Sosyal Medya Bağımlılığı Çerçevesinde FoMO ve İş Yaşamı Üzerine Kavramsal Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Amaç: Günümüzde sosyal medya toplumun tüm kesimlerinde yaygın bir şekilde kullanılmaktadır. Sosyal medya kullanımı yaşamın doğal bir parçası olarak kabul edilmektedir. Bu durum bazı bireyler için sosyalleşme ve bilgi paylaşım aracı olarak kabul edilirken bazı bireyler için ise sorunlu bir davranış olarak görülmektedir. Bireylerin sosyal medya okuryazarlık düzeyi yeterli değilse iş-yaşam dengesinin bozulması gibi ciddi sorunlara yol açmaktadır. Sosyal medya bağımlılığı, sosyal medyaya kullanımına çok fazla zaman ve emek harcayarak hayatın diğer önemli alanlarının göz ardı edilmesi sonucu oluşan davranışsal bozukluktur. FoMO (bir şeyleri kaçırma korkusu) sendromu ise bir tür sosyal medya bağımlılık davranışıdır. Bireyin yakınlarının veya arkadaşlarının sahip olduklarına sahip olmama hissine bağlı olarak ortaya çıkan bir kaygı veya endişe türüdür. Özellikle Facebook, Instagram veya Twitter gibi sosyal medya platformlarını yoğun kullanan bireylerin başkalarının hayatlarını kendi hayatlarından daha tatmin edici olduğunu düşündüklerinde FoMO ile karşılaşma riski artmaktadır. Literatürde sosyal medya bağımlılığı ve FoMO üzerine teorik ve uygulamaya dayalı çok sayıda çalışma yer almaktadır. Sosyal medya bağımlılığı ve FoMO’nun diğer kavramlarla olan ilişkisi ise farklı şekilde ele alındığı görülmektedir. Bu kavramlara yönelik çalışmalar dikkate alınarak, sosyal medya bağımlılığı çerçevesinde FoMO ve iş yaşamı ilişkisini ortaya koymak amacıyla kapsamlı bir literatür taraması yapılmıştır. Yöntem: Bu çalışmanın yöntemi mevcut literatür taraması temel alınarak sosyal medya bağımlılığı, FoMO, iş yaşamı üzerine yapılan nitel ve nicel çalışmalar ile bu çalışmalardan elde edilen çıkarımlara dayanmaktadır. Bulgular: Bu çalışma, gelecekte sosyal medya bağımlılığı ve FoMO’nun çalışanların iş yaşamları üzerine etkisini ortaya koymak için yapılacak nicel araştırmalara kavramsal bir katkı sağlamaktadır. Sonuç: Yapılan literatür taraması sonucunda sosyal medya bağımlığına yol açan FoMO’nun çalışanların iş yaşamlarını veya üretkenliklerini olumsuz etkilediği belirlenmiştir. Genel olarak bu olumsuzluklar işin bitiş veya son teslim tarihlerine riayet etmede başarısızlık, iş/yaşam kalitesinde düşüş, siber aylaklık, tükenmişlik, stres ve yalnızlık hissi gibi duygu ve davranışlar şeklinde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Özgünlük: Bu çalışma sosyal medya bağımlılığının bir sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan FoMO’nun çalışanların iş yaşamları üzerindeki etkilerini hem kavramsal çerçevede hem de farklı sektörlerdeki çalışanlar üzerine yapılan araştırma sonuçlarına dayalı olarak incelemektedir. Söz konusu incelemenin çok yönlü ve disiplinlerarası bir bakış açısına dayandırılması çalışmanın özgünlüğünü ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Sosyal medya
• sosyal medya bağımlılığı
• FoMO
• iş yaşamı

A Conceptual Evaluation of FoMO and Work Life in the Context of Social Media Addiction

Abstract

Aim: Today, social media is widely used in all segments of society. Social media use is accepted as a natural part of life. For some individuals, it functions as a tool for socialization and knowledge sharing, whereas for others it is perceived as a problematic behavior. If individuals' social media literacy level is not sufficient, it causes serious problems such as disruption of work-life balance. Social media addiction is a behavioral disorder characterized by excessive time and effort spent on social media to the extent that other important areas of life are neglected. The FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) syndrome represents a specific form of social media related addictive behavior. It is a type of anxiety or worry that arises due to the feeling of not having what one's relatives or friends have. The risk of experiencing FoMO increases particularly among individuals who heavily use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and who perceive others’ lives as more satisfying than their own. The literature contains numerous theoretical and empirical studies on social media addiction and FoMO. However, their relationships with other concepts have been examined in diverse ways. Considering the existing studies on these concepts, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to reveal the relationship between FoMO and work life within the framework of social media addiction. Method: The method of this study is based on a review of the existing literature, including qualitative and quantitative research conducted on social media addiction, FoMO, and work life, as well as the inferences drawn from these studies. Results: This study provides a conceptual contribution to future quantitative research aimed at revealing the impact of social media addiction and FoMO on employees' work life. Conclusion: The literature review indicates that FoMO, which leads to social media addiction, negatively affects employees’ work life or productivity. Generally, these negative aspects as failure to adhere to project deadlines or final submission dates, a decline in work/life quality, cyber loafing, stress, burnout and feelings of loneliness. Originality: This study examines the effects of FoMO, which arises as a result of social media addiction, on employees' work life both within a conceptual framework and based on research findings from employees across different sectors. The study's originality lies in its multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary approach to this examination.

