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How has FOMO on social media impacted

Singaporean youths behaviour in real life?

Chastina Tham Ching Teng S10159862A

Grace Chua En Hui S10158770F
Keane Lee S10159239J
Leong Shu Xian S10156366E
Table of contents:

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Literature Review 4

2.1 Definitions 4

2.1.1 Social media 4

2.1.2 Youths 4

2.1.3 Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) 5

2.2 Prominence of FOMO in Social Media 5

2.2.1 World 5

2.2.2 Asia 6

2.2.3 Singapore 7

2.2.3.1 Economic 8

2.2.3.2 Social 8

2.2.3.3 Technological 9

2.2.3.4 Research Gap 10

3.0 Research Question 11

4.0 Methodology 12

5.0 Findings 14

6.0 Analysis 23

7.0 Recommendations 28

7.1 Raising Awareness Through Mass Public Talks 28

7.2 Revamping Cyber Wellness content In CCE Program 29

7.3 Engaging Youths As The Main Agents Of Change 29

8.0 Conclusion 31

9.0 Works Cited 32

10.0 Appendix 41

1
1.0 Introduction

The stakeholder for this research paper is the government - specifically, the Ministry of

Culture, Communication and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Education (MOE).

The advancement of technology in recent years has enabled the rise of interactive

digital networks that covers an entire range of internet technologies that collect,

organise and circulate information, a more prominent form being social media (Carah

and Louw, 231). With a significant 3.60 million active social media users and a high

social media penetration rate of 58% in Singapore, there is no denying the cruciality of

social media and its potential power to influence in the country (wearesocial.com).

Social influence is a powerful force which may be advantageous in guiding individuals

via observing the actions of others. However, there are also downsides like the

over-reliance on others behaviour (Torney et al., 1). According to Shuey, it is part of

human nature to think about what we might be missing, which the presence of social

media exacerbates (personalbrandingblog.com). The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a

psychological phenomenon associated with feeling left out especially with what ones

friends are doing (medicaldaily.com).

2
This disquisition aims to analyse the phenomenon of FOMO and connect the dots to its

presence in Singapore, especially in social media among youths today. Hence, this

paper will cover the prominence of FOMO around the world, new research on the

effects of FOMO on the real life behaviour of Singaporean youths, its results with

analysis on this phenomenon and the relevant recommendations to tackle this issue.

3
2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Definitions

2.1.1 Social media

Social media, or social networking sites (SNS), can be defined as an internet-based

service that permits individuals to build a private or public profile (Boyd, Ellison 2) to

establish connections and build social relationships with other users (Nentwich and

Knig). For the purposes of this research, social media is focused on mainly Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

2.1.2 Youth

This paper will take into account youth as those aged 15 to 24 years old, who are

going through a period of transition from dependence to independence, as defined by

the UN (What Do We Mean by Youth?).

4
2.1.3 Fear OF Missing Out (FOMO)

FOMO refers to the uncomfortable, occasional overwhelming feeling of anxiety that

one is missing out on activities, knowledge and items owned by ones peers (Abel, Buff

and Burr, 33), usually triggered by social media posts (Oxford).

2.2 Prominence of FOMO in Social Media

2.2.1 World

According to WeAreSocials report in January 2016, out of 3.419 billion Internet users,

2.307 billion are social media users (wearesocial.com). Though considered a relatively

new phenomenon, SNS have been around since the launch of the first SNS in 1997

(Boyd 4). This brought upon a phenomenon currently labelled - FOMO (Abel et al. 1).

The term FOMO was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.

According to a survey conducted by JWTIntelligence in 2011, young adults aged 18-33

were affected most by FOMO, 70% experiencing the feeling of missing out. 60% of the

respondents had indicated that social media further heightened FOMO (jwt.com). A

study by MyLife in 2013 found that 27% of respondents admitted to checking their SNS

immediately after waking up in the morning (prnewswire.com).

5
FOMO has been a prevalent concept whereby people gain knowledge of the lives of

others through existing traditional communication channels (Abel et al. 1). However, the

technological advancement of the Internet and SNS has proven to take FOMO up a

notch.

Social media users experience FOMO through the passing trends on SNS. This drive to

follow trends is explained by the bandwagon effect. According to the bandwagon effect,

there is a belief that when a large majority with similar views endorse an object or

attitude, there is a need to follow the crowd (Messing and Westwood 1047). An

example is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, started as an activity to raise

awareness of the amyotrophic neurone disease and fund research, evolving into a viral

social media campaign with more than 17 million participants (alsa.org).

