From FOMO to JOMO: A Literature Review on Social Media
Disconnection and Its Role in User Ambivalence
Yuhan Zhang
Department of Aviation Service and Media, Science and Technology College of NCHU,
Gongqingcheng, 332020, Jiangxi, China
Keywords: FOMO, JOMO, Social Media Disconnection, Dynamic Relationship.
Abstract: Over-reliance on social media can lead to a unique phenomenon - Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), marked by
anxiety about missing others' experiences. It is worth noting that users are engaging in social media
disconnection, creating a positive psychological phenomenon - Joy of Missing Out (JOMO). This paper
systematically analyses the dynamic relationship between FOMO and JOMO and the contradictory
psychological and behavioural manifestations of users during the disconnection process through a literature
review. The final conclusion is that social media use is positively correlated with FOMO and that there is a
causal relationship. In this case, users' disconnection behaviour through social media can effectively catalyse
the generation of JOMO. However, behavioural habits, psychological factors, social ties, and residual FOMO
generate conflicting post-disconnection emotions.This also reveals the uncertainty of disconnection behaviour
and provides theoretical support for the formulation of scientific disconnection strategies in the future.
1 INTRODUCTION
In modern society, where the digitalisation of
information has become the norm, social media has
penetrated almost every aspect of human life.
However, social media is a double-edged sword. On
the one hand, it has created an unprecedentedly
convenient scenario for instant communication; on
the other hand, alongside the proliferation of digital
platform engagement, psychological distress
epitomized by FOMO has emerged (Przybylski et al.,
2013). Research has increasingly focused on the
psychological consequences of social media
engagement, particularly how frequent use elevates
FOMO. Studies demonstrate that heightened FOMO
not only correlates with chronic social comparison
but also undermines individuals' sense of belonging.
In this context, social media disconnection behaviour
has begun to emerge, and a new reverse psychological
experience - Joy of Missing Out (JOMO), has
gradually come into human vision. The introduction
of this concept goes beyond merely illustrating users'
emancipation from FOMO - induced distress to
further illuminate their proactive pursuit of anxiety
alleviation through self-focused strategies, while
concurrently exposing the psychological paradoxes
inherent in social media connectivity and
disconnection. Therefore, it is particularly important
to re-examine the impact of social media on users'
psychological experience from the perspective of
social media disconnection.
Most existing studies have fully revealed the
negative correlation between excessive social media
use and FOMO, as well as the positive psychological
effect of JOMO. However, most of them discuss the
influence of the two independently or pit them against
each other. To some extent, the discussion of the
dynamic relationship between FOMO and JOMO and
the psychological conflict of users in the process of
changing from FOMO to JOMO has been neglected,
especially the contradictory conflict of users'
psychology under the influence of factors such as
environment, social pressure, separation anxiety, and
practical problems when disconnecting from social
media, which makes it difficult to formulate precise
and scientific intervention strategies at the practical
level to alleviate users' anxiety.
This paper systematically explores the following
core issues through a comprehensive correlation
study: (1) The correlation and causal relationship
between social media use and FOMO. (2) The
generation of JOMO from the perspective of social
484
Zhang, Y.
From FOMO to JOMO: A Literature Review on Social Media Disconnection and Its Role in User Ambivalence.
DOI: 10.5220/0013993700004916
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2025), pages 484-489
ISBN: 978-989-758-778-8
Proceedings Copyright © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.

media disconnection and the relationship between
FOMO and JOMO within the context of
disconnection. (3) The factors that affect the
contradictory psychological state of users after social
media disconnection. By synthesizing prior research,
this study interrogates how FOMO and JOMO coexist
and conflict within digital platforms, while probing
the psychological tensions underlying voluntary
disengagement behaviors. These insights culminate
in actionable recommendations for advancing
scholarly inquiry.
2 CORRELATION BETWEEN
FOMO AND THE USE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA
In order to investigate the outlined objectives, the first
thing that needs to be discussed in this paper is the
correlation and causal dynamic connecting FOMO
and the use of social media.