Keywords

• Social media
• social media addiction
• FoMO
• work-life.

References

1. Abel, J. P., Buff, C. L. & Burr, S. A. (2016). Social media and the fear of missing out: Scale development and assessment. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 14(1), 33-43.
2. Alutaybi, A. (2020). Engineering social media to combat the fear of missing out (FoMO) (Doctoral dissertation, Bournemouth University). Retrieved from https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34229/
3. Alutaybi, A., Al-Thani, D., McAlaney, J. & Ali, R. (2020). Combating fear of missing out (FoMO) on social media: The FoMO-R method. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6128. doi:10.3390/ijerph17176128
4. Amirthalingam, J. & Khera, A. (2024). Understanding social media addiction: A deep dive. Cureus, 16(10), e72499. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.72499
5. Arghashi, V., Gunalay, Y. & Yolbulan Okan, E. (2025). Global pandemic social media and fake news: FoMO need for connectivity and compulsive buying. Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice. Taylor & Francis Ltd.
6. Bat Tonkuş, M., Ünal Hacıosmanoğlu, Ş. & Köse, S. (2024). İnternet bağımlılığının akran ilişkilerine etkisi. Yeni Yüzyıl Journal of Medical Sciences, 5(3), 101-110.
7. Bata, H., Pentina, I., Tarafdar, M. & Pullins, E. B. (2018). Mobile social networking and salesperson maladaptive dependence behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 81, 235-249.
8. Bright, F. L. & Logan, K. (2018). Is my fear of missing out (FOMO) causing fatigue? Advertising social media fatigue and the implications for consumers and brands. Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-03-2017-0112

