TikTok narratives of global social anxieties: FoMO, FoBO and fear of being seen

Marica Castaldi

doi:10.29329/jsomer.66

Authors

Marica Castaldi University of Naples Federico II, Italy https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0275-2850

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29329/jsomer.66

Keywords:

Fear of missing out, Fear of better options, Fear of being seen, TikTok, Global social anxieties

Abstract

Fear of missing out (FoMO) has become a widely recognized term, or rather, an extremely popular hashtag, within digital ecosystems and beyond. Young people primarily use FoMO to describe the anxiety of being left out. Few studies, particularly in psychology, have examined this form of anxiety, and even fewer sociological studies have analyzed it as a social phenomenon. The narrative, the storytelling, and the way this anxiety is conveyed on social media, especially on TikTok, can be highly relevant for understanding young people. This article explores, within the TikTok landscape, the narratives and representations of these anxieties that have gone viral on social platforms. What imagery surrounds these social anxieties, and, above all, what are the socially shared symptoms of FoMO, FoBO, and Fear of Being Seen? Through digital ethnography on TikTok, using hashtags such as FoMO and related terms, it was possible to map and interpret the characteristics of these Global Social Anxieties. TikTok was selected as the focus of analysis because it is the primary site where FOMO related narratives are actively produced and circulated. Its algorithmic design, which prioritizes engagement and performative content, further facilitated the identification and selection of relevant videos for this study. The study takes an exploratory approach to the phenomenon. Notably, there appear to be no differences in terms of location or language: videos produced by Italian creators are essentially identical to those in English, Spanish, and other languages. This phenomenon requires serious attention, as it represents a socially shared emotional state, particularly at the global level.

References

Arvidsson, A., & Delfanti, A. (2016). Introduzione ai media digitali [Introduction to Digital Media]. Il Mulino.

Bainotti, L. (2024). How conspicuousness becomes productive on social media. Marketing Theory, 24(2), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/14705931231204387

Bauman, Z., & Lyon, D. (2015). Sesto potere. La sorveglianza nella modernità liquida [Sixth Power, Surveillance in Liquid Modernity]. Laterza.

Benadusi, L. (1998). Scuola, riproduzione e mutamento. Sociologie dell’educazione a confronto [School, Reproduction and Change. Sociologies of Education Compared]. La Nuova Italia.

Bennato, D. (2011). Sociologia dei media digitali [Sociology of Digital Media]. Laterza.

Bhandari, A., & Bimo, S. (2022). Why’s everyone on TikTok now? The algorithmized self and the future of self-making on social media. Social Media + Society, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221086241.

Bonini, T., & Treré, E. (2024). Algorithms of resistance: The everyday fight against platform power (1st ed.). MIT Press.

Bourdieu, P. (2001). La distinzione. Critica sociale del gusto [Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste]. Il Mulino.

Cavalletti, F. (2024). Sguardi che bruciano. Un’estetica della vergogna nell’epoca del virtuale [Burning Gazes. An Aesthetics of Shame in the Age of the Virtual]. Meltemi.

Dossey, L. (2014). FOMO, digital dementia, and our dangerous experiment. EXPLORE, 10(2), 69–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2013.12.008

Duffy, B. E., Pinch, A., Sannon, S., & Sawey, M. (2021). The nested precarities of creative labor on social media. Social Media + Society, 7(2), 20563051211021368. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211021368

Eco, U. (1997). Apocalittici e integrati: Comunicazioni di massa e teorie della cultura di massa [Apocalyptics and Integrated: Mass Communications and Theories of Mass Culture]. Bompiani.

Eitan, T., & Gazit, T. (2024). The “here and now” effect: JoMO, FOMO and the well-being of social media users. Online Information Review, 48(5), 1002–1024. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-03-2023-0111

Faltesek, D., Graalum, E., Breving, B., Knudsen, E., Lucas, J., Young, S., & Varas Zambrano, F. E. (2023). TikTok as television. Social Media + Society, 9(3), 20563051231194576. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231194576

Fattori, A., Castaldi, M., Ciccarelli, E., Massimo, P. “Pako”, Laboccetta, V., Napoli, A., Pecchinenda, M., Pellegrini, V., Somma, L., & Pellegrino, G. (2024). Il quarto ordine dei simulacri: L’umano e il digitale [The Fourth Order of Simulacra: The Human and the Digital]. Lulu Press, Inc.

