Alexis Pierson, a college student who
spends hours on social media daily, said that while using social media she
always feels like she is missing out on something.
“When I see my friends posting pictures
without me I feel so left out and it makes me feel excluded in all the things
they are doing together,” she said.
The “Fear Of Missing
Out,” otherwise known as FOMO, is common among young adults. According to a
study in Computers in Human Behavior nearly
three quarters of young adults who use social media reported that they
experience FOMO after visiting online media sites.
“it’s never a good
feeling to see everyone going out and doing things without you,” Pierson said.
But, Abigael Hallworth, a freshman at
Stonehill College, said social media doesn’t make her feel bad at all, even
though she checks it often.
“If I see something negative on social
media I just delete it and unfollow people that don’t make me happy, if
something bothers me I just remove it,” she said.
Social media provides a way for people to
connect and interact with one another over multiple platforms by sharing
information.
“I check social media multiple times a
day, mostly when I wake up, around dinner time, and right before I go to bed, I
don’t want to miss out on what my friends and family are doing,” Hallworth
said.
According to a study done by Social Times, a network that covers
everything social media related, found that social media users aged between 15
and 19 years old spend an average time of three hours a day on platforms such
as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
“I think that everyone enjoys seeing how
many people ‘like’ their photo posted online, I think that’s what becomes so
addicting about social media is the satisfaction of getting comments and likes
on your post,” Hallworth said.
Through these mediated platforms, young
adults are exposed to lifestyles significantly different from their own,
creating a false perception of others’ lives and that can in turn influence
mental behavior.
Angela Paradise, an associate professor of
Communication with a specialization in mediated studies, discussed how social
media influences teenagers,
“For most teens, they are on social media
platforms for such a long portion of their day it wound be naive to think that
this excessive exposure would have no effect on their health,” she said.
“This also touches on the fear of missing
out, they [teens] see images of parties happening and people getting together,
they know what everyone is doing so they experience this sense of exclusion,”
said Paradise.
The frequent exposure to peers’ lives can
bring out feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier
and more successful lives. In addition to that, the more time spent on social
media increases the exposure to cyber-bullying which in turn leads to feelings
of depression, according to the Social
Times.
Amanda Iamele, a student at Stonehill, has
been cyber-bullied,
“I was bullied through text messaging
while in a group message with a lot of people, it made me feel completely
ganged up on and really upset, I decided to remove myself from that group of
people and I found other friends,” she said.
Considering that social media has become
such an integrated component of interaction, it has become difficult for
students and young adults to not participate in this form of socialization.
Iamele said she still uses social media,
despite her experience being bullied,
“You have to remove yourself from the
people who aren’t enhancing your life, I wasn’t going to give up using my phone
just because one person was mean to me, I still want to be able to socialize
with my friends even when I’m not with them,” she said.
Gina Julian, another student at Stonehill,
said social media can influence a person’s perception of others.
“On social media I feel that standards for
people’s bodies, and future lifestyle are set way too high, especially with
celebrities, their image and lifestyle is way beyond what is realistic, their
posts sometimes can motivate you but also negatively influence how you feel
about yourself,” she said.
Although social media can connect people
and allow people to share content, it also has a negative side.
Students like Allyson Lynch said social
media is helpful but people shouldn’t go overboard.
“It’s important to keep in touch with
friends and family over social media, but you can’t take everything they post
so seriously, just go on to keep up with the latest information not to compare
yourself to anyone else,” she said.
“Especially with this transition to
college, seeing all my friends having a great time made me feel worse about not
being as happy at school,” Lynch said.
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