9. Budnick, J. C., Rogers, P. A. & Barber, K. L. (2020). The fear of missing out at work: Examining costs and benefits to employee health and motivation. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106161
10. Cao, X. & Yu, L. (2019). Exploring the influence of excessive social media use at work: A three-dimension usage perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 46, 83-92.
11. Charoensukmongkol, P. (2016). Mindful Facebooking: The moderating role of mindfulness on the relationship between social media use intensity at work and burnout. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 1966-1980.
12. Chen, X. & Wei, S. (2019). Enterprise social media use and overload: A curvilinear relationship. Journal of Information Technology, 34(1), 22-38.
13. Chen, X., Xiaojuan Ou, C. & Davison, R. M. (2021). Internal or external social media? The effects of work-related and social-related use of social media on improving employee performance. Internet Research, 32(3), 680-707. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr-03-2020-0159
14. Choi, Y. (2018). Narcissism and social media addiction in the workplace. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business. 5(2), 95-104.
15. Deng, X., Li, J. & Huang, Y. (2025). Social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) in the workplace: The influence on job burnout and workplace relations. Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr-02-2024-0244
16. Farivar, F. & Richardson, J. (2021). Workplace digitalisation and work-nonwork satisfaction: The role of spillover social media. Behaviour & Information Technology, 40(8), 747-758.
17. Fridchay, J. & Reizer, A. (2022). Fear of missing out (FOMO): Implications for employees and job performance. The Journal of Psychology. 156(4), 257-277.
18. Gabriela, M. P. (2024). Use of social networks, FOMO and its impact on productivity and organizational well-being: From disruption to organizational strategy for talent wellbeing and retention. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(11), 914-925. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i11.8888
19. Gao, S. & Shao, B. (2024). Problematic social media use and employee outcomes: A systematic literature review. SAGE Open, April-June 2024, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241259158
20. Grashyla, J. A. & Paramita, S. (2021). FoMO and JoMO phenomenon of active millennial Instagram users at 2020 in Jakarta. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Economics, Business, Social, and Humanities (ICEBSH 2021) (Vol. 570). Atlantis Press.
21. Hasçelik, G. & Eşitti, Ş. (2023). Dijital dönüşüm çağında siber aylaklık ve iş performansına etkisi: E-ticaret sektörü çalışanları üzerine bir inceleme. Anadolu Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 24(4), 419-442. https://doi.org/10.53443/anadoluibfd.1286142
22. Ibrahim, M., Yusra, Y. & Ullah Shah, N. (2022). Impact of social media addiction on work engagement and job performance. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 25(1), 179-192.
23. Jhaver, S. (2024). Personal moderation configurations on Facebook: Exploring the role of FoMO, social media addiction norms, and platform trust. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05603
24. Karahanna, E., Xu, S. X., Xu, Y. & Zhang, N. A. (2018). The needs-affordances-features perspective for the use of social media. MIS Quarterly, 42(3), 737-756. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2018/11492
25. Kocak, O., Varan, H. H., Dashtbali, M., Bennett, R. & Barner, Y. (2023). How does social media addiction affect decisional procrastination? Mediation role of work-family life balance. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 7(1), em0124. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejeph/12447
26. Liang, M., Duan, Q., Liu, J., Wang, X. & Zheng, H. (2023). Influencing factors of social media addiction: A systematic review. Aslib Journal of Information Management. 76(6), 1088-1114. https://doi.org/10.1108/ajim-10-2022-0476
27. Liao, C., Wu, C. & Chia Hua Chiu, E. (2025). Digital vulnerability: Exploring the mediating role of FoMO in the relationship between dark triad personality and social media addiction. Journal of Consumer Affairs. 59(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.70002
28. Liu, X., Zheng, B. & Liu, H. (2021). Understanding the social media interactivity paradox: The effects of social media interactivity on communication quality, work interruptions, and job performance. Information Technology & People, 35(7), 1805-1828.
29. McGinnis, P. J. (2025). The FoMO Sapiens Handbook. https://patrickmcginnis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FOMO-Handbook.pdf (Erişim, 06.04.2025).
30. Milyavskaya, M., Saffran, M., Hope, N. & Koestner, R. (2018). Fear of missing out: Prevalence, dynamics, and consequences of experiencing FOMO. Motivation and Emotion, 42, 725-737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9683-5
31. Moqbel, M. & Kock, N. (2018). Unveiling the dark side of social networking sites: Personal and work-related consequences of social networking site addiction. Information & Management, 55, 109-119.
32. Ngowella, G.D., Loua, L.R., Suharnomo. (2022). A Review on cyberloafing: The effects of social platforms on work performance, Asia Pacific Fraud Journal, 7(1), 27-39. doi:http://doi. org/10.21532/apfjournal.v7i1.249.
33. Ovadia, H. L. & Netzer, P. R. (2024). Exploring the lived experience and coping strategies of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) among emerging adults. Current Psychology, 43, 32665-32685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06793-w
34. Pikó, B. F., Kiss, H., Hartmann, A., Hamvai, C. & Fitzpatrick, K. M. (2024). The role of social comparison and online social support in social media addiction mediated by self-esteem and loneliness. European Journal of Mental Health, 19, e0019, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.19.2024.0019
35. Przybylski, A., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1841-1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014
36. Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R. & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841-1848.
37. Rahmadania, A. & Sanyata, S. (2023). Fear of missing out on workplace: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v10i11.5115
38. URL1: Roberts, Y. (2024). Social media addiction: Signs, causes, and consequences. Brighter Day Mental Health. https://www.brighterdaymh.com/blog/social-media-addiction (Erişim: 06.04.2025).
39. Rozgonjuk, D., Sindermann, C., Elhai, J., Montag, C. & Elhai, J. (2020). Fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media’s impact on daily life and productivity at work: Do WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use disorders mediate that association? Addictive Behaviors. 110, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106487
40. Silvia, P. J. & O’Brien, M. E. (2004). Self-awareness and constructive functioning: Revisiting “the human dilemma.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 475-489. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.23.4.475.40307
41. Soraci, P., Demetrovics, Z., Bevan, N., Pisanti, R., Servidio, R., DiBernardo, C., D.Griffiths, M. (2025). FoMO and Psychological distress mediate the relationship between life satisfaction problematic smartphone use and problematic social media use. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01432-8
42. Sultan, J. (2021). Fear of missing out and self-disclosure on social media: The paradox of tie strength and social media addiction among young users. Young Consumers, 22(4), 555-577. https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-10-2020-1233
43. Tang, T.C., Chi, L.C. & Tang, E. (2023). Office islands: Exploring the uncharted waters of workplace loneliness, social media addiction, and the fear of missing out. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05445-9
44. Tanhan, F., Özok, H.İ. & Tayiz, V. (2022). Gelişmeleri kaçırma korkusu (FoMO): Güncel bir derleme. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar 14(1), 74-85. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.942431
45. Vellucci-Melo, J. (2022). Attachment style, personality traits, and FoMO as predictors of inappropriate social media use in the workplace (Order No. 28717032). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2937252103). Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/attachment-style-personality-traits-fomo-as/docview/2937252103/se-2
46. Yukay Yüksel, M., Çini, A. & Yasak, B. (2020). Genç yetişkinlerde sosyal medya bağımlılığı, yalnızlık ve yaşam doyumu arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. Atatürk Üniversitesi Kazım Karabekir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 40, 66-85. https://doi.org/10.33418/ataunikkefd.676402