At times, the thought of being overwhelmed by social media, entertainment, and messages (whether they’re for important reasons or otherwise) on the internet is all too real. Despite the common notion that younger people don’t check their emails, I find myself checking and responding to both my personal and university emails altogether too many times a day. Beyond even that, regardless of my literal popularity on these platforms, I find myself over-absorbed into checking the newest posts on Instagram, Reddit, or any number of other social media sites whenever I’m faced with even a millisecond of downtime or waiting in line for one thing or another.
Without this somewhat scary habit I’ve formed around using my technology constantly in mind, I find it mostly cathartic to be routinely immersed inthe communities of highly varied, highly diverse people online and to share my opinion on relatively benign matters. During high school, social media would often be my sole outlet of interaction with other friends once I would be off-campus simply for the reason that I lived a decent distance away from both my school and their homes.
The fear of missing out, or FOMO, has been a very real thing that I, and I’m sure many others, have felt and still feel on a routine basis. While I feel in control whenever making decisions, the FOMO can greatly influence if and when I interact with others both online and offline as the context of the internet often heightens emotional reactions and cyclically reinforces either a positive or negative reaction (HuffPost Article on Cyclical/Emotionally Charged Depression on Social Media).There have been just as many times where I view someone’s post of them hanging out with other friends and feel depressed about missing out as when I’ve reached out on a post to talk or organize a meet up. My fear of missing out is characterized almost entirely by an air of equal opportunity for enjoyment and missed opportunity, which is why at times this chaotic relationship can be circumvented to positive affect with a nice internet break whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed, whether this is through listening to music, playing games, or more drastically participating in retreats and similar events.
There is most certainly a middle ground between embracing the often complex, almost secondary society of the web and saving social interaction for the real world. At this point in my life, while FOMO still affects, I feel I possess a fairly discerning eye for when I should be emotionally invested in the social exploits of friends, family, and myself online and when I should just separate any emotional weight from social media posts. While the usual parental warning of “needing to get outside for some sunlight” is quite hyperbolic in this case, as people spend ridiculous amounts of time online regardless of age in America (Pew Research Stats on Social Media), it is a necessary thought to have as an extension of moderating time spent online.
Credits:
Illustration by Dan Sipple, Getty Images
Article by Ales Zivkovic, HuffPost
Statistics from Pew Research Center
Chris' Journalism Experience 