Comparison 4: FOMO in Interviews

Comparison 4: FOMO in Interviews

A comparison can be made between the first and second interview participants, as they both displayed a number of these symptoms, but had a different view on whether they were actually addicted to social media. The first interviewee highlighted that social media has been more prevalent in his life since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that fear of missing out (FOMO) is a big reason he feels tied to social media. He stated that if all social media was inaccessible for the day, it would have an extremely positive effect on his life, and when presented with a definition and explanation of social media addiction, he expressed that he feels as though addiction is a spectrum and that he may fall somewhere along the spectrum, as he has certain qualities of social media addiction. Interestingly, the second interviewee indicated that although she finds herself using social media the most when she’s supposed to be doing other things according to the survey, she feels as though she is “for the most part not dependent on social media” but rather, uses her phone for stress relief and humour. Contrary to the first interviewee’s FOMO as a cause of social media attachment, this participant expressed that she does not feel a need to keep up with what’s trending, and instead prefers to use apps such as TikTok, that require minimal amounts of direct social interaction. She stated that she would not consider herself addicted to social media, but rather a frequent, but responsible, user of certain social media platforms.