“How are we influenced by social media? And who are we in spite of it?”

In tonight’s episode, Raya and Leen discuss the gravity of the anxiety felt when we experience FOMO (the fear of missing out). We dig into the complexities of what it means to be exposed to content that makes us question how accepted/worthy we are as people.

We take a look at minimizing the effects of FOMO, exploring the possible joy/fun of missing out. And on the other side of the coin- how media can be used to deepen our experiences in connection.

Timestamps:

(00:50) - What is FOMO

(02:50) - Correlation between social media and feeling disconnected

(03:30) - Curated nature of content

(04:10) - Success/Achievement comparison

(07:25) - Being authentic on media

(09:45) - What does a real connection mean

(11:25) - Building real connections

(13:15) - What FOMO can lead to in young people

(13:55) - Types of FOMO

(16:20) - Wanting to fit in

(17:20) - Trend cycles and how it traps you

(20:05) - Mental health effects of FOMO

(21:00) - The struggles of teenagehood being worsened by media

(22:35) - Minimizing FOMO

(22:45) - Meeting people you have real connections with

(24:30) - Deepening friendships through media

(26:34) - Social media has devalued the value of frienships

(26:40) - Putting an effort should not be substituted with an instagram story like

(27:03) - JOMO or FOMO

(28:15) - The negative correlation between mood and time spent scrolling

(30:30) - Social media makes you feel disconnected from the real world

(31:30) - Sometimes FOMO could be productive

(33:05) - Can the 'FOMO productivity' be toxic?

(33:30) - Wrapping up