In 140 characters or less, you can tell the world what is on your mind. Hashtags and trending topics, the old saying, “A little bird told me.” has gotten a new meaning because of a blue social media site named Twitter. With the trend of social media sites popping up left and right, there is always something sour that comes from something ever so sweet. #FOMO or the fear of missing out, anxiety grows rampant within minds of many, as millennials and social media users constantly open their phones scrolling through their feed.
There are already many studies that correlate heavy social media with depression and anxiety. In my post, “FOMO: Why are people having fun without me?” I delve into the mysteries of FOMO and question it’s causalities. With shocking results, from articles by clinical psychologists, like Anita Sanz, she writes, “Because being left out is considered that important an event for us to pay attention to and to respond to quickly, we actually have a part of our brain that is specialized for sensing if we are being left out. Not that it is usually a matter of life and death anymore whether you are on Facebook or Twitter, but for many people that is or has become their community ‘lifeline'”(2015). In short, FOMO is all psychological and has been gaining traction because of the increase in communication advancements like social media. Everyone has experienced it once in their life, and more importantly there are ways to manage the anxieties felt by the fear. In a very informative Ted Talk with Bobby Mook, he speaks of the complexities of FOMO and why we should reevaluate our reliance on technology.
Many companies are realizing that they have to brand towards the anxiety of missing out on the experience, and create multimediated content that would sway their possible consumers. According to Kate Taylor of Entrepeneur, millennials are creating a booming business for live events such as concerts, festivals and parties. She states
Entrepreneurs have been cashing in on millennials’ love for live experiences by inventing new venues where teens and twenty-somethings can take Instagram shots that make all their friends jealous. Three of the fastest growing categories in terms of Eventbrite ticket sales are concerts and music festivals, beer and food festivals, and color, costume and themed runs. (2014)
FOMO has now become essential for branding towards millennials, Nick Kowling of the Huffington post writes, “Prior to social media, brands and their products were all about how they benefit consumers. Today, while the benefit still plays an important role, it is the experience and feel of the brand and its products that takes first place” (2o15). FOMO is changing the marketing strategies of many companies to focus on experience rather than products.
Social media now has a hold of how companies uphold themselves and thanks to FOMO and the need for the experience, social media platforms like Twitter will continue shaping how we buy things.
You get home on a Thursday night, it is 7 o’clock, and you are exhausted after a long day of school and work. You open up all social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Post after post, you see your friends, and maybe a few of your enemies, just having the time of their lives. They are out at a party, at a flashy event, or probably just hanging out together, while you sit there, at your desk staring at a screen in a poorly lit room. A variety of emotions engulf you: loneliness, sadness, jealousy, envy. You ask yourself “Why am I not there?”
In the Oxford Dictionary FOMO is defined as, “Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website” As sad as it sounds, FOMO has plagued our generation, and it is running rampant through the minds of millennials. YOLO or you only live once also correlates itself with FOMO. Social media is just an instigator for FOMO. Everyday there is always someone who is FOMO-ing, and they think they are FOMO-ing hard. According to the Australian Psychological Society (APS), teenagers who are heavy social media users, tend to have higher levels of anxiety because of FOMO, “Those teens who were heavy users also reported higher levels of FOMO. They report fearing their friends were having more rewarding experiences than them (54%), being worried when they find out their friends are having fun without them (60%), and being bothered when they miss out on a planned get together (63%).” Another recent study by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD or Students against Destructive Decisions found that FOMO has its consequences behind the wheel
From maintaining full school and extracurricular schedules, to constant technology updates – it appears that teens are more hyper-connected and exhausted than ever. The new study finds that nearly half (48 percent) of teens report texting more when alone in the car – most often to update their parents. Just as concerning, 56 percent of teens have fallen asleep or nearly fallen asleep at the wheel – revealing the potential risky implications “FoMO” may have on today’s young drivers and signaling an important wake-up call needed for both parents and teens.
FOMO is not only a horrible feeling, it has become dangerous. Social media was created to constantly inform, and has enhanced the way of communication. Unfortunately, it is becoming detrimental to people’s well being.
