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David Cannadine tells the story behind the Buzzword FOMO - fear of missing out.

The term is thought to have originated in the marketing world during the late 1990s, but it was re-coined and made popular at the beginning of the millennium by a young New Yorker named Patrick McGinnis, who tells his story in the programme.

Fear of Missing Out isn’t a new cultural concept, it’s ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ by another name but, as developments in social media and IT enabled us to be more connected than ever before, FOMO became a hallmark of the digital age.

In 2013 the psychologist Andrew Przybylski conducted a major academic study into FOMO, to understand who was most vulnerable to it. He explains how he found a small but significant trend that indicated young men showed the highest levels of anxiety about not being part of the pack. Andrew concluded that the less people felt autonomy, competence and connectedness in their daily lives, the more susceptible they were to FOMO.

Recently we have all been missing out, because of restrictions imposed upon us on account of the coronavirus pandemic. David wonders if this mass moment of missing out might have actually put a stop to feelings of FOMO?

With Patrick McGinnis, Andrew Przbylski, Nirpal Dhaliwal and Hephzibah Anderson.

Researcher: Joe Christmas

Produced by Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway Production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4

The series is made in collaboration with The British Academy.

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