The use of social networks is widespread and we use them for different purposes, from knowing how our friends and/or family are doing and doing, to entertaining ourselves. But, they present a big problem and that is that they are tremendously addictive due to their infinite scroll operation. As a result of this, a movement called JOMO was born that has quickly become popular.
Social networks often create an unreal environment that distorts reality. We have seen this this past week with the death of Liam Payne, who was a member of One Direction.
While in his account, managed by an agency, images of his vacation with his partner appeared and that radiated happiness. The reality is that he was in a hotel room immersed in a spiral of drugs and alcohol that, unfortunately, ended with his accidental death.
The viral disconnection movement JOMO
Spending excessive hours using social networks can lead to mental health problems such as depression, sleep disturbance or anxiety. This generates FOMO (Fear of missing out) which would be translated as fear of missing something.
You should know that FOMO mainly affects young people and adolescents, causing anxiety and lack of attention. They don’t want to take off for a moment, in case they miss a memorable moment. All this generates lack of attention in class, social isolation and other pathologies. To combat this problem, the JOMO movement was born, which would be an opposing position.
JOMO (Joy of missing out) would be the antonym of FOMO, which would be the joy of missing out on things. He focuses on enjoying being away from social media and missing out on the things that happen there. The idea of ”missing out” is approached as something that can bring personal well-being.
Although this movement is currently gaining strength, it is not exactly new. Its origin comes from the book The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World, written by Christina Crook in 2014.
This movement focuses on reducing stress and anxiety by freeing us from the pressure of being connected all the time, helping to reduce cortisol, which is the stress hormone. Additionally, it offers an improvement in sleep by not using devices before going to sleep.
Also, since we eliminate a distracting element, we concentrate more on a task to be more productive. Because we have more time, we can reflect more and thus be more creative and have new ideas. We no longer have realistic stimuli that allows us to increase concentration on our desires and needs.
Since we are not “forced” to be connected, we have more free time to play sports, read, cook or make plans with friends and/or family.
Practicing JOMO is really simple, since it is based on extremely easy guidelines. The first is to establish a time limit for using social networks and even a limit time for use, such as 8:00 p.m. Additionally, disable notifications to avoid the incentive to access.
Additionally, to avoid the use of social networks is to carry out non-sedentary activities. This can be a walk in nature, playing sports, cooking, reading, drawing, or any other activity that doesn’t involve screens. If we carry out sedentary activities, such as watching television, it is easier for us to feel the urge to access social networks.
