FOMO, JOMO, and ROMO

Created with my ideas into Midjourney

Over the years I’ve written about this topic more than once. Each time the conversation around FOMO and JOMO has shifted a little, reflecting the way our relationship with technology keeps changing. For this version, I’ve combined and adapted my earlier thoughts and added in the lesser-known ROMO. I think now more than ever, this is a subject worth bringing up again, because the pressure to stay “always on” hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s only grown louder.

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We live in a world shaped by three little acronyms: FOMO, JOMO, and ROMO.
Each one is a lens we use to process the nonstop noise of modern life.

If you’ve never wrestled with them, you’re either lucky or lying.

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FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out

FOMO,Fear of Missing Out, was coined almost twenty years ago, but it hit full stride with the rise of social media.

Your phone isn’t just a tool. It’s a shiny box. A portal into someone else’s “life.”
Scroll through Instagram, swipe TikTok, and you’re instantly comparing yourself to curated versions of other people’s best days.

Students especially live in this “always on” mode. Constantly checking. Constantly chasing. Convinced that if they’re not there, they’re already behind.

I feel it too, even though I barely touch social media outside of LinkedIn. My phone still hijacks my time. Hundreds of messages demand attention. Ignore them, and it feels like I’ve failed at some unspoken obligation.

That’s FOMO: a low-grade anxiety that never shuts off.

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JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out

Then comes JOMO, Joy of Missing Out.

JOMO is intentional. It’s the quiet contentment of deciding not to participate, not to keep up, and not to chase.
It’s knowing that every time you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else — and being at peace with that.

I’ll admit, JOMO doesn’t come naturally. Our culture isn’t built to reward stillness. Everything in that shiny box is designed to make you feel like stepping back is the wrong choice.

But JOMO is how you reclaim focus. It’s how you carve out room for actual presence, instead of drowning in someone else’s feed.

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ROMO: The Relief of Missing Out

The third sibling is less famous, but maybe the most satisfying: ROMO, Relief of Missing Out.

ROMO shows up after the fact. You skip the party, the thread, the latest online drama — and later discover you dodged a bullet.

It’s that sigh of relief when you realize you didn’t waste your evening in the wrong room. Didn’t get pulled into the wrong argument. Didn’t feed the algorithm another hour of your life.

Where FOMO is anxious and JOMO is deliberate, ROMO is pragmatic.
It’s the reminder that missing out sometimes protects your energy.

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Finding Balance

The trick isn’t to eliminate one and crown the other. It’s knowing when each mindset serves you.

• FOMO connects us, but burns us out.
• JOMO grounds us, but requires discipline.
• ROMO frees us, but can’t be the only strategy.

Balance is the goal. Choosing when to engage, when to step away, and when to be grateful you weren’t there in the first place.

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Closing Thought

I remember life before the shiny box. When I carried change for pay phones and knew twenty numbers by heart.
When connection wasn’t about feeds or notifications.

Now we’re flooded with more inputs before breakfast than previous generations absorbed in a week.
That makes FOMO, JOMO, and ROMO more than clever acronyms. They’re survival tools.

The challenge is simple but not easy: decide whether that shiny box is controlling your life, or whether you are.