Feeling overwhelmed by social media?
Bad news. Everyone has a better life than you. You already know this, because you access Facebook.
But you can’t help yourself, because you suffer from FoMO. Fear Of Missing Out. Bobby Swar, a researcher friend, has studied this problem.
Because of social media, we know about more stuff we are missing out on. And we hate to miss out.
Social media “broadcasts more options than can be pursued” according to another study (Przybylski, et al, 2013). The researchers call it “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.”
We don’t all feel FoMO equally. The study shows that some people at some times are affected more. People experience more FoMO:
- when they have “lower levels of general mood and overall life satisfaction”
- if they low feel in “competence, autonomy, and relatedness”
So when I feel sad, I am more likely to perceive that all of my friends own condos in Hawaii, continually receive job promotions, have more accomplished children, are thinner and more fit.
Today’s advice: let it go. Don’t create myths in your mind about your friends. Live a real life, here and now. Be in the present.
::: Be fierce. Be kind. Be knowledge-hungry. :::
School of Brock 