For as long as we have used the internet to , it has influenced how we think, feel and behave.
Author
Kim M Caudwell
Senior Lecturer – Psychology | Chair, Researchers in Behavioural Addictions, Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD), Charles Darwin University
During the COVID pandemic, many of us were through restrictions, lockdowns and mandates. Understandably, many of us tried to .
Now, as pandemic restrictions have lifted, some of the ways we use the internet have become concerning. Part of what drives problematic internet use may be something most of us are familiar with – the fear of missing out, or FOMO.
In , my colleagues and I investigated the role FOMO plays in two kinds of internet use: problematic social media use and “doomscrolling”.
What are FOMO, problematic social media use and doomscrolling?
FOMO is the fear some of us experience when we get a sense of “missing out” on things happening in our social scene. Psychology researchers have been studying FOMO for , and it has consistently been linked to , and .
Social media use becomes a problem for people when they have difficulty controlling urges to use it, try to cut back but fail, and find using it is having a negative effect on things like work, study and relationships.
Doomscrolling is characterised by a need to constantly look at and . Doomscrollers may constantly refresh their news feeds or stay up late to read bad news.
While problematic social media use has been around for a while, doomscrolling seems to be a more recent phenomenon. Researchers first .
What we tried to find out
In our study, we wanted to test the idea that FOMO was a cause of problematic social media use and doomscrolling. We tried a novel approach to see if we could find out just how FOMO leads individuals to engage in problematic internet use behaviours.
The key factor, we thought, was – our ability to deal with our emotions. We know some people tend to be good at this, while others find it difficult. In fact, greater difficulties with emotion regulation was linked to experiencing .
However, an idea that has been gaining attention recently is . This means looking to others to help us regulate our emotions.
Interpersonal emotion regulation can be helpful (such as “” that teachers may try to foster with students) or unhelpful (such as the “” that occurs when friends repeatedly rehash their problems together).
In our analyses, we sought to uncover how both intrapersonal emotion regulation (ability to self-manage our own emotional states) and interpersonal emotion regulation (relying on others to help manage our emotions) accounted for the link between FOMO and problematic social media use, and FOMO and doomscrolling, respectively.
What we found – and what it might mean for the future of internet use
Our findings indicated that people who report stronger FOMO engage in problematic social media use because of difficulty regulating their emotions (intrapersonally), and they look to others for help (interpersonally).
Similarly, people who report stronger FOMO are drawn to doomscrolling because of difficulty regulating their emotions intrapersonally (within themselves). However, we found no link between FOMO and doomscrolling through interpersonal emotion regulation.
We suspect this difference may be due to doomscrolling being more of a solitary activity, occurring outside the denser social context that lends itself to interpersonal regulation. For instance, there are probably fewer people with whom to share your emotions while staying up trawling through bad news.
While links between FOMO and doomscrolling have been observed before, our study is among the first to try and account for this theoretically.
We suspect the link between FOMO and doomscrolling may be more about having more of an online presence while things are happening. This would account for intrapersonal emotion regulation failing to help manage our reactions to “bad news” stories as they unfold, leading to doomscrolling.
Problematic social media use, on the other hand, involves a more complex interpersonal context. If someone is feeling the fear of being “left out” and has difficulty managing that feeling, they may be drawn to social media platforms in part to try and elicit help from others in their network.
Getting the balance right
Our findings suggest the current discussions around , while controversial, are important. We need to balance our need for social connection – which is happening increasingly online – with the associated with problematic internet use behaviours.
It is important to also consider the nature of social media platforms and how they have changed over time. For example, adolescent social media use patterns on different platforms a range of mental health and socialisation outcomes.
Public health policy experts and legislators have quite the challenge ahead of them here. Recent work has shown how loneliness a person’s overall risk of death.
We have long known, too, that social connectedness is . Last year, the World Health Organization established a to promote the importance of socialisation to our lives.
The recent controversy in the United States around the ownership of TikTok illustrates how central social media platforms are to our lives and ways of interacting with one another. We need to to use them as they please, but understand that governments carry the responsibility of and safeguarding their privacy.
If you feel concerned about problematic social media use or doomscrolling, you can speak to a healthcare or mental health professional. You can also call on 13 11 14, or (13 92 76) to yarn with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander crisis supporters.
Kim M Caudwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
