How FOMO influences your decision making ability

The Fear of Missing Out, aka FOMO influences your decision-making ability and is the leading cause of young people making poor decisions online. Increasing their participation in some silly trend on social media. People join web reel creations to gain notoriety or to feel like they are a part of something. Even if that something is not tangible. Nor can it attribute positively to their lives. Sorry-not-sorry to be the advocate for discernment, but FOMO seems to remove all sense and sensibility from its “victims”.

It shoves good judgement right off the brain-cliff. Thus, leading to people making poor decisions that they’re likely to regret at some point in their lives. Granted, some challenges online are fun and uplifting – where people dance or mime songs in reels. On the other end is the ridiculous hazardous skits that shout in red, DANGER.

Don’t. Do. It.

Fear is the first red flag

The fact that FOMO starts with “fear” has red flags sticking out each letter. Any decision made out of fear will likely cost you more than you realise now. Think about it. Fear is an emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. Therefore, at the root of FOMO is anxiety, stress and discomfort simply because you have not done something other people have done.

Furthermore, the trend surge that hits social media platforms has us ready for instant participation, and we forget to think before we act. Or even worse, we’ll think about how to be part of a trend regardless of how ridiculous it may be.

Challenge or a test of gullibility?

Are the stunts pulled online really challenges, or are they tests to see your willingness to follow a trend blindly? How thoroughly does one have to think before joining the tide pod or the cinnamon challenge? Perhaps we must sit back and use common sense about what is worth our time.

Anything that makes you mindlessly risk your life is not worth engaging in. It may not seem like the “coolest” thing to do but ask some sound-minded people in your life whether something is worth participating in before doing it. The people who truly care for your well-being will tell you the truth.

A sense of belonging

Perhaps joining these challenges gives people a sense of belonging to a larger community than their immediate one. Maybe you want to be seen abroad as a member of the “International Community”, but the truth remains that likes and comments are not tangible evidence of your sense of belonging.

The people you spend most of your time, real-time as in live time – with are your community. Sometimes our feeling of being alone is fed by our deliberate choice to isolate and scroll endlessly. In addition, if you would rather create stunts for an “international audience” than spend time with people present in your life, you need to realize that it is another form of isolation.

If you feel alone and overwhelmed despite having family or friends, perhaps talking to a Counsellor may help. Try our free Counselling service to speak to a professional and to get a clearer perspective of yourself/ your life.

God made us to be a part of a real tangible community. Online communities have their good bits, but they shouldn’t have such a strong ability to influence nonsensical actions. We need to draw our attention away from the screens, look up and truly see the beauty of those around us. They may not be perfect, but at least their likes and comments are real, but even better, we are in their company and truly feel that we belong.