FOMO Cats
Do you suffer from FOMO? Fear Of Missing Out is currently linked to social media. Apparently some people just can’t stay away from Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for fear that they are missing out on something all their friends are doing. Another definition holds that modern parents are pushing their kids to do too much too soon because of displaced FOMO; they don’t want their kids to be left behind.
I first heard the term last year when my sisters kidded me about my having FOMO. Well, why not? I live on the East Coast and my sisters and brother live on the West Coast. When I call and can’t reach one, I call another. Sometimes none of them answers and FOMO sets in. I imagine they are all having a fabulous sib-bonding time together without me. Worse yet, sometimes I’m right.
Here’s a scene from Woody Allen’s film, Stardust Memories that illustrates a variation of my brand of FOMO. It can come on at almost any gathering; it is the sense that everyone else is having a more interesting conversation than I am. Sometimes the FOMO is so uncomfortable that I circulate, checking on the various chats. The usual result is that the other conversations aren’t as riveting as I imagined. This feeling persists despite all evidence to the contrary.
Want to know if you’re a FOMO sufferer? Take this simple test from PsychCentral.com. You may find out that you don’t have FOMO. At worst, you’re a FOMO sufferer, which means you aren’t left out of a trendy malady.