2.2.2 Asia

According to a research done by the University of Minnesota Duluth, FOMO is

triggered in people when matters in relation to their social group is brought up and is

made worse by the feeling of uncertainty in a persons social belonging (Rifkin, Chan

and Kahn, 4). The Shoemaker and Reese model suggests that an ideology subsumes

all other levels of influence and seen as a total social structure as opposed to that of an

individual structure (225).

6
Paradigms of ideological levels, like asian values, can refer to morals, beliefs and

attitudes of society (Shoemaker and Reese, 223-224). Asian values commonly involves

the confucian concepts of adjustment to the conditions of the world and collectivism,

idealising harmony in a society (Harrison and Huntington). Such collectivist ideals

opened up an opportunity for FOMO to manifest in Japan.

Based on a survey from Digital Arts, an internet security firm, internet addiction in

Japanese youths is spurred by FOMO. They are influenced by their conformist society

where people do not hold their own opinions but follow the majority as individuals will

get left behind in societal groups if they do not agree with the dominant opinion. Hence

forming a conformist society, as seen amongst the Japanese youths

(straitstimes.com).

2.2.3 Singapore

This section will focus on the three main areas of impact of FOMO - economic, social,

and technological - in Singapores social media.

7
2.2.3.1 Economic

FOMO is implemented in corporate communications strategies to aid effective targeting

and to present information in a way that people will want to read it and the way in

which they prefer to receive it (www2.deloitte.com). An example of local businesses

displaying this phenomenon is the participation in viral social media challenges such as

the PPAP videos where Mediacorp and Crystal Jade Singapore created their own

variation to increase interaction and brand awareness (singapore.coconuts.co).

Another example would be the wave of Mannequin Challenge videos made. A

company that capitalised on this trend with sterling results was Singapore Airlines,

Singapores domestic airline company. They collaborated with Madam Tussauds

Singapore to create their own variation of the challenge that garnered over 5 million

views and 139,000 likes - 83 times the amount of likes videos prior to that.

2.2.3.2 Social

According to a street poll conducted by TODAY, the most commonly cited word among

Singaporean respondents to describe Singapores identity is kiasu - which directly

translates to afraid of losing out from the Hokkien dialect (todayonline.com).

8
A study done on the bandwagon effect on the usage of social media in Singapore

suggests that many use Facebook, the perceived popular social media platform,

because their social circles were using it. People who believed Facebook was the most

popular social media platform tended to use it and others who did not believe it was the

most popular tended not to (Fu, Teo and Seng).

In a global survey done by TATA communications, 78% of users in Singapore felt that

they faced FOMO when they are not connected to the Internet (2015). Users are more

likely to use social media or follow trends based on FOMO, because they feel like they

would be missing out if they did not participate.

Additionally, similar to other government and business institutions in Singapore, more

non-governmental and voluntary welfare organisations have made use of the internet as

it is relatively cost-effective, efficient and convenient (Ooi and Hashim 86). This also

provides an opportunity for FOMO to manifest.

2.2.3.3 Technological

Technological advances have created opportunities for new ways businesses can

engage their consumers while leveraging on FOMO. For example, Pokemon Go, a

popular mobile phone game, reintroduced augmented reality and geocoding to

consumers.

9
Due to its nature of being a social game, players have to consolidate new and existing

friendships to share their experiences of the game (gamasutra.com). On the day the

app was released in Singapore, 1.22 million tweets mentioning Pokemon were

generated by 1.30PM (straitstimes.com). Such trends allows FOMO to manifest, even

among games that have social elements.

2.2.3.4 Research Gap

The major research gap identified after reviewing the various forms of literature is the

lack of academic research regarding FOMO in youths, with regards to social media in

Singapore. Hence, in order to establish a stronger relation between the two elements,

the following parts of the paper will revolve around the primary research conducted.

10
3.0 Research Question

How has FOMO on social media impacted Singaporean youths behaviour in real life?

11
4.0 Methodology

As the topic at hand is targeted to Singaporeans, primary research is chosen in the form

of an online questionnaire consisting of a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative

questions.

This study aims to gather statistics for a conclusive answer to the research question.

The sample chosen for this survey is non-probability sampling - respondents are

Singaporean youths, aged 15 to 24.

Arranged in three sections, the questionnaire will determine:

1. The respondents rate of social media usage and exposure to FOMO.

2. The respondents offline behaviour as a result of FOMO.

3. Whether there is a link between the exposure to FOMO, based on social media

usage, and the offline behaviour of respondents.

