A human emotional need to identify with and be accepted by members of a group is known as group belongingness. It focuses on getting acceptance, attention, and support from group members while also delivering the same attention to other members it felt like another important subject to write about in this generation of social distancing and online classes. We miss our friends, family, and coworkers. We are designed for connection, and it has been a trying period with the necessity for social separation and the reality of being absent from work since the lockdown began. This has had a significant impact on all elements of every social relationship that a person has created. Despite the fact that Maslow considered these requirements were secondary to physiological and safety needs, he believed that the desire for belonging enabled people to find camaraderie and acceptance through family, friends, and other relationships.
FOMO is the feeling that you are missing out on something fundamentally significant that others are experiencing right now. It is also the feeling that there are better things you could be doing right now.
You may see comprehensive images of your friends having fun without you, which is something that previous generations may not have been as conscious of. Social media provides a platform for bragging; it is a place where objects, activities, and even happiness itself can appear to be in competition. People are comparing their best, picture-perfect experiences, making you wonder what you’re missing out on.
L.K Perna conducted a study titled “Need to Belong, Fear of Missing Out, and Social Media Use: Predictors of Perceived Social Rejection” in the year 2020. Increases in need to belong, fear of missing out, and social media use predicted heightened negative emotional reactions as well as avoidant and complaining behavioural responses to perceived social rejection, according to the results of the hierarchical multiple regression. Retaliation behaviour in response to rejection was predicted by social media use and the fear of missing out, implying that depriving children of their social media caused them to become agitated and annoyed and that this could indicate that some of them are capable of displaying anxiety symptoms.
Another study of 458 college students found that FOMO had a direct (negative) and indirect (positive) impact on subjective well-being through its impact on social media intensity and social connectedness. The study’s findings also suggest a more complex model of FoMO and its links to social media intensity, connection, and well-being. If it leads to social media use that stimulates social connection, FoMO can be beneficial to one’s well-being.
Strong identification with a variety of groups tends to protect young people from mental illness. According to J. Wakefield of Nottingham Trent University, better mental health leads to young people joining more social organisations to which they feel they belong, creating a virtuous spiral.
Increased social media use can make us feel worse about ourselves and our lives, rather than better. In this way, knowing that our attempts to ease FOMO can actually lead to behaviours that exacerbate it is beneficial. It’s also important to be satisfied with our own lives and focus on ourselves rather than always desiring more. Although the grass may appear to be greener on the other side, this does not always imply that the grass is real. Whether it is true in reality or not, everyone strives to depict a fancier and happier life on social media sites.
The fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.
– Etty Hilesome.
– Urveez Kakalia and Aakriti Mathur.