Exploring subjective sociocultural understandings of “fear of missing out” (FoMO) and the unsettled self in a time of deep mediatization

Abstract

The public sphere has become increasingly digitalized and transformed by the intermeshing of social media platforms and mobile devices cultivating reimagined selves. The negative impact of living in a deeply mediatized world has fostered a phenomenon both in the public mind and academic discourse known as “fear of missing out” or by its acronym FoMO. Historically, and consistent with the “media effects” tradition, hundreds of studies have highlighted the psychological and behavioral dimensions of this construct, noting its negative effects. In opposition to the “effects” paradigmatic studies, we utilize social constructionist mediatization theory and Q methodology as frameworks for audience research that foreground subjectivity and understandings concerning the mediations of FoMO as a sociocultural construct. A total of 37 millennials and post-millennials Q sorted 55 statements resulting in three selfhood factors. Both dominant and counter “hegemonic” accounts were uncovered in the factors, respectively, identified as envy/exclusion, grounded vigilance, and managed vulnerability.