The alliteration “FOMO” was first introduced to me through an episode of Broad City. This episode followed the main characters, Ilana and Abbi, who are in search of the party of the lifetime. They go to party after party, and don’t give up on their search because of the worry of #FOMO. The characters end up in an underground bar, where the character Abbi becomes black-out drunk and becomes a mysterious character named Val. Ilana is amazed and addresses the “FOMO.”
This episode was a comedic depiction of what it is like to live with FOMO, and actually trying to do something about it.
This fear of missing out has probably affected everyone. They might not have heard of the acronym, but they have had the feeling. Not only is it an ugly fear, it is very irrational. There are articles out there that say, “HOW TO CONQUER FOMO” or “GETTING OVER FOMO IN 5 EASY STEPS” but yet, FOMO is very alive and it seems impossible to get over. Most of the advice is just deleting social media off your phone, but it is not an easy fix for the feeling of uneasiness that something great is happening, and you are not there to experience it.What many have to understand is that #FOMO cannot be eradicated, only managed. Anita Sanz of a clinical psychologist answers the psychological reason why people have FOMO,
We all know that systems to consolidate and enhance communication among humans to keep each other informed of important information, including potential sources of danger to our tribes/countries/species, developed over time and include the forms we interact with today such as television, newspapers, the internet, and social media platforms.
Because being left out is considered that important an event for us to pay attention to and to respond to quickly, we actually have a part of our brain that is specialized for sensing if we are being left out. Not that it is usually a matter of life and death anymore whether you are on Facebook or Twitter, but for many people that is or has become their community “lifeline.”
Social acceptance is a concept of importance in people’s lives. Social interaction is also a major part, so when a person feels like they are left out, the brain triggers the stress and anxiety that goes to flight or fight response.
I believe FOMO has become one of my biggest fears ever since I started going to college. I see everyone having fun and I just feel isolated. Even turning down an invitation triggers the fear, thoughts run through my mind as if it were a life or death situation. Why are people having fun without me?
Buzzfeed created a perfect rendition of what it’s like to have FOMO
Interestingly enough, #FOMO also has a twitter account, yes a twitter account. This account features anything that is #FOMO but also includes great insight on the epidemic.
So take a break from social media, it won’t be the end of the world. Once you’re off the grid the unnecessary stress will go away. But it’s easier said than done. I would recommend reassessing this idea when you’re home alone feeling more FOMO than JOMO( Joy of missing out). As Ilana would say at the end of the Hashtag FOMO episode “No Mo, FOMO”
To end on a lighter note, here is a great comic created by theoatmeal addressing #FOMO
New Study Finds Teens’ “Fear of Missing Out” is Proving to be Dangerous, By PR Newswire. Sys-Con Media. August 4 2015 http://news.sys-con.com/node/3397803
On September 22, 2015, I received an invitation to a free screening of the film 99 homes. My friend’s friend worked for a studio that was holding a VIP screening for the start of film festival season. When reading the word “free,” as a poor college student who enjoys free things, I kindly accepted the invitation with a “HELL YEAH I WANT TO GO.” Our names were put on a the VIP list and amazingly enough, I became a Very Important Person.
99 Homes movie poster
The day of the screening, I did some research on the film itself. I haven’t watched television in a long time, so I had no idea what new movies were coming out. 99 homes, which is now released in theatres across the nation, is a drama/thriller starring Marvel’s The Amazing Spiderman, Andrew Garfield and Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Shannon. The film is directed and written by Ramin Bahrani, who’s known for his film Chop Shop, which was highly praised by Roger Ebert. Being a fan of Andrew Garfield, I was very excited to see him in the film.
The door sign at Landmark Theatres.
7 o’clock rolls around and we enter the movie theatre. It was less crowded than I expected. We checked in at the VIP table and they checked our names off a list and gave us our tickets and we were good to go.
Picture of the movie ticket. Note that it says $0.00 because again, I would like to remind everyone that I did not have to pay for this.
