FOMO
Definition
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) refers to the apprehension that there are significant opportunities—in the form of information, events, or experiences—to which others have access but the subject does not. FOMO is often characterized by a vague feeling that other people are having a better time or doing something better, even if one cannot identify what they mean by ‘better’ in this context.
Social media and networking are prone to amplifying FOMO by continuously showing users the events and activities in which others are participating. For this reason, marketers and social media managers use FOMO to create a sense of urgency by making exclusive or limited-time offers via disappearing content.
Related terms
Also known as “ephemeral content”, disappearing content refers to posts that vanish or self-delete after a set period of time.
A follower is a user who has subscribed to another user’s account in order to receive updates on their activity, i.e., their posts and engagements with others’ posts.
