FOMOs and JOMOs of Social Media!
FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out - The Urban Dictionary describes it as "State of mental or emotional strain caused by the fear of missing out, a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity or satisfying event".
Comparison- You have a Whtsapp account, Facebook account, Twitter, Instagram etc..etc.. Each morning you get up and the first thing you do religiously is, see what your social media friends have to say, display, share....If its Whtsapp, you check out the DPs of friends and you think ' wow! they look super hot, they are happy, they are enjoying'. Facebook wall throws at you some lovely pictures and descriptions of your friends enjoying some party, vacations. Insta shares stories about how cool other people are and how cheerful and contented their life is! Twitter handles all the aggression of people and you feel how do these people know everything thats happening in an around your country, state, city.....Now your day has already started with comparison. People around you are either happy, cool, sexy, beautiful, eating out, relaxing on a beach...and you?
You have 100 things on your mind - your ToDo List - starting with taking bath to cooking breakfast, getting kids ready for school, tiffins, lunch, your office work, cleaning, paying bills, getting things repaired, refilling car's fuel tank, doctor's appointments, so on and so forth.....
Now you get the picture? When you are loaded, burdened, with so much 'to do', other people are chilling, here the FOMO creeps in. Am I missing out those opportunities of having fun? Did I just miss that exotic holiday? Did I miss out buying that dress 'She' was wearing?... STOP..STOP there! FOMOs weapon is comparison!
Unwind, my friend!...... When we answer a FOMO call with a YES, when we mean NO, we abandon our path, our adventure, that hold meaning for us and instead try to prove that we aint missing out what everybody else is doing! Just following somebody's path blindly to look cool on social circuit, by doing this we are missing out on our own lives! When we say 'yes' under the pressure of FOMO, we say 'no' to something else - that can be a big dream of ours or a short nap, may be - but dont we need both?
This 'Must-have highly active social life' - thing is really dangerous and unhealthy. You are obsessed with taking pictures and uploading, and you miss the fun on the spot. You are obsessed with uploading your day-to-day life events so much that if in case - on a day - nothing exciting happens - you are depressed - What do I upload?, What will people say", My life is so boring!, no likes, no subscribers, no followers.....
But have you counted your real life friends? Friends who are by your side at difficult times. Have you ever thought of living your life to its fullest? Not just imitating someone else, being what you aint.
What I appreciate is this term - JOMO - Joy Of Missing Out! The feeling of content with staying in and disconnecting as a form of self-care. You skip out something purposely to get that emotional satisfaction. I like the Joy of missing out and the joy it brings to my life!
Just to be in Page3 circle of your friends and have pics of you dancing, having gala time, clicking a dozen pics and uploading to get Likes from people who really dont matter. Is this all worth? ......
Or would you instead have a warm party, chit-chat, drink, eat, talk, discuss, dance and enjoy without public display of it. Keeping aside your mobiles or any other electronic devices causing disturbance in your "US" time? Enjoyin that very moment..then and there!
Think about it. There is also a FOMO on missing out to connect with your friends/family in the real world. This connection would be much valuable than that of some media where its all virtual and fake.
What others are doing isnt that important to you than what you are doing with your life! Keep progressing at your pace - Remember, if the Tortoise would have just watched what the Hare was doing all the time, he would have never won the race!
JUI.
Comparison- You have a Whtsapp account, Facebook account, Twitter, Instagram etc..etc.. Each morning you get up and the first thing you do religiously is, see what your social media friends have to say, display, share....If its Whtsapp, you check out the DPs of friends and you think ' wow! they look super hot, they are happy, they are enjoying'. Facebook wall throws at you some lovely pictures and descriptions of your friends enjoying some party, vacations. Insta shares stories about how cool other people are and how cheerful and contented their life is! Twitter handles all the aggression of people and you feel how do these people know everything thats happening in an around your country, state, city.....Now your day has already started with comparison. People around you are either happy, cool, sexy, beautiful, eating out, relaxing on a beach...and you?
You have 100 things on your mind - your ToDo List - starting with taking bath to cooking breakfast, getting kids ready for school, tiffins, lunch, your office work, cleaning, paying bills, getting things repaired, refilling car's fuel tank, doctor's appointments, so on and so forth.....
Now you get the picture? When you are loaded, burdened, with so much 'to do', other people are chilling, here the FOMO creeps in. Am I missing out those opportunities of having fun? Did I just miss that exotic holiday? Did I miss out buying that dress 'She' was wearing?... STOP..STOP there! FOMOs weapon is comparison!
Unwind, my friend!...... When we answer a FOMO call with a YES, when we mean NO, we abandon our path, our adventure, that hold meaning for us and instead try to prove that we aint missing out what everybody else is doing! Just following somebody's path blindly to look cool on social circuit, by doing this we are missing out on our own lives! When we say 'yes' under the pressure of FOMO, we say 'no' to something else - that can be a big dream of ours or a short nap, may be - but dont we need both?
This 'Must-have highly active social life' - thing is really dangerous and unhealthy. You are obsessed with taking pictures and uploading, and you miss the fun on the spot. You are obsessed with uploading your day-to-day life events so much that if in case - on a day - nothing exciting happens - you are depressed - What do I upload?, What will people say", My life is so boring!, no likes, no subscribers, no followers.....
But have you counted your real life friends? Friends who are by your side at difficult times. Have you ever thought of living your life to its fullest? Not just imitating someone else, being what you aint.
What I appreciate is this term - JOMO - Joy Of Missing Out! The feeling of content with staying in and disconnecting as a form of self-care. You skip out something purposely to get that emotional satisfaction. I like the Joy of missing out and the joy it brings to my life!
Just to be in Page3 circle of your friends and have pics of you dancing, having gala time, clicking a dozen pics and uploading to get Likes from people who really dont matter. Is this all worth? ......
Or would you instead have a warm party, chit-chat, drink, eat, talk, discuss, dance and enjoy without public display of it. Keeping aside your mobiles or any other electronic devices causing disturbance in your "US" time? Enjoyin that very moment..then and there!
Think about it. There is also a FOMO on missing out to connect with your friends/family in the real world. This connection would be much valuable than that of some media where its all virtual and fake.
What others are doing isnt that important to you than what you are doing with your life! Keep progressing at your pace - Remember, if the Tortoise would have just watched what the Hare was doing all the time, he would have never won the race!
JUI.
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ReplyDeleteThat’s true..! I am indeed a happier person the days I am away from social media.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteVery true social media is to lot of extent decides on how we live our day to day life...Social pressure was always there but now has exemplified ....it has become more addiction and these social pressures have led to depression, anxiety kind of illnesses ..just to keep up with speed of life
ReplyDeleteYes that's true!
DeleteGood one Jui ... the more one goes deep into social media more they loose peace of mind.
ReplyDeleteRight Anamika! Thankyou!
DeleteTotal agree Jui... The best writeup uptill now...
ReplyDeleteOh is it...thanks Dipti!!
DeleteJui its very true.
ReplyDeleteBut as per me, every coin has 2 sides & if we look at its positive one,its quite likely that social media, we may find useful to some extent, though virtual. No need to compare our lives with others'& make us unhappy.
Yes u r right! Thankyou for commenting....please write ur name next time u comment.
Delete