Joy Of Missing Out

Yesterday evening, as almost everybody in my Facebook newsfeed seemed to be preparing to head out, a friend of mine wrote, half-jokingly, that she’s happy that the childish fear of missing out has turned into fear of going out. She wrote that she hopes that the next stage of this transformation will not have the word “fear” in it anymore.

The whole thing reminded me of Note to Self’s episode about the fear of missing out, or FOMO. Caterina Fake is the woman who popularized the term FOMO in 2011, and Anil Dash coined the term JOMO, as in joy of missing out, after missing a Prince concert – he’s not just a fan: “I’m a scholar of his work,” he says – because his wife went into labour.

In this episode, the two of them talk with the host about how FOMO came into being, about whether the creators of software should take into consideration ethical issues when building new technology, and a little bit about how it was back in the day without internet and the pressure of showing that you’re social and happy.

To all of you who already feel pressure because spring is coming, the city is starting to buzz again, and your friends are baffled that you don’t want to leave the house: maybe this podcast will appease your anxiety.