2.1 Social Media Perspective
From the perspective of social media, digital
platforms provide users with interactive opportunities
unrestricted by time and space, as well as access to
social resources far beyond what was previously
available. However, such platforms also enable
content creators to share vast amounts of information.
This information is often carefully designed and
embellished by content creators (Zhang et al., 2021).
This will trigger users, consciously or unconsciously,
to make social comparisons with others in order to
assess their own abilities, and to generate negative
emotions such as jealousy, anxiety, and unease (Eitan
& Gazit, 2024). Consequently, users will worry that
they may miss some important information and
beneficial experiences, leading to the emergence of
FOMO, and then try to compensate for their negative
emotions by increasing the intensity of their platform
engagement and their urge to stay in touch with the
beneficial experiences of others. Specifically, Zhang
et al. conducted a meta-analysis of 65 publications
encompassing 70 samples, 90 effects, and 61,893
individuals, and used a random effects model to
verify its applicability through heterogeneity. The
final meta-analytic evidence was that digital platform
engagement elevated fear of missing out levels
(Zhang et al., 2021). An online survey targeting a
cohort of 230 Israelis was administered by Eitan et
al., who employed two hierarchical regression
analyses to clarify directional relationships between
key predictors and FOMO. Results indicated that
participants reporting heightened FOMO engaged
more frequently in online activities (Eitan & Gazit,
2024).
2.2 FOMO Perspective
FOMO is conceptualized by Przybylski et al. as 'a
pervasive concern'—a persistent anxiety state rooted
in fears of missing others' experiences or critical
information(Przybylski et al., 2013). Within digital
environments, users will increase their platform
engagement intensity driven by a need to crave
connection with others (Fioravanti et al., 2021). At
the same time, belonging and seeking information are
basic instincts and adaptive traits shaped by human
evolution. When the satisfaction of these two needs is
low or the driving force is insufficient, this deficit will
exacerbate the user's FOMO. As a social tool that is
essential for establishing social relationships and
obtaining external information, social media is an
outlet for users to satisfy their needs for belonging
and seeking information (Roberts & David, 2020). In
addition, Roberts et al. conducted a questionnaire
survey on 107 participants and measured users
FOMO and social media intensity using relevant
scales. For example, the measurement of platform
engagement levels refers not only to duration and
regularity. Roberts et al. used a six-item scale
developed by Ellison et al. to assess platform
engagement levels, which assesses users' emotional
dependence on social media, their behavioural
patterns, and the social relationships strengthened
through social media, among other things, to quantify
the depth of the bidirectional dynamics between users
and platforms from multiple perspectives. A
significant positive association was identified
between heightened social media engagement
intensity and elevated FOMO levels (Roberts &
David, 2020). Similarly, people with high FOMO
levels will be more active in seeking social
opportunities on social media. A study involving 87
participants assessed for FOMO, Facebook usage,
and emotional ambivalence revealed that individuals
with elevated FOMO scores exhibited more frequent
early-morning platform engagement (Przybylski et
al., 2013).
As scholarly understanding of social media
evolves, empirical investigations have increasingly
delineated its psychological implications. Notably, a
consistent positive correlation has been established
between general social media engagement and
FOMO. This relationship extends to problematic
usage patterns, as evidenced by a meta-analytic
From FOMO to JOMO: A Literature Review on Social Media Disconnection and Its Role in User Ambivalence
485

synthesis (Fioravanti et al., 2021). David and Roberts
conducted two sets of experiments to manipulate
social media engagement levels and FOMO-inducing
conditions of platform engagement and FOMO, and
concluded demonstrate a bidirectional causal
interplay involving FOMO and digital platform
engagement, with the two phenomena appearing to
form a self-reinforcing cycle (David & Roberts,
2023).
2.3 Conclusion
The above summary empirically establishes that
FOMO exhibits a robust positive correlation with
social media use, with heightened engagement
amplifying users' FOMO manifestations.
