Author Patrick J. McGinnis coined the term FOMO in a 2004 Harvard Business School Magazine article.HabsburgThe title of the article is"McInnis's Two Kinds of FO: Social Theory at Harvard Business School",It also mentions another related condition, fear of better alternatives (FOBO), and their role in school social life. The origins of FOMO can also be traced back to the scholar Joseph Reagle’s 2004 article onHabsburgThe term has now become a hashtag on social media and has been mentioned in hundreds of news articles, from online sources such as Salon.com toThe New York TimesPrinting newspapers.
The idea that you might miss out on great things is not new in our time. However, while the idea has likely been around for centuries (you can see evidence of FOMO in ancient texts), it’s only in recent decades that it’s been studied, starting with a 1996 research paper by marketing strategist Dr. Dan Herman, who coined the term “fear of missing out.”
However, since the advent of social media, FOMO has become more pronounced and more researched. Social media has accelerated the FOMO phenomenon in many ways.
Social media creates an environment where you compare your daily life to the highlights of other people’s lives.
As a result, your sense of "normal" can become distorted and you may seem to be doing worse than your peers. You may see detailed photos of friends having fun without you, something that past generations may not have been as aware of.
Social media has created a platform for showing off; a place where things, events, and even happiness itself sometimes seem to be in competition with one another. People are comparing their best, perfect experiences, and it can make you wonder what you’re missing.
FOMO Extended Terms
Inspired by FOMO, several other related executive list concepts have emerged. Some of them are highly relevant to the experience of FOMO, while others take a slightly different approach.