FOMO No More

How you can fight FOMO, lower loneliness, and decrease depression

What if there was a solution to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)? What if that solution was limiting your social media use to 10-30 minutes per day? Would you do it?

FOMO is a term that was coined in recent years to describe a feeling of envy, or of anxiety about falling behind or being left out. It’s often associated with swiping through Instagram Stories and scrolling through Facebook, but it doesn’t strictly adhere to the digital realm.

FOMO can follow you throughout the day, affecting your mental health. Previous studies have found it correlates with depression and anxiety.

It’s with this in mind that a group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania set out to investigate the link between social media and well-being in 2018. To do this, they devised a clever experiment in which 143 undergraduates were randomly assigned to either limit their Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use to 10 minutes per platform per day or to continue using social media as usual. 

How Does Screen Time Affect Mental Health?

Woman jumping off an enlarged phone

After a week of baseline monitoring, the researchers gave the students their assignments. Three weeks later, the results were in: Controlling for baseline loneliness and social media use, the participants who limited their screen time experienced significantly fewer symptoms of loneliness and depression. The greatest impact was seen in individuals who started the study with higher levels of depression. 

One student shared, “Not comparing my life to the lives of others had a much stronger impact than I expected, and I felt a lot more positive about myself during those weeks.”

How to Deal With FOMO

Curiously, the participants in both groups (limited social media use and unlimited) reported slight but significant declines in FOMO and anxiety. The researchers posited that this was the result of self-monitoring. In other words, just paying attention to how much social media you use could improve FOMO and anxiety. 

Can Limiting Social Media Help Self-Esteem?

The University of Pennsylvania researchers also monitored social support, self-esteem, and psychological well-being, but did not observe any improvements in these domains. They proposed a few reasons for why: First, these measures could truly be unaffected by social media. Secondly, the experiment may not have been long enough to witness any changes. Lastly, the time limit could have either been too restrictive or not restrictive enough to make a difference.

Two people wearing shirts with smiley faces on them

Or, it could be that the way that people engage with social media is what makes a difference. Seeking popularity online and comparing yourself to others have been linked to negative psychological outcomes. In contrast, actively using social media to give and receive social support has been linked to improvements in well-being. 

At any rate, the researchers concluded that limiting social media use to approximately 30 minutes per day may help improve FOMO, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. It’s worth a shot if you want FOMO no more.

Study Objectives & Methods

No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression
Melissa G. Hunt, PhD; Rachel Marx, MSW Candidate, Courtney Lipson, BA, and Jordyn Young, BA
Published in Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2018.  

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between social media and well-being. After a week of baseline monitoring, the researchers randomly tasked 143 undergraduates with either limiting their Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use to 10 minutes per platform per day or continuing to use social media as usual for three weeks. To track social media use, the participants emailed screenshots of their iPhone battery usage to the researchers at specified increments. In addition, the students were asked to complete seven scales to measure well-being. These encompassed social support, FOMO, loneliness, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, autonomy, and self-acceptance. They completed these assessments before and after the week of baseline monitoring, once a week during the study, and one month after the study concluded.