THE DIFFERENCE OF USING SMARTPHONES AND THE PERCEPTION OF FEAR OF MISSING OUT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS – A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Abstract

The introduction of smartphones and social media helped the life of many students while pursuing their education. They helped students in their communication, in searching for information, shaped their social life and in other different ways that are beyond the scope of this study. However, along with these positive outcomes came some unfavorable effects that students experience as a result excessive use of smartphones and social media. Among these effects is a phenomenon termed as the Fear of Missing Out (or FOMO) which is the topic of discussion in many recent research studies. This paper is about studying the effect of smart phones and social media among college students. It explains about the experience of FOMO among students and the factors that contribute to it. It also examines the different uses of smart phones and social media at different levels of college education and, freshmen students versus non freshmen students. The study lays the ground to conduct further research specifically on FOMO based on the findings in this study.