Survey highlights growing prevalence of FOMO amongst social media users
Social media trends are increasingly being driven in their social media habits FOMO, the fear of missing out, according to a new study by MyLife.com.
The social network quizzed more than 2,000 US adults on their addiction to smartphones, finding that just over half (56 per cent) are afraid of missing out on key events, news and status updates.
At the extreme end this included a quarter of people who would rather quit smoking or another addiction than their social media habit and a similar number who reach straight for their Twitter or Facebook account upon waking.
Commenting on the FOMO mindset Dr Andrew Przybylski, lecturer in psychology at the University of Essex, told the Metro: “The fear of missing out is defined as a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.
“FOMO is characterised by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing.Our research indicates it can be thought of as a psychological state that arises from deprivation of basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. It also accounts for a significant amount of motivation for social media engagement.”