This questionnaire is modelled after an example of a survey on FOMO done by the

Australian Psychological Society (psychology.org.au). Some adapted questions include

asking respondents to choose options they carry out - example When do you check

social media, during lunch, dinner etc.

12
Questions are also designed to make respondents carry out self-perception and

perception of others, such as do you think you are affected by FOMO and how do you

think FOMO affects our real life behaviour? This helps us determine the effect of

FOMO on offline behaviour. A total of 150 Singaporean youths took part in this online

questionnaire.

13
5.0 Findings

Out of 150 respondents, ranging between 15-24 years old, 82% were 19-22.

There were 18% more female respondents than male respondents.

14
88% of respondents were students.

Instagram, Facebook and Youtube were the most used platforms of social media.

15
95% of respondents went onto social media daily.

46% respondents spent less than an hour on social media each session with 30% also

spending 1 to more than 2 hours.

16
69% of respondents check their notifications every 1 hour or so.

Respondents mostly checked their social media during leisure, while travelling and right

before they sleep at night.

17
About 90% of respondents knew about 8 of 11 trends listed.

Respondents knew about trends mostly from peers on social media, talking about it in

real life and social media hashtags.

18
Respondents responded to trends by ignoring them, discussing them with friends and

retweeting, liking and sharing posts. Contradicting results are explained later in section

6.0.

Respondents cited their top 2 reasons for following trends as doing it for fun and not

following them completely. Contradicting results are explained later in section 6.0.

19
56% of respondents have not heard of the term FOMO.

84% of respondents felt that they would somewhat miss out if they were away from

social media for a day.

20
56% of respondents feel that they are not affected by FOMO.

81% of respondents admitted the influence of FOMO on their online behaviour.

21
79% of respondents reported disruptions of real life activities because of FOMO.

About 70% of respondents reported that they see bad habits cultivated, distraction at

work or school, spending money, and cyber addiction as possible effects of FOMO.

22
6.0 Analysis

As mentioned in section 4.0, the survey questions were crafted to understand the link

between the respondents perceived level of FOMO and its effects. The following is the

analysis of the key findings.

The prevalence of social media usage and knowledge of trends can be seen from

figures 5.5 to 5.8. The fact that the respondents knowledge of trends mostly come from

peers on social media (figure 5.10) suggests that youths have greater exposure to

trends on social media moreso due to their social connections than their personal

interests (figure 6.1).

23
Majority of respondents are up-to-date as they knew most of the recent trends and more

than half even discussed about them with peers (figures 5.9 and 5.11). The results from

figure 5.14 shows the respondents self-perceived level of FOMO, further proving that

there is a conscious inclination for youths to constantly be on social media (figure 6.2).

This pressure to check social media can be associated as a behavioural trait of FOMO,

which is a theory supported by Sapadin from Psych Central (psychcentral.com).

Referencing from the the open-ended responses provided by the respondents, youths

feel the need to be constantly updated, which is mostly spurred by peer influence. With

reduced face-to-face interaction, signs of FOMO then manifests and becomes the

expected social behaviour offline. Thus, this reasserts that social connections play a

big part in heightening FOMO.

It was found that although more than half of the respondents responded to trends via

discussions with peers, they also indicated that they ignored these same trends. These

seemingly contradicting result also showed how respondents follow trends - indicating

that they do it for fun, yet, also ignoring it.

24
Through informal feedback, the team learnt that the respondents would ignore trends

that are not personally relatable. However, if their peers brought up these same trends,

they partook in discussing them. This showcases the effect of FOMO, where

respondents alter themselves to fit in to their social groups (figure 6.3).

The above situation has brought to light another plausible cause of FOMO - the desire

to fit in. Based on the results from the open-ended questions, the most common reason

for FOMO to manifest comes from the fear of being left out. Several respondents have

also discussed the desire to fit in and conform to societal norms for a sense of social

belonging. This reasserts how FOMO is derived from the ideology level of the

Shoemaker and Reese model, particularly looking at the concept of Asian values of a

collective mindset (223-224).

The link between FOMO and its effects on offline behaviour is evident from figure 5.17.

Results show that 79% of youths admits that FOMO have disrupted their offline

behaviour in varying extents. Therefore, it is undeniable that the effects of FOMO in

Singapore is beginning to shift from the online to the offline sphere (figure 6.4).

25
In addition, 63% of the total respondents expressed that FOMO poses as a significant

societal issue. The most common effects of FOMO on real life behaviour that

respondents stated are the cultivation of bad habits and distractions from daily routines

(figure 5.18).