When we walked in, we decided to take the seats in the front, because we were stupid and didn’t realize how much of a neck strain it would be. The seats filled up rather quickly. We were in the second row and this old man walks up to the front of the theatre. I was confused because he was just standing there trying to silence the crowd. I soon realize this man was no other than Francis Ford Coppola, director of films such as The Godfather trilogy. There was a celebrity less than two feet away from me, so I did what I had to do, I took out my phone and filmed his introduction to the film, as well as his introduction to the actual director who surprised the audience. Here is the video:
The movie was on the heavier side. It was about homes that are being foreclosed on. Andrew Garfield’s character was one of the people whose home was taken away from him. There was a lot of realty jargon that I still do not have a grasp on yet. What I found really interesting was when director Ramin Bahrani said that most of the actors in the film were real people. In my opinion, I thought the film was good, but I wouldn’t want to watch it a second time. However, I would recommend this film to everyone. On the news, we hear the stories of homes being foreclosed on, but this film displays the confusion and anger when one loses their home. The raw emotion of the actors was captivating. The audience sympathized for those who lost everything. Down below is the trailer .
After the movie, Francis Ford Coppola left rather quickly to avoid everyone, which makes total sense because my first instinct was to run and ask him for a selfie.
What I learned from this experience is to accept any free event because who knows, you might meet a celebrity.
Asian American stereotypes in mass media have heavily influenced viewers’ attitudes towards Asian Americans. Jun Xing speaks about the images that have pervasively pigeonholed Asian Americans in popular culture in his book Asian America Through the Lens. “As narrative conventions, they are noted for their incredible staying power and their wealth of sexist and racist clichés.” (Xing, 1998) The model minority stereotype is a common negative portrayal of Asian Americans. This stereotype was created in the 1960s showing Asian Americans as a polite and non-threatening group. It was crafted to promote Asian American assimilation as an exemplary archetype for other racial groups to follow. This adds to the deficiency of four-dimensional Asian American characters in mainstream television and movies and Asian Americans have begun a process of examining why they are misrepresented.
An Asian American family has not been featured in a television sitcom for twenty years. ABC picked up All American Girl starring Margret Cho, in 1995. (Jung, 2014) The show was about a Korean American “valley girl” torn between her family’s traditional values and the mall culture of nineties Southern California. The television show was written to cater more to the white audiences rather than a general audience. According to Jun Xing, the Asian American critics used the show as an example of flawed representation. Xing states, “Many Asian American viewers and critics though regarded the show as offensive and misleading, for it emphasized cultural conflict instead of racism as the major theme, and it reinforced the model minority image.”(Xing, 1998) Jon Caramanica of the New York Times interviewed Asian American critic Jeff Yang who wrote an extremely negative review back in the nineties. He stated, “The writing is awful, larded with stereotypes and dusty gags from ‘Full House’ ’s cutting-room floor.” (Caramanica, 2015) ABC decided to take it off the air after nineteen episodes because even the Asian community was not in favor of the sitcom.
The different, yet controversial sitcom, Fresh off the Boat is based off of celebrity chef, Eddie Huang’s bestselling Memoir. The show is a comedy which follows twelve-year-old Eddie, growing up in the 1990s with his Taiwanese immigrant family who move to Orlando from Washington DC to chase the American dream. Fresh Off the Boat is one of first network sitcoms to star an Asian American family, and is the third attempt by any major network in the history of the medium to have one as the core in primetime programming. Even before the premiere of the first episode on February 2015, many were reluctant of the show, even Eddie Huang himself. Huang signed with ABC in hopes to alter perceptions about Asian Americans and portray an authentic Asian immigrant experience to America without ambiguousness. In his essay, “Bamboo-Ceiling TV”, he criticized the show’s development process and how the network “softened” his coming of age story. While turning his life into primetime television show, ABC watered down his experiences for white consumption. Huang states,
The only way they could even mention some of the stories in the book was by building a Trojan horse and feeding the pathogenic stereotypes that still define us to a lot of American cyclope. Randall was neutered, Constance was exoticized, and Young Eddie was urbanized so that the viewers got their mise-en-place. People watching these channels have never seen us, and the network’s approach to pacifying them is to say we’re all the same. (Huang, 2015)
Eddie Huang addresses the affects of harmful Asian American stereotypes and how they influence American views. The writers of the show had to incorporate a few stereotypes in order to appeal to a wider audience. (Deegan, 2015) The stereotypes do not represent or explore any complexities of a person’s identity. Along with the essay, Eddie Huang addresses his disappointment with the show’s poor portrayal of an Asian American life on his twitter.
