youth’s fear of missing out may be fuelling feelings of social disconnection during covid-19

most of us have spent more time on screens since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. this increase in screen time may be especially pronounced among teens because of school closures, the cancellation of extracurricular activities and restrictions on physical social interactions. this has led  both parents and resesarchers to worry that the pandemic is making young people addicted to their phones  and that this  increased screen time is contributing to feelings of social disconnection and isolation .

in a study produced  by our research team at the university of british columbia , we found compelling evidence that young people don’t see their screen time as an important factor contributing to their feelings of social disconnection.

feeling socially connected during covid-19

we found that most youth (64 per cent) reported feeling socially connected to others in the pandemic. this is important since extensive research has shown  that individuals who are satisfied in their connections to others typically have better physical and mental health, and tend to live longer . a recent study by psychology researcher  natasha magson and colleagues  found that feeling socially connected was central to teens’ well-being during the pandemic.

technology helping to maintain relationships

despite most youth reporting feeling socially connected to others, just under a third (28 per cent) of respondents described feeling socially disconnected from others in the time of covid-19. feeling socially disconnected puts youth  at risk for life difficulties  like depression and loneliness.

fear of missing out during covid-19

we also found that  fear of missing out  played a unique and important role in contributing to young people’s feelings of social disconnection.

worries about missing out on things others have or do have been around for a long time, as alluded to in the expression “ keeping up with the joneses .” psychology researchers in recent decades have examined fear of missing out particularly in connection with social media.

for example, mayank gupta and aditya sharma, researchers in psychiatry and neuroscience, respectively, define fear of missing out as a “phenomenon observed on social networking sites,” that includes two processes of a “ perception of missing out, followed up with a compulsive behaviour to maintain these social connections .”

while people may have been afraid of missing out long before social media,  social media now provides a way for us to check up on  what other people are doing and be hyper-aware of the things we may be missing out on.

some psychologists have  conceptualized fear of missing out  on a scale, such that people can either assess themselves to be low or high in terms of this fear.

research has shown  fear of missing out drives social media use  as a way of checking in on other people, and trying to relieve some of the anxiety of those with more fear experience about potentially missing out on things or being socially excluded.

combatting fomo in the pandemic