A significant amount of respondents have brought up the point that youths might get

their priorities messed up due to FOMO. Other effects such as youths partaking in

extreme measures just to stay cool and youths having worsened anxiety when they are

unable to go online ultimately affects the cognitive and social behaviour.

Nevertheless, there were some respondents that felt FOMO is not a prevalent issue,

common reasons cited being youths are at an age where they struggle to find

themselves, trends die quickly and that curiosity does not cause major harm. A

respondent mentioned that FOMO might even bring about advantages such as

providing a platform for youths with lacking social skills to create new connections.

These responses provided a fresh viewpoint and introduced other possible variables

which could be further explored in FOMO.

26
Overall, based on the results, heavy social media users tended to exhibit more

symptoms of having FOMO (figure 6.5). With exposure to social media and trends,

youths have begun to adapt accordingly as FOMO naturally manifests, thus, causing

them to gravitate towards collectivism, which aligns with Asian values (Shoemaker and

Reese, 225) and consequently results in FOMO (Harrison and Huntington). However, it

is still a challenge to fully distinguish and consider other factors that lead to FOMO other

than social media usage.

27
7.0 Recommendations

The growing prominence of FOMO is a cause for concern as future generations might

be affected negatively in the long run. Since social media is the driving factor for FOMO

and is inevitable in this tech-savvy generation, MOE and MCCY should pay more

attention to FOMO and its effects on youths. Below are three recommendations to

address this - raising awareness through mass public talks on FOMO, revamping of

cyber-wellness content in the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) program, and

engaging youths as the agents of change.

7.1 Raising Awareness Through Mass Public Talks

Educators can raise the awareness of FOMO to youths as early as 10 years old as this

age group is the most impressionable (Salyers and Mckee). Additionally, at 10 years of

age, most Singaporean children are already going onto, if not already well-versed, with

social media (straitstimes.com). Therefore, mass talks to explain what FOMO is and its

cause and effects could be done by the MOE or relevant social influencers at primary

and secondary schools to get a maximum reach of people.

28
7.2 Revamping Cyber Wellness content In CCE Program

MOE currently has the CCE program that builds social and emotional competencies in

youths (moe.gov.sg). This program covers cyber-wellness so that youths can make

wise and healthy choices to maintain a healthy balance of online and offline

interactions (moe.gov.sg). However, the content can be revamped to include an area

covering peer pressure and FOMO further in-depth. Peer pressure is one of the factors

bringing about FOMO and youths on social media are susceptible to peer pressure.

In fact, it is found that the older the youth, the more susceptible to peer pressure they

are (Manzoni and Ricija). Additionally, the revamped cyber-wellness CCE lesson can

also potentially extend to primary schools since research has shown that more than half

of children actually become users of social media by the age of 10 (dailymail.co.uk).

7.3 Engaging Youths As The Main Agents Of Change

In the London School of Economics, the Student Digital Ambassadors for Digital

Literacy (SADL) program was introduced in 2014 (jiscinvolve.org). A similar local

program - The Cyber Wellness Student Ambassador Programme (CWSAP) - was also

launched by MOE and MDA which brought students from various primary and

secondary schools together to engage youths in cyber wellness advocacy through

discussions.

29
These youths can act as ambassadors to promote cyber wellness and influence their

fellow peers to take responsibility for their online activities and social well-being. This

concept can be expanded to all schools nationwide, including junior colleges,

polytechnics and universities. Thus, the growing issue of FOMO can be gradually eased

as both the government and youths spearhead it.

30
8.0 Conclusion

To conclude, the presence of FOMO has proliferated due to the advancement of social

media. With Singapore being an asian country, asian values - which falls under the

ideological level of the Shoemaker and Reese model, promotes collectivism (225) -

making FOMO more relevant. FOMO has undoubtedly begun showing signs of

surpassing the digital sphere to affect real life behaviour of people in modern society.

Through the research in this paper, it is found that although this phenomenon and its

effects are currently not as rampant in Singapore as compared to some other countries,

there are still prominent signs of a gradual shift towards the worsening of FOMO in

Singapore. There is also acknowledgement from respondents that FOMO is potentially

harmful to society. Hence, more relevant research can be conducted in this area of

study to further understand and tackle this phenomenon more effectively.

Word count: 3293 (inclusive of headings)

31
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 Appendix:

Survey Questions:

General Information:

*All information collected in this survey will be kept confidential and anonymous.

