Get to Know the Meaning of FOMO, ROMO, JOMO on Social Media

VIVA English Site – Social media is a place to interact with each other can do online. Social media allows a person to socialize without the limitations of space and time. Recently, social media users, especially young people, often use the words FOMO, ROMO, and JOMO.

The word FOMO or Fear of Missing out has the meaning of being afraid of being left behind with things that are trending. This phenomenon often evokes an overuse of the internet, always with the aim of not missing the slightest bit of information.

Or it could be interpreted FOMO as a term for someone who always follows the trend. For example, lately, the trend of getting married is busy on social media talks, then someone will also have the desire to get married. So, he/she wants to get married not because he/she is ready but because of FOMO.

The term FOMO was first used by Patrick McGinnis 2004, who was still a student at Harvard Business School in the United States.

Then, in addition to FOMO, the word ROMO has also begun to be mentioned by social media users. The opposite of FOMO, ROMO is a relief of missing out or having a feeling of relief because of missing news.

One will avoid as much news as possible and feel lucky. Against the backdrop of an increasingly anxious political, health, and economic context, more and more internet users are turning away from the news.

As quoted from the freemalaysiatoday site, a study was conducted in the United Kingdom and involved in-depth interviews with 43 people who voluntarily chose to cut themselves off from news sources and who now rarely consult the news (“less than once a month” or “never”).

The researchers say the choice to carefully avoid this type of news is mainly explained by the desire to escape from news deemed anxiety-provoking, but also because this content could lead to feelings of powerlessness.

“Our interviewees see news as dominated by stories about crime, terrorism, and partisan bickering, which generates not only fear but also feelings of uncertainty and a lack of control or agency,” the authors explained.

Meanwhile, JOMO means Joy of missing out. JOMO is the antonym of FOMO. It describes the pleasure associated with missing an event, often in favor of some downtime or “me time”.

Indeed, ROMO could be seen as a companion to JOMO, the latter a life philosophy that many have been embracing since Covid-19 came onto the scene.