Furthermore, FOMO is reciprocally identified as an
intrinsic driver perpetuating compulsive platform
engagement. Moreover, relevant literature has also
clarified through experimental research that there is a
two-way causal relationship between social media
use and FOMO, and it seems to present a continuous
feedback loop. If users get caught in the loop, their
individual well-being will also decrease, and negative
emotions such as anxiety and worry will also
increase. Therefore, the urgent problem of how to
improve users' happiness and prevent them from
getting caught in a vicious cycle needs to be solved.
3 FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA
DISCONNECTION, THE
GENERATION OF USER JOMO
AND THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN JOMO AND FOMO
3.1 The Generative Effect of Social
Media Disconnection on JOMO
Scholarly conceptualisations of disconnection exhibit
significant contextual variability. Disconnection has
been conceptualised heterogeneously across diverse
events or contexts. Nassen et al. defined voluntary
disconnection as 'conscious behaviour to disconnect
from digital devices such as social media and email
for a period of time or permanently' through a
systematic review of different literature (Nassen et
al., 2023). Its main characteristics are: autonomy,
users may voluntarily disconnect actively because
they want to improve the way they interact socially or
because they want to reduce distractions and online
social pressures.
From a theoretical perspective, 'competence,
autonomy, and relatedness' are considered to be basic
psychological needs of humans in self-determination
theory (Przybylski et al., 2013). FOMO is often seen
as a product of a lack of basic needs or a low level of
basic needs. When individuals begin to voluntarily
disconnect from social media, they make autonomous
decisions to increase their control over their time and
energy. This gives individuals a sense of self-control,
thereby satisfying the need for autonomy. At the same
time, when individuals voluntarily reduce low-quality
social media activities and redirect their energy
toward pursuing personal goals, they fulfill their
psychological need for competence and experience
the benefits of disconnection. Consequently, JOMO
emerges as a psychological construct (Barry et al.,
2023). In addition, Eitan et al. conducted an online
survey of 230 participants using quantitative research
methods, combining factors such as sample
happiness, online engagement, and social comparison
to analyse FOMO and JOMO. They ultimately found
that when disconnected from social media, users
tended to experience more positive emotions, which
greatly promoted the generation of JOMO (Eitan &
Gazit, 2024). Therefore, these findings indicate that
voluntary social media disconnection serves as an
effective pathway to achieve JOMO and sustain its
enhancement. By disconnecting from social media,
users will reduce their perception of related
information and thus pursue internal satisfaction
more. However, for permanent disconnection, this is
highly unlikely. Users are more likely to find a
balance through effective disconnection for a certain
period of time, so as to further enhance their sense of
happiness and concentration.
From the perspective of JOMO itself, it is often
used as the conceptual antithesis of FOMO in many
studies. JOMO is usually conceptualised as 'missed
pleasure', which is more concerned with self-focus,
satisfaction, and the freedom of disconnection (Barry
et al., 2023). Conceptually, social media
disconnection is a prominent feature of JOMO. In
diametric opposition to FOMO, people with JOMO
characteristics are more concerned with self-
cultivation and self-identity, rather than connecting
with others' experiences or information through
frequent use of social media to compensate for their
own needs. At the level of social comparison, as
shown in the above review, users usually have a more
intuitive evaluation of themselves based on the
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internal drive to compare with others. This internal
drive forces users to participate in social media more
frequently in order to reduce uncertainty in the social
sphere. An online survey analyzed through structural
equation modeling revealed an inverse relationship
between social comparison tendencies and JOMO
(Eitan & Gazit, 2024). The characteristics of JOMO
suggest that individuals with this mindset are more
likely to engage in self-reflection rather than social
comparison.
3.2 The Relationship Between FOMO
and JOMO
In most literature, JOMO and FOMO usually present
an antagonistic relationship (Jacobsen, 2021).
