Fear of missing out? Here’s how to always keep connected

MANILA, Philippines — “Fear of missing out” or most commonly known as FOMO; we’ve all felt it before.

These days, we attend get-togethers not just to be with the company we treasure but to not miss out on the moments and memories they may create when we’re not around. We bandwagon on our barkada’s “thing” just to cultivate this feeling of shared excitement.

Cultural capital

When it comes to FOMO, it is not just trivial “feelings” that we’re talking about here. There’s something sociologists call “cultural capital.”

This concept states that integral to networking is the knowledge of what is happening in culture and current events (basically, the things around you). So, for example, Game of Thrones — everyone is talking about it online. So it follows that knowledge of such a topic increases your ability to connect.

Now, we’re not saying that you have to immerse yourself into the world of Westeros. However, we can infer that to keep connected, you must communicate. Awareness comes from communication.

Watched a nice movie recently? Send a message to your group. Something new on your streaming service’s feed? Why not organize a simultaneous viewing even when you’re apart? All you need is your phone anyway!

To keep you always connected with your passions and the people that matter, we have come up with some tips.

Organize a watch party

Let’s expound on the idea mentioned earlier.

Now with the advancements of communication, we can maintain friendships, no matter the distance, at virtually no cost at all.

To create a simultaneous shared experience, why not set a date and time, create a group call, then hit the play button on a show or movie you’ve all decided on.

It’s a virtual hangout in every sense of the word.

Do routine hobby switching

In your group, does each of you have their own expertise? Who’s the resident chef? Who’s the artsy one? Who’s the geek?

Why not immerse yourself into each other’s world? Create a challenge where you engage each other in your respective hobbies.

Send your friend a recipe video. Take on that online painting class. Switch it up amongst yourselves routinely.

The beauty here is that, whether your attempts turn out succeeding or failing, you’ll surely have fun memories to talk about for years to come.

Start a group cloud drive

Almost all barkadas have a group chat, but how about a cloud drive?

However, sharing passions amongst friends are much easier and manageable with a cloud drive. Share your e-books, photo albums, videos, and whatever files you feel like sharing.

Treat these as the ammunition for more fun and engaging conversations.

Get the right tools that enable your easy communication and sharing of experiences

There are platforms that know the importance of passions and conversations coming together.

Aside from communication apps though, communication services are also helping democratize access to content and communication.

Smart, for example, has a Giga Video+ offer for prepaid subscribers that gives them data for any site + 1 GB of video every day, and on top of that, unlimited calls and texts to Smart, TNT, and Sun subscribers.

Keeping connected is easier than ever before. Connections are even made more fulfilling with shared experiences and passion.  

What are your tips to never feel FOMO? We’d love to read them in the comment section below! — Rappler.com