The Fear of Missing Out Phenomenon on Belongingness in Secondary Students

The popularity of social media use by teens has come into question with the 2013 discovery of a phenomenon called the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). FOMO is defined as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent” (Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013). According to the literature, FOMO can impact learning, health, and safety. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how FOMO on social media impacts students of color at one independent secondary school in Northern California. The researcher conducted personal interviews with six students of color in grades seven and eight. Each participant answered nine questions on belongingness and FOMO with regards to their social interactions and social media use. The findings found students had surprising grassroots systems of support largely disconnected from social media, and that when technology was involved it was more often through real time gameplay as compared to social networking sites. This has important implications for adults working with adolescents to aid them in navigating FOMO and building healthy connections