However, this may not be the case in reality. Barry et
al. conducted a survey on a sample of 507 adults aged
19 to 59 employing validated psychometric
instruments, and further analysed the results using
multivariate analysis methods and exploratory factor
analysis. They ultimately found that both JOMO and
FOMO both exhibit significant associations with
social anxiety, while also revealing a moderate
positive correlation between JOMO and FOMO in the
sample (Barry et al., 2023). Therefore, from the
perspective of social anxiety, both demonstrate
notable links to social anxiety. However, the
motivations and behavioural manifestations of the
two are different. Users with FOMO will try to
alleviate their anxiety by increasing their use of social
media, as they are afraid of missing out on other
people's experiences and opportunities to connect
with society. They also focus more on what others are
doing. The situation with JOMO is more complicated.
Judging from the research results, JOMO's
motivational underpinnings exhibit ambivalence. It
may come from both active and independent choice
(such as the pursuit of internal satisfaction and focus
on the self) and from the user's feelings of unease and
anxiety in the online social environment (such as
being driven by social anxiety) (Barry et al., 2023). In
this case, users may protect themselves by
disconnecting or hope to reduce social interaction
with the outside world in the form of self-isolation, so
as to alleviate their social anxiety. Such users may
focus more on what they need. FOMO and JOMO are
moderately positively correlated, which indicates that
FOMO and JOMO may not be simply opposed to
each other, and their psychological motivation
characteristics may be similar, for example, they both
generate anxiety in the online social environment.
The relationship between JOMO and FOMO is not
a completely static opposition. They may be at
opposite ends of the same spectrum, and users'
positions on this spectrum on this spectrum may
fluctuate dynamically depending on factors such as
psychological state, environmental stress, and
cultural background (Eitan & Gazit, 2024). It can be
inferred that when driven by social anxiety, users are
likely to use social media disconnection behaviour to
relieve their inner anxiety and gain a sense of
security. Some users may feel positive emotions
brought about by focusing on themselves during the
disconnection process, at which point their
psychological state could tilt towards JOMO.
Another part of users may feel lonely or insecure due
to disconnection and choose to pick up their
smartphones again, which may cause their
psychological state to tilt from the middle of the
spectrum towards FOMO.
3.3 Conclusion
From the above overview, it can be preliminarily
concluded that social media disconnection is one of
the effective ways for users to generate JOMO.
However, when discussing the relationship between
FOMO and JOMO, it is found that there may be a
more complex invisible relationship between FOMO
and JOMO. In this case, users may not simply
disconnect based on positive factors. They may be
influenced by factors such as social media pressure
and social environment. This is also closely related to
the contradictory mindset of users towards social
media disconnection behaviour, as discussed below.
4 THE AMBIVALENT
PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVES
OF USERS IN THE PROCESS
OF TRANSFORMING FROM
FOMO TO JOMO FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL
MEDIA DISCONNECTION
In the face of the increasing saturation of social media
content, users' social media disconnection behaviour
is rarely a binary opposition of “use it or not use it”.
It more represents a decision-making behaviour
driven by a combination of complex psychological
motives such as social pressure, self-protection, and
fatigue.
From JOMO's perspective, users' social media
disconnection behaviour is based on individuals focus
From FOMO to JOMO: A Literature Review on Social Media Disconnection and Its Role in User Ambivalence
487

on and control of themselves and their pursuit of a
sense of freedom when disconnected. However, this
may not be the case for some users. Their social
media disconnection behaviour may be influenced by
behavioural factors (e.g. excessive use of social
media, uneven time allocation, social privacy risks,
etc.) or psychological and social environmental
factors (e.g. social burnout, emotional stress) (Nassen
et al., 2023). The result may not only be positive
psychological emotions, but also complex negative
psychological emotions caused by disconnection.
Nguyen conducted in-depth interviews with a sample
of 30 adults aged 21 to 39 who met the criteria of
having engaged in at least one disconnection
behaviour or having completely stopped using social
media. When the motives for disconnection were
discussed in the interviews with the sample, it was
found that most users ' motives for disconnection
were triggered by the following factors. First, it is
related to the social media platform or software used
by the user, such as the homogenisation of
information on social media platforms, which may
make users lose interest in using social media, or the
risk of privacy leaks within online environments.
