Is social media usage all about fear of missing out?

In this blog I am writing some of my personal opinions. How much you agree and disagree with me? Lets talk in comments.

"Hey Rajeev, why you are not on Facebook. You are missing out many good things in life." One of my friend told me this some other day.

It is more than five years now when I deactivated my Facebook account. Since, then I have not been that active on social media platforms except YouTube.

I am not on Facebook and I don’t regret that whatever I have missed out due to lack of it. Looking back, I can comfortably conclude that it was a good life decision. I was a naïve and random blogger in my 20's something. Then came the growth phase of social media. I was one of the early adapters of social media. When I look back at those years I feel hadn't I paid less time on Facebook and Twitter; I could have been a better Blogger. Nevertheless, this blog is possible because I couldn't write those blog. Scores are level now.

We need to ask ourselves. Is it the sole fear of missing out which keeps us hooked to the social media? Why do we have these applications on my mobile. For some the usage of social media is on rise and has reached an all time high. For some, the usage has declined but still there is an unconscious obligation to open Facebook. Some of us who are a bit serious about their professional image are active on LinkedIn. Some are on Twitter, and younger millennials on Instagram. There are other niche based social applications as well. Then we have also YouTube, podcasts, other web streaming platforms and the likes of Prime Video, Netflix and their competitors.

Digital technology is evolving. This giant is growing bigger. Social media coupled with web streaming applications comprehensively cover every single happening and subject in the world. If you have a curiosity, you find Google right there to help you. Wikipedia is there to provide answer. Social media sometimes helps us to build the curiosity.

What actually social media offers you for which you might fear to miss out?

For me, when I left Facebook I realized that this platform is not offering me anything fruitful. This platform was only filling my brain with cocktail of emotions. My Facebook login feed had some good jokes from the humor web pages. Some of them were very good and they were growing at phenomenal pace. I had feed from my friends who were regularly posting their life events, travels and achievements. I was also a part of that herd. I did all these too. I was a part of that competition. I too had that pressure to present better version of myself on my social wall. I also stalked profiles of my crushes in past. Facebook empowered people to digitally trace other people. Knowingly and unknowingly people trace digital footprints for others to follow.

Facebook was the medium where emotional cold wars also happened. Rage, rivalry, competitions, envy (read jealously); such dark feelings were also witnessed. Nevertheless, the political campaigns and propaganda also got its prominent place.

Before I called a cold turkey for Facebook; my network's usage already reached its bottom. I was not on Facebook but my usage was quite less now. I did not had the obligation to log in and show off. I was doing good in life. Somehow, I grew sanity that my show-off was a no show-off. Eventually, I had a bad relationship phase in life. I was an emotionally down phase of life. I discovered, Facebook was also used as a tool to hurt my feelings. This became that tipping point for me to leave the social media.

If I didn't had that that bad phase; I might have been on this platform with an idle profile. Now I am there with a deactivated profile. Facebook still has all my past data just waiting to be reactivated. I still receive system generated e mailers from Facebook promoting the fear of missing out theory.

Yes, there is a lot happening on Facebook. But, for me most of that lot happening is not relevant for me. Someone is on vacation, someone has a cute baby, someone has a perfect body, someone is supporting a national cause, someone had a bad day, it is someone's birthday, and there are lot of someone who are my friends on Facebook but I never really met them. These are some of the fears which I can miss out by not being there.

I will also miss out those someone who will try to brainwash me to make my believe that my religion of chance is the best and people of some other religions are really bad and dangerous. They will try to install the fear in me that my religion needs to be saved from people of other religion. Yes, I will miss on that.

I will also miss out the supremacy of my caste and its rich heritage and history. I will not be reminded regularly that people of my caste are the best. I may forget which legend belongs to my caste. I will miss out on dark and dirty humors. I will miss out to know which of my classmate from school and college is having a better life than mine. Anyways, I will never come to know who's life is not better than that of mine.

I will miss the newer trick of attention engineers of these social media platforms, who are adding new features on the platform's app and website to ensure I am glued to them once I login. I will miss out those seeds of curiosity. I will miss innumerous mindless selfies and group selfies. I will miss out usage new hybrid words like groupies.

I will miss out birthday's of so many people and will miss out to click send on system generated personalized and prefilled birthday wish. Since, I am not on Facebook, very few call me up on my birthday. I have a pity for them, somehow they know, somewhat my existance matter to them; these real long conversations in the process kill so much of their precious time. Editing and sending the pre-filled message could have saved their precious time.

I am going to miss out on new trends and fads. I will miss out to see the forced wedding albums of celebrities and the social hysteria around them. I will also miss out who else has came across the book "the subtle art of not giving a f*ck".

I am going to miss out all those real and fake news and the conversations that are built around them. I will miss out reading offensive troll comments to someone.

I will miss out new hobbies which my friends are pursuing these days.

I will miss out some good quality content as well. If you find this blog worth sharing on Facebook; please share.

I will also miss out to know if you have shared this blog post on Facebook or not.

I have left Facebook 5 years back, but I am surrounded by the effects of Facebook and related social media platforms have on me. These platforms are growing bigger. So big that they have presence beyond the platform. Celebrities and politician's tweet becomes a news and ported to other platforms. Even, TV and print media reports them. Many TV channels in India are solely running on with good TRP by broadcasting news made out of social media feeds.

If anything goes viral on one media, becomes the ready content of other media. We have qualified and intelligent people working day and night doing social media marketing and propaganda. Even, we disconnect all means of digital media, a fellow colleague or a family member will make you aware of what is viral these days on social media. Similarly, people talking people know my whereabouts and will let me know whereabouts of others through one way or another.

To conclude that, my theory is what you should know; you will know eventually even if you are there or not on social media channels.