusing on carrying out more satisfying activities in the long run. term.

Varchetta et. to the. they think that it is very possible that FOMO is the main motivation for the uncontrolled use of social networks. Although, according to Franchina and her colleagues, it would be more associated with platforms where users share their daily lives through photos. or videos (such as Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat) and not so much to others that are more private and less dependent on images, such as Twitter.

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To do?

According to psychologist and researcher Jeanne Twenge, the use of screens (and even more so of social networks) is associated with poorer health mental, the opposite of what happens with carrying out outdoor activities or when interacting more recurrently with people of flesh and bone. Twenge recommends to parents be aware of the negative effects that unlimited access to social networks can have.

A study by Hunt et. to the. in 2018, has shown that by reducing or eliminating the number of hours a day that the participants spent on networks, FOMO symptoms decreased considerably and improvements in general mental health could also be perceived. These results coincide with the previously mentioned hypotheses about the effects of uncontrolled use of networks.

In this sense, an effective psychological treatment model for problematic use of social networks can be the one developed by Echeburúa and de Corral, which consists of two parts: a first phase of shock, where the subject completely refrains from using the networks for about three weeks, in order to decondition the behavior, and then move on to an exposure phase gradual where, progressively, the individual generates new habits of using the networks in a controlled manner.

Much remains to be discovered to know the extent of the effects of networks on our mental health. As psychologists, it is important to help raise awareness in society about the consequences of certain behaviors, which we can identify as neutral or benign, but which may have a side negative.