Second, it is influenced by the surrounding
environment, such as feeling stressed and nervous
when replying to others' messages. The third is the
impact of changes in an individual's life situation,
such as the need for users to balance work and family
or the need to reduce social media use during
important stages of life. These three reasons may have
contributed to users disconnecting from social media
(Nguyen, 2023).
From the perspective of FOMO, there is another
possible motivation for users to choose to disconnect
from social media. Individuals experience anxiety
and increase their use of social media because they
are afraid of missing important information or
experiences from others. When some users become
aware of their anxiety or social pressure during social
media use, in this case, users actively choose to
disconnect from social media, thus remaining
unaware of some information or actively blocking it,
which may alleviate the user's anxiety about
perceived unknown messages.' Through a systematic
meta-analysis conducted by Radtke et al., some
research results showed that users 'FOMO scores
decreased when they disconnected from digital
platforms, indicating that social media disconnection
may have a beneficial impact on users' anxiety to
some extent. However, some results showed that
users ' FOMO scores remained the same or increased
when they disconnected from social media (Radtke et
al., 2022). From this point of view, the inconsistent
research results reflect the two-sided effect of social
media disconnection on individuals' FOMO levels.
These findings from studies with different FOMO
scores also suggest that users may face a certain
challenge when disconnecting. Their motivation to
disconnect may recur, and they may pick up their
smartphone again after that (Nassen et al., 2023).
Nguyen et al. found in in-depth interviews that users'
difficulty in disconnecting or maintaining a
disconnected state is also affected by multiple factors.
For example, based on real-life challenges, in the case
of social media being closely linked to real life,
disconnecting can make it difficult for users to
participate in society, and they are worried about
missing social connections and social network
updates (Nguyen, 2023). In this case, FOMO
becomes another barrier between users and social
media disconnection.Users face a paradoxical
dilemma: while grappling with anxiety fueled by the
mixed effects of digital platforms, they remain
tethered to these online spaces due to an ingrained
reliance that complicates detachment.
Based on the above summary, it can be concluded
that social media disconnection is not simply a matter
of choosing to use or not use. Users need to face the
dynamic impact of FOMO and JOMO, environmental
dependence, and the challenges of real life. On the
one hand, users may generate positive emotions of
JOMO because they focus on themselves, their self-
regulation ability improves, or they enjoy the freedom
of disconnection. On the other hand, users may
experience conflicting emotions due to complex
factors such as social environment and pressure when
disconnected. Even if users cannot generate positive
psychological feelings while disconnected, they may
be forced to engage in frequent social media use again
due to multiple factors such as FOMO.
5 CONCLUSION
This paper reveals through a literature review that
there is a positive correlation and causal relationship
between social media use and FOMO, and that users
will frequently use social media platforms due to the
fear of missing out. This shows that excessive use can
lead to a decrease in user happiness, and may form a
negative cycle of “psychological anxiety and anxiety-
driven social media use”. A further review found that
social media disconnection was an effective way for
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488

users to generate JOMO. However, FOMO and
JOMO were not dichotomous; some researchers
suggested they might represent two ends of a
spectrum. When users try to generate JOMO through
social media disconnection, they will face the
influence of multiple factors such as behavioural
habits, psychology, and social factors, which will lead
to multiple contradictory emotions such as a sense of
loss of belonging, an increase in loneliness, and an
increase in a sense of freedom, which makes it
difficult for users to generate JOMO through social
media disconnection behaviour, and even after
disconnection, they will pick up their phones again. It
can be seen that ambivalent psychology not only
reveals the many real-life challenges that users face
in the transformation from FOMO to JOMO, but also
increases the uncertainty and risk of user behaviour.
However, most of the existing research on which this
article is based is cross-sectional lacking longitudinal
dynamic research on the user's FOMO to JOMO
conversion process, as well as tracking experiments
on the disconnection threshold. Future research can
build on this foundation to conduct disconnection
tracking experiments, explore the dynamic
psychological changes of users in the process of
moving from FOMO to JOMO, and formulate
scientific and sustainable disconnection strategies
based on the results. Ultimately, this will help users
find a balance between social media use and real life,
and enhance their sense of well-being.
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