Fear of (Never) Missing Out

 

 

• The average person in UK now spend more time on their laptop and phone than sleeping

• Four in ten smartphone users will check their phone if it wakes them up

• Only one in three pupils at Haggerston School managed to go a full week without notifications

• Seven in ten Australian teenagers have sleeping issues due to FOMO

 

 

“The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry”

- Brooks Hatlen, Shawshank Redemption

 

Those were the observant words of old convict Brooks Hatlen in his letter back to the other inmates as he is released on parole after five long decades behind bars in Shawshank prison. The beautifully written character, portrayed by late James Whitmore, fails to cope with the pace of modern society and commits suicide due to fear and depression. Perhaps director Frank Darabont foreshadowed the technological redemption the world was heading into when he wrote the all-time IMDb-leading film back in 1994.

 

Two rather fast decades later, the world figured it was time to put an official term to our fast developing technological dependency and then abbreviate it, of course. The acronym FOMO was first introduced in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014, where it’s defined as “Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website”. Last week, Daily Mail could reveal how the average person in UK now spends more time on their phone and laptop than sleeping and how four in ten people admitted they would check their phone if it woke them up, even if it’s in the middle of the night.

 

The numbers are worrying but it’s the fact that the youngest generation seems to be hit hardest that might be the biggest reason for concern. Woolcock Institute of Medical Research issued a report showing as many as seven out of ten Australian teenagers are experiencing trouble sleeping due to FOMO-driven late night texting, browsing and online gaming. Furthermore, in a recent project by BBC, only three out of nine kids at Haggerston School managed to go a full week without checking their Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram notifications. Every trend will eventually produce a counter-trend and we already starting to see the first reactions that suggest FOMO might soon be overtaken by FONMO. Is it already time we start fearing never being able to miss out instead?

 

“I think these things are toxic – especially for kids.”

- Louis C.K. on mobile phones

 

We are indeed the test dummy generation for technology and we have all noticed the developing trends around us. Social situations turned into cell phone parties, classrooms where teachers preach to a sea of ignorant faces lit up by the screens in front of them. People seem to instinctively reach for their phones as soon as a few consecutive seconds don’t have an agenda, as the new technology becomes a portal into places we’d rather be right now.

This is exactly where the dilemma lies. The whole concept of social media is to connect more and easier with your friends but what we are seeing instead is people constantly disconnecting from actual conversations to communicate with people elsewhere or to stay up to the minute on the latest happenings.

 

Ever since FOMO became a known expression it has been widely debated, ironically for the most part on the Internet. However, certain celebrities have also issued their opinions on the matter. Comedian Louis C.K. is one of the strongest voices against the overuse of mobile phones, particularly among the younger generation. “It’s a terrible thing. I really think these things are toxic,” he said. “Especially for kids. They don’t look at people when they talk to them and they don’t build the empathy.”

 

Several other campaigns have been launched in attempts to get people to put down their phones. Numerous inspirational videos on YouTube send a clear message trying to convince people to not overlook life happening right in front of their eyes. A London street photographer by the name of Babycakes Romero published a photo series simply named “Death of Conversation,” in which all the subjects stared down on their screens, ignoring each other. 

 

“I started to photograph people in company on their phones as there was a certain symmetry to them and it appealed on a visual level, but as I continued I noticed an inherent sadness to the proceedings,” he said about his photo essay, which suddenly went viral with millions of views. “We can all now pretend we are doing something important on our devices rather than think of something to say. This is killing conversation and I believe it is increasing social pain.”

 

So we may have collectively realised and accepted we have a problem, and the ideas and creations to help control it are not lacking. Apps have been invented, such as Rescue Time, which will track all your Internet browsing and provide feedback on where you spend/waste most time. Another app, Stay Focused, allows you to limit the time you allow yourself to spend on certain websites each day.

 

“Three quarters of people in the UK are not getting a good night’s sleep”

- Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, sleep and energy coach

 

A new website called ratemyfomo.com even lets you analyse your own fear of missing out, by answering a quiz about your personal habits. It uses the same questions as research company JWTIntelligence, which asked people about their social media use throughout the different stages of the day. Their study showed roughly 40 per cent of people aged 13-67 said social media had increased their FOMO.

 

So what can you do, to maintain a healthy balance between real life and social media and still not feel like you are missing out on anything? Bedtime is the crucial point of the day, as sleep is what people sacrifice first. Sleep and energy expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan recommends making the bedroom a tech-free zone and switching off mobile devices and email accounts 90 minutes before going to sleep. She said: “Three quarters of people in the UK are not getting a good night’s sleep,” and explained browsing before bed overloads the working memory of the brain, resulting in noisy, thought-filled sleep. Her recommended activities to help ease this stress and promote sleepiness were essential oil baths and reading fiction.