Today, I will be introducing the slang JOMO (joy of missing out), but let us first go and do a biopsy on its paternal acronym FOMO (fear of missing out).
Assuming none of you have been living under a digital rock, you must have somewhat heard of all the skeletons in that closet. In fact, it became so much of a fad that oxford dictionary adopted it in the year 2014.
The term contrary to popular belief of being coined by some top-tier ad agency was actually coined by Dr Dan Herman, a marketing researcher. It was first and foremost used by a Harvard MBA named Patrick J. Ginnis, author of the book 10% entrepreneur as a way of defining workaholic managers who took on too much work out of the fear of missing out on a positive trend.
I believe that there couldn’t have been a better misinterpretation than when it was taken into everyday vernacular in relation to social experiences and the act of missing out on them.
FOMO is used to portray the anxiety characterized by a desire to stay connected with others at all times which leads to mental anguish due to us theoretically missing out on a potential social activity. I know, I know, took me a while to wrap my head around what I just wrote as well.
Let us discuss a few shades of FOMO that have come to light since the notoriety of FOMO like-
FOMOMO: Fear of the mystery of missing out,
This extreme case of FOMO that occurs only when your phone is broken or out of battery. It means you're afraid of missing out but not because of what you see on social media, it's what you don't see which is causing you angst. Deprived of seeing your friends' photos and check-ins, you automatically assume that everyone on your Instagram feed is having a jolly good time without you.
MOMO: Mystery of missing out
This is the paranoia that arises when your friends don't post anything on social media at all instead you're left with no option but to scroll obsessively through your Instagram feed and stories searching for clues. Ever considered that maybe the others are practically doing the exact same thing and hence all of us are just wasting time doing the same thing which is utterly pointless.
BROMO: When your 'bros' protect you from missing out
An act of solidarity from your friends. If they've been out the night before, they'll deliberately refrain from posting photos of the fun they were having, out of the fear of making you feel left out. (I don’t think my friends have that high of an E.Q but I’ll let it pass)
FOJI: Fear of joining in
The polar opposite to MOMO; if you suffer from FOJI, you're far less likely to keep your friends updated on Facebook and Instagram because you're not quite sure what to post and you're worried that nobody will like or comment on your photos. (My fellow FOJI personalities out of the hundreds of people if not thousands that your friends are following do you think they will specifically stop by your account to ostracize it. If so, please check your narcissistic superiority complex at the door and if it’s the likes and comments you are bothered about then I believe the only way to increase likes would be to posting more so that more people start following you and hence more likes. P.S, commenting can be turned off and this is just one possible explanation not me being judgmental.)
Abhiraj
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