FOMO and Normalization of Luxury on Social Media: The Fire and the Fuel
By Pariyakorn (Quinn) Petchrat, Thailand
Introduction
Everyone has an urge to feel included, as humans are social animals. But what happens when we humans feel that we lack the social element of our lives? FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, affects about 75% of today’s youth (Roberts, 2019). FOMO, as the name suggests, is most often defined as the fear or anxiety that stems from missing out on something (an event, memory, or a moment) significant and memorable. FOMO is most often seen in teenagers and adolescents who are classified as Generation Z (Fitria, Hadromi, Ekmarinda, 2023). Fear of missing out is a prevalent issue within the modern era among adolescents and young adults that continues to grow as social media develops.
Another issue that arises with the use of social media stems from the need for users or netizens to show off the better parts of their lives, including their travels, their food, and their clothing. Social media has become a kind of platform where one can gain self-validation and self-contentment by showing off the fact that they seem to be living more luxurious lives than others. Indeed, this would not be a problem for those who can afford the lifestyle, but for those who are easily influenced and need the kind of social validation that arises from the use of social media, the normalization of luxury may very well be one of the most harmful internalizations one can make.
Contributions to FOMO
Studies argue that the rise of FOMO in young adults is related to the rise of social media. Consequently, as social media develops, adolescents and young adults are more exposed to the better parts of their peers’ lives (no matter whether those events posted on social media are genuine or made up). Thus, they are more inclined to want to feel those things as well. Additionally, there is a direct link between social self-esteem and FOMO. Therefore, an individual with higher social self-esteem and self-contentment will be less inclined to be affected by FOMO. (Barry, Wong, 2024)
For some, FOMO is as extreme as wanting to feel included even at the cost of their health, money, or other elements of their well-being. The feeling of FOMO alone can contribute to the deterioration of someone’s already fragile mental health. Not only that, FOMO can also prompt social media users to stay on social media platforms longer to validate themselves (Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013), which can affect their physical and mental health even more. While the dangers of FOMO are not unknown, it is still an issue that many struggle with, consciously or not.
Normalization of Luxury
Anyone who has scrolled through social media such as Facebook or Instagram has probably seen the types of influencers who flaunt their wealth on their profiles – whether it be pictures of champagne, their latest European trip, or their classy modern cars that they just bought straight from the dealership. But little does the media know: two types of people engage in posting about their luxurious lives: the type that can afford it, and the type that fakes it for exposure. Many don’t realize that it’s highly unlikely that the entirety of the top 1% is actually on their TikTok feed, convincing them that this is the norm.
So why is it that luxury has become so common? Well, that is because social media, as FRNKOW journal writes, heavily depends on aesthetics and visuals. Luxury, or branding, thus has more appeal to users (Philipp, 2024). In addition to that, luxury is also heavily romanticized on social media, which prompts more people to aim for or want luxury in their lives to feel fulfilled. To put it simply, luxury is just more aesthetically pleasing than your common everyday living.
The Fire and The Fuel
The presence and growth of FOMO precedes the normalization of luxury by a few years. Despite that, the normalization of luxury has no doubt been fuel to FOMO within the past few years, to the point that it has become a sort of destructive cycle all in itself. The more that luxurious living and branded goods are normalized, the more that people with low social self-esteem will be convinced that they need such things to ‘fit in’ or to ‘gain validation’ from social media. Thus, they buy more luxury goods and spend more on luxurious living, not because they like living like this or because they like the look of branded goods, but simply because that is what they deem ‘normal’ and that is what they need to do to not feel that they are missing out on an important part of internet culture.
Bibliography
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Fitria, N., Hadromi, F. A., & Ekmarinda, E. Y. (2023). FOMO and its effect on Gen Z
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Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E. (2019). The Social Media Party: Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Social Media Intensity, Connection, and Well-Being. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 36(4), 386–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2019.1646517
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