fomo, jomo, and the snail in the middle

$imokay is short for "i'm okay missing out." that phrase sits right between two words most of us have seen online. here's what the dictionary says about both.

fomo

• merriam-webster defines fomo as "fear of missing out: fear of not being included in something (such as an interesting or enjoyable activity) that others are experiencing."
• it marks the word as informal and gives its first known use as 2004.

jomo

• the same dictionary defines jomo as "joy of missing out: joy experienced when not attending events to which one has been invited."
• its first known use is 2012, eight years after fomo.

the party is lovely. so is the hammock.

it's been studied, too

fomo isn't just a hashtag. in july 2013 the journal computers in human behavior published "motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out" by andrew przybylski, kou murayama, cody dehaan and valerie gladwell (volume 29, issue 4, pages 1841–1848). if you like reading the research yourself, that's a good place to start.

the snail's take

this part isn't a fact, it's just the vibe: you're allowed to skip things. you're allowed to log off, sit down, and let the fireworks happen without you. they'll still be pretty from the hill.