What is your age?

- 15 to 18

- 19 to 22

- 23 to 24

- Above 24

What is your gender?

- Male

- Female

What is your occupation?

- Student

- Professionals, Managers, Executives and Businessmen (PMEB)

- Government Sector (Education, Military, Healthcare etc.)

- Media sector (Marketing, Graphic design, Advertising, etc)

- Others

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Social media usage:

*social media refers to an internet-based service that allows individuals to build a private

or public profile to establish connections and build social relationships with other users.

(e.g Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

Do you use social media?

- Yes

- No

What social media platforms do you use?

- Facebook

- Instagram

- Twitter

- LinkedIn

- YouTube

- SnapChat

- Google+

- Pinterest

- Others

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How often do you go on social media?

- Daily

- 2-3 times a week

- Once a week

- Once a month

How long do you spend on social media per session?

- Less than 1 hour

- 1 to more than 2 hours

- 3 hours to more than 4 hours

- 5 hours to more than 6 hours

- 7 hours and more

On the days that you go on social media, how frequently do you check social media

notifications?

- Every 1 - 14 minutes

- Every 15 - 29 minutes

- Every 30 - 44 minutes

- Every 45 - 59 minutes

- Every 60 - 89 minutes

- Every 90 - 119 minutes

- More than 120 minutes

43
When do you check social media? (choose as many that applies)

- Within 15 minutes after waking up in the morning

- During meals

- While travelling

- During leisure time

- At school / work

- 15 minutes before going to bed at night

- Other

Knowledge of trends:

Select the trends that you are aware of:

- Mannequin challenge
- ALS ice bucket challenge
- PPAP
- Juju on the beat
- Dabbing
- Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge
- Pokemon Go
- Running Man Challenge
- Harlem Shake
- Gangnam style dance
- Bottle flipping challenge
- Others

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How did you know of these trends? (choose as many that applies)

- Social media hashtags

- Peers on social media

- In App trending recommendations

- Talking about it in real life

- Others

Following of trends

* Following a trend refers to the knowledge of trends and staying updated or acting on

them*

How do you respond to these trends?

- Retweet / Share / Like / Repost

- Discussing it with friends

- Carry out the trend

- Create parodies

- Ignore them

- Others:

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Why do you follow these trends?

- Personally relatable

- My friends follow it

- I do it for fun

- My idols follow it

- I dont follow trends

Awareness of FOMO

*FOMO refers to the uncomfortable, occasional overwhelming feeling of anxiety that

one is missing out on activities, knowledge and items owned by ones peers, usually

triggered by social media posts.

Have you heard of the term FOMO?

- Yes

- No

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On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you feel like youre missing out if you are away from

any social media platform for an entire day (1 being Not missing out at all; 5 being

Missing out a lot)

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

- 5

Based on the definition above, do you think you are affected by FOMO?

- Yes

- No

While doing our research on FOMO, we noticed that FOMO leads to influences on the

online and offline behaviour if individuals. Wed like to know if these influences are

apparent - there is no right or wrong answer.

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On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you think FOMO influences your online behaviour?

(With 1 being ignoring trending topics and 5 being retweeting / liking / etc. trending

topics)

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

- 5

On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you think FOMO disrupts your real life behaviour?

(with 1 being no disruptions at all to 5 being distractions at work due to checking of

phones / stopping conversations to look at phones etc.)

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

- 5

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What do you think are the possible effects of FOMO on real life behaviour? (you may

choose more than 1)

- Increased stress

- Anxiety

- Distraction from daily routine

- Cyber addiction

- Spend more money (to own items that are trending - e.g makeup / fashion)

- Bad habits cultivated (such as constant checking of phones)

How else do you think FOMO affects our real life behaviour? (e.g unnecessary checking

of social media)

OPEN - ENDED

Why do you think FOMO happens? (is social media the only factor?)

OPEN - ENDED

Do you think it is a societal issue? Why? (A social issue is a problem that influences a

considerable number of the individuals within a society)

OPEN - ENDED

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Other findings:

As seen in the table, while respondents chose that they either felt like they somewhat

miss out or that they were missing out a lot, more than half of these respondents,

however, claimed that they personally are not affected by FOMO. Based on the

definition of FOMO in this paper, this is plausible as the feeling of missing out felt by

these respondents might not necessarily be severe enough to be considered an

overwhelming anxiety.

On the other hand, there is also the possibility that FOMO has a negative connotation to

it - hence the reason why respondents would choose to not be associated with the term.

50