Leonhard, G. (2019). Tecnologia vs umanità. Lo scontro prossimo venturo [Technology vs Humanity. The Coming Clash]. Egea Editore.

Gupta, M., & Sharma, A. (2021). Fear of missing out: A brief overview of origin, theoretical underpinnings and relationship with mental health. World Journal of Clinical Cases, 9(19), 4881–4889. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i19.4881

Haidt, J. (2024). La generazione ansiosa. Come i social hanno rovinato i nostri figli [The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness]. Mondadori.

Jasanoff, S. (2016). Future imperfect: Science, technology, and the imaginations of modernity. In S. Jasanoff & S.-H. Kim (Eds.), Dreamscapes of modernity: Sociotechnical imaginaries and the fabrication of power (pp. 1–33). University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226276663.003.0001

Marx, K. (2021). Il capitale [Capital]. Newton Compton.

Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2017). Manifesto del partito comunista. Feltrinelli.

Landi, P. (2024). La dittatura degli algoritmi. Dalla lotta di classe alla class action [The Dictatorship of Algorithms. From Class Struggle to Class Action]. Krill Books.

Liu, H., Liu, W., Yoganathan, V., & Osburg, V. S. (2021). COVID-19 information overload and generation Z’s social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 166, 120600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120600

Lupton, D. (2018). Sociologia digitale [Digital Sociology]. Pearson Italia.

MacKenzie, D., & Wajcman, J. (1999). The social shaping of technology. McGraw-Hill Education.

Mannheim, K. (2008). Le generazioni [The Generations]. Il Mulino.

McGinnis, P. J. (2021). FOMO sapiens. Mondadori.

McLuhan, M. (2001). Understanding media. Taylor & Francis.

Mény, Y. (2019). Popolo ma non troppo. Il malinteso democrático [The People, but Not Too Much. The Democratic Misunderstanding]. Il Mulino.

National Institute for Mental Health. (n.d.). Social anxiety disorder: More than just shyness. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-anxiety-disorder-more-than-just-shyness.

Parham, J. (2023). First-gen social media users have nowhere to go. Wired US. https://www.wired.com/story/first-gen-social-media-users-have-nowhere-to-go/

Pronzato, R. (2024). Algoritmi, strutture e agire sociale. Un’analisi sociologica [Algorithms, Structures and Social Action. A Sociological Analysis]. Franco Angeli.

Rogers, R. (2013). Digital methods. Mit.

Rousseau, J.-J. (2019). Il contratto sociale [The Social Contract]. Feltrinelli.

Signorelli, A. (2023). Tinder e le dating app, amore finito? Wired Italia [Tinder and Dating Apps, Is Love Over?]. https://www.wired.it/article/tinder-dating-app-crisi-declino-bumble-hinge-okcupid/

Tanhan, F., Özok, H. İ., & Tayiz, V. (2022). Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): A current review. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar. Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 14(1), 74–85. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.942431

Tandon, A., Dhir, A., Almugren, I., AlNemer, G. N., & Mäntymäki, M. (2021). Fear of missing out (FOMO) among social media users: A systematic literature review, synthesis and framework for future research. Internet Research, 31(3), 782–821. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-04-2020-0211

Ticona, J. (2022). Left to our own devices: Coping with insecure work in a digital age. Oxford University Press.

Turkle, S. (2019). Insieme ma soli. Perché ci aspettiamo sempre più dalla tecnologia e sempre meno dagli altri [Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other]. Einaudi.

Wunenburger, J.-J. (2003). L’immaginario [The Imaginary]. Il Melangolo.

Zheng, H., & Ling, R. (2021). Drivers of social media fatigue: A systematic review. Telematics and Informatics,64, 101696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101696

Zolkepli, I. A., Tariq, R., Isawasan, P., Shamugam, L., & Mustafa, H. (2023). The mediating role of social media fatigue on social media usage behaviour of the ageing society during the COVID-19 pandemic. SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research, 91–107.