The Dual Nature of Social Media: Examining the Direction of Causal Flow Between Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Use

The dual (bidirectional) nature of social media suggests that fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) leads to greater social media use (SMU). In turn, higher levels of SMU lead to heightened FOMO. Ironically, individuals use social media to assuage their FOMO but end up with higher levels of FOMO after being exposed to a wide variety of social opportunities, where they may not have been included. The present research examines the hypothesized bidirectional causal flow between FOMO and SMU. Extant research involving FOMO has been largely correlational. In Study 1, FOMO was manipulated and found to increase reported levels of SMU. Study 2 manipulated SMU, which led to higher levels of FOMO. It appears that, regarding FOMO, social media does exhibit a dual (bidirectional) nature.