2.2. FoMO and social media use in college
The generation of students attending colleges today is known as
the ‘Millennials’. The characteristics typically attributed to millennial
students are an information technology mindset and a highly
developed skill in multitasking. Millennials are described as having
a focus on social interaction and connectedness with friends,
family and colleagues by using SMS, mobile phones, chat-rooms
and email while they simultaneously play computer games, listen
to music and watch TV (McMahon & Pospisil, 2005). Gemmill and
Peterson (2006) posit that on the up side, these technologies might
play a significant role in keeping college students connected to
family and friends to obtain social support, as a buffer to ‘‘excessive’’
levels of stress they experience as they grapple with a host
of academic, personal, and social pressures. On the down side, their
study on college students indicated that technology may also disrupt
and occupy the time of a college student, and that could
enhance higher levels of perceived stress. Others suggest that
social media could also afford an outlet for addictive behaviors
(Alabi, 2013), or psychiatric symptoms, such as sensitivity,
depression and anxiety (Alavi et al., 2011).