Along with the stereotypes Eddie Huang mentioned in his essay, another is visible through the male character, Eddie. Hyper-masculinity is used to overcompensate the stereotype of the emasculate Asian male that is so often portrayed in mass media. Hyper-masculinity is harmful because it ends up becoming extremely misogynistic. It overcompensates the male’s sexuality and degrades the female. A clear example of the use of hyper masculinity is in the second episode, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”. Eddie is trying to woo his neighbor or what he would like to call a “fine shorty” and the scene slips into Eddie’s fantasy of a rap music video cliché: money being thrown around and women used as props as twelve-year-old Eddie sprays Capri Sun on them.
According to Pilot Viruet of Vulture, “It’s chuckle-worthy on the surface, but if last week’s two episodes are any indication, Fresh Off the Boat is definitely smarter than a cheap, lazy visual gag like this.” (Viruet, 2015)
Fresh Off the Boat has its flaws, but it does not hide from the fact that the show is a representation of growing up as a minority in a predominantly white world. It brings in a unique cultural perspective. In an interview with Asian Fortune News, the executive director of the Organization of Chinese Americans, Daphne Kwok states of the impact it has with Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), “In non-threatening environments and through unsuspecting channels, it is easier to inform others about who we, AAPIs, really are. I enjoyed the lessons depicted in the first four episodes: name-calling, mocking of different foods, inability to pronounce Asian names, etc. ”(Ilustre, 2015) Thanks to television companies like ABC for allowing diversity on a medium that rarely sees Asian faces, it can inform the public to be more accepting to different cultures. The actress that play Jessica Huang on Fresh Off the Boat, Constance Wu, addresses the topic of visibility and how the television show offers that.
I wouldn’t say that just visibility is important. I would say visibility as the stars of a show is important. That says that our stories matter. We’re not here to do the taxes of the white person, or to be the chipper best friend to the white person. It’s important to see Asians in those leading roles because it changes what I’m calling the anglo-heteronormative status of TV. (Feeney, 2015)
Fresh Off the Boat offers the opportunity to give a unique perspective because a white person is not the lead and the minority is not the butt of the joke. Wu adds by saying the show’s specificity is what makes it unique.
We shouldn’t be a voice for all Asians. We are such a varied group that there’s no one show that can be like, “This is what Asian America looks like!” But we’re given that burden because we’re so rarely represented. If you see Tina Fey on television, you’re not like, “All white women are like Tina Fey.” Yet people are like, “Oh, Jessica Huang’s not like my mother, but this show is supposed to be about Asians, so shouldn’t she be like my mother? (Feeney, 2015)
It is important to recognize that not every Asian American experience is alike. Eddie Huang also addresses the need for Asian Americans to be seen as whole people in an interview with Time. Huang addresses the categorizations that people are put in.
The authenticity and visibility of the show is another important aspect overall. Though the accents are a bit overplayed but it is important to know that an immigrant coming from a different country does not have perfect English. The television show does placate a few stereotypes, but since it’s only in its first season it has the ability to go against the ones that have been so ingrained in our society. Fresh Off the Boat and ABC is giving opportunity to combat the stereotypes in mainstream America and is a great start for future generations of the Asian American community.
According to Kate Taylor of Entrepeneur, millennials are creating a booming business for live events such as concerts, festivals and parties. She states
The show was about a Korean American “valley girl” torn between her family’s traditional values and the mall culture of nineties Southern California. The television show was written to cater more to the white audiences rather than a general audience. According to Jun Xing, the Asian American critics used the show as an example of flawed representation. Xing states, “Many Asian American viewers and critics though regarded the show as offensive and misleading, for it emphasized cultural conflict instead of racism as the major theme, and it reinforced the model minority image.”(Xing, 1998) Jon Caramanica of the New York Times interviewed Asian American critic Jeff Yang who wrote an extremely negative review back in the nineties. He stated, “The writing is awful, larded with stereotypes and dusty gags from ‘Full House’ ’s cutting-room floor.” (Caramanica, 2015) ABC decided to take it off the air after nineteen episodes because even the Asian community was not in favor of the sitcom.
lynnlasagna 