It’s a common experience: You’re scrolling through a social media page, and you see pictures of friends traveling or going to parties. Suddenly you start to wonder why you’re not doing those things. Are you missing out on something fun and exciting because you’re locked into everyday life? This experience has come to be known as the fear of missing out, sometimes abbreviated FOMO. To some extent, people have always worried about missing out on things. But with the rise of social media, FOMO is becoming much more common.

  Wanting to be in on the fun when exciting things are happening is completely normal. But for some people, it can lead to an obsession with checking their phones to find out what other people are doing. Even while doing things that are fun or necessary, people can feel like there’s something better going on elsewhere. This urge to connect can ironically lead them to disconnect from the people they are actually with. It prevents them from being satisfied with the good things in their lives. It can even be dangerous; some people try to check messages while driving.