THE IMPACT OF FEAR OF MISSING OUT (FOMO) ON SOCIAL MEDIA USERS OF KERALA

With the growth of social media platforms, people are becoming increasingly linked and exposed to a vast amount of information, updates, and happenings in real-time. Anxiety and the worry of missing out on things, opportunities, or relationships may be aggravated by the constant flood of social media content. Overusing social media platforms has been linked to the psychiatric disorder known as "Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO) because, at times, users use these sites to compare their lives to those of others and keep up with and constantly check on what their friends are up to. This study aims to explore how social media use and FOMO are related. The paper will employ a method of quantitative analysis, which involves collecting data from a sample of social media users in Kerala via an online survey, as well as a qualitative method, which involves interviews with leading psychologists and the analysis of a literature review. The study will employ theoretical frameworks like social comparison theory, self-determination theory, and uses and gratifications theory to analyse the data and understand the connection between social media usage and FOMO. The findings of this study will give an insight of social media usage and FOMO while highlighting the psychological impacts of social media usage on an individual's wellness.