Words of Mine

UX Marketing Entries & Commentary Poetry Humans & Politics Design

The fear of missing out has been prevalent for a while and it's acronym FOMO, a sister of the long dead YOLO, is known by almost anyone from millennials to gen-Zs. However, I'm noticing a subtle spread of a new social fear; the fear of being 'cringe!

FOBC is the new FOMO

Let me explain. With the Covid outbreak following two years of lockdown, social media has reached a new level of consumption and engagement. This includes the emergence of a new social media giant named TikTok.

The pandemic era, propelled by boredom, social restrictions, and quarantine, nudged society toward the digital playground, compensating for the parks and playgrounds that were once spaces for letting loose and goofing around. This shift resulted in a surge of constant online posting, interaction, and participation in rapidly emerging trends. The bar for content creator success hit new heights, generating a surplus of internet influencers.

As life post-lockdown returned to normal routines and people became busier, the tolerance for lame or quirky content decreased. People who recall Robert Lewandowski's 2020 TikToks today will understand my point.

Since then, we've been ensnared in a battle between oversharing and keeping to ourselves, especially with the stakes of the digital realm being so high. On one side of the coin lies genuine success and self-respect for fearlessly being yourself, while on the other side, there's the risk of becoming an internet troll and losing self-respect in a different way.

As a sufferer of this fear myself, I remind myself of two things:

1- Creation>Consumption.

When you create you are on the opposite side of the spectrum from consumption. In our capitalistic world, with so few opportunities outside a consumption state, if creating online content is one of them, then delve into it. In the worst-case scenario, creating cringe content is still better than consuming it.

2- I remind myself of history's greats. Those who were far from perfect on day one but stayed true regardless. How would their messy social media feeds look like today? What's the amount of character development they would have unapologetically embraced and displayed?

Be you.