Recently people have been documenting the FOMO (fear of missing out) phenomenon that's influencing today's generation (Gen Y and Z, I guess). A lot of the commentary I read tends to paint it as a pressing social problem and personally I tend to agree with the general sentiment of those authors. I think that for a lot of people, the balance has gone way too far in the direction of FOMO over living in the moment and I've taken steps to move away from online social media to stop feeding the FOMO machine - I now rarely broadcast personal stories unsolicited and I have tried (though with not much success yet) to avoid scrolling endlessly through Newsfeeds all day. But it has been hard. Do you think that this is a problem and what do you think we should do to 'fix' it? Or do you think this kind of opinion is too conservative and that times are just changing and we just need to adapt? If so, how does one best live happily in this new world? Or perhaps you might think that we aren't really in the grip of a FOMO epidemic and people are painting a picture that isn't there? Keen to know your thoughts!
I think people say that kind of thing about every generation. A lot of people aren't really ready to commit at a young age, the only reason it seems to change from generation to generation is because the "need" to commit before you're ready is lessening with time. Women don't have to have a husband to support them, people don't need to rush into parenthood, society has become more accepting of single parents. Honestly, I don't see this as a bad thing. I think it's probably better for everyone when people don't feel forced or rushed into it. It saves a lot of heartache later on. I've seen too many very unhappy and even abusive marriages from people my parents' generation on up, who stay together because they can't imagine another way, or in later generations marriages that end in nasty, vindictive divorces. I can't help but think that there must be a better way.
^ Agreed. Every generation has this said about one thing or another. I don't really bother with social media, I'll try something like fb or twitter out then get bored and not do it anymore. That said, I met my best friend on twitter. A persons attitude to relationships has far more to do with their overall character than the tools they use.
