Major FOMO
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In class, we recently learned about information cascades. The basic concept is that instead of trusting our private information, we follow the crowd. For example, if you heard a class is difficult and uninteresting and you want to take another class, but all your friends are taking the difficult class, you reconsider what class you take, and end up taking the difficult class with everyone else. Then, a few other friends who may have thought the same as you start joining in also. The rest of your friends who ended up not joining may feel like they’re missing out, and that feeling is known as Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO.
Prevalent among us, young adults in Western Society, FOMO may also be one of the factors that contribute to information cascades. FOMO creates negative emotions and feelings of distraction. Therefore, to not feel FOMO, we would just follow the crowd and hope for the best. In addition, FOMO is felt even more when the activity is enjoyable. So when you are trying to make the decision, even if you may not think it’s fun, you join just to follow your friends, or the crowd, hoping that it’s as enjoyable as your friends believe. However, this can end up having negative effects if there’s work to be done or another event that you personally may have wanted to go to more. Nevertheless, the feeling of FOMO may still conquer, thus contributing to the positive feedback cycle of information cascades.