When I was nine years old my world changed very slowly. That’s because it couldn’t move faster than the Uganda Broadcasting Network or the BBC Hour, which my grandmother tuned in promptly every morning, except for Sundays. But right now, the 90’s kid has unprecedented access to alternative sources of information. Of course each context has its limitations. But we can all agree that there’s drastically more media content available today than even just two decades ago. And it’s all ours, at the click of a button or the swipe of your thumb. The conditions are perfect for the rise of FOMO.
Thanks to the internet, we are becoming remarkably more resourced than any of our forebears. Linked with that, we’re always on the hunt for something ‘bigger’ and ‘better.’ Sure, it’s great to have more options. But it raises important questions. Is this information craze a good thing? Are we ready for the incredible responsibility?
There’s No Going Back
One thing is clear. The online world is the way to connect. Because we identify by being seen, it follows that remaining unseen digitally is almost laughable in our day and age. And so, if you aren’t catching up with what’s going on you’re behind the times. And because this new way of interaction offers extra bonuses—such as likes, loves, shares, and reposts—to motivate us, we’re all afraid of falling off the social wagon. All of us fear missing out.
All of us fear missing out.
Where is the problem, you ask? You may even argue: ‘Many of my close circle of friends arose online or on social media.’ This thinking reveals how the smartphone has transformed the virtual world from an occasional sub-reality to a constant must have for all of us. And we’re obsessed with it.
As Brian Rosner notes in his book, How to Find Yourself, “Social media provides unprecedented opportunities for self-definition. But excessive use can lead to an unhealthy thirst for approval and validation of others, to masking rather than expressing of identity, and, in the end, to loneliness and self-doubt.”
It’s Not All Bad, Is It?
Irrefutably, there’s no denying the benefits of our online and digital world. It’s made our lives easier, improving efficiency and increasing connectivity. Tailored news feeds allow us to gather relevant, contextual information.
However, there is a dark side to the web, the effects of which are are silently sucking the life out of us. Here is what I mean.
- Information needs analysing. Simply because it is on the internet doesn’t mean it’s credible. There is plenty fake news online. And the rate at which it’s produced makes correcting and fact-checking all of it impossible.
- A lot of online content is designed to make us into loyal or repeat customers (i.e. consumers). “Click below to share, like, and subscribe.” And the moment you do, the cycle never stops.
There is a dark side to the web, the effects of which are are silently sucking the life out of us.
The combination of the above points, along with various other factors (such as being constantly distracted and finding it much easier to slander others), tends to amplify our fears, insecurities, and worries. Online spaces also quickly sow dissatisfaction and discontentment with our own lives. Every other person seems so much happier than I do. So we believe that we’re missing out, and would be fulfilled if only we had that experience, more stuff, different relationships, and belonged in another social circle.
Exposing the Lies of FOMO
One Old Testament prophet writes, “The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). He preached to Israelites whose hearts had turned away from God, towards idol worship. Towards the start of that same book, God cries out: “Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror…My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:12-13).
Like the Israelites, we tilt towards wanting the next thing that appeals to us, independently of God.
Though mankind is constantly innovating and inventing new technology, our hearts haven’t changed. Like the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day, we often tilt towards wanting the next thing that appeals to us, independently of God (1 John 2:15-17). Just as Israel feared missing out on the so-called benefits of the idol worship around them, we can’t help but tune into what appeals to our senses (Jeremiah 44:15-22). This in turn dulls out the eternal realities of the gospel.
This insatiable pursuit of novelty, whether it’s connections or content, reveals a heart problem. We believe that we’ll find true, lasting joy somewhere other than God.
Christ and Our Discontentments
But what does Christ say? “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). Wholesome rest and fulfillment come from a right relationship with God (Romans 4:4-5). The result of this is a godly regulation of how we meet, interact, and connect with others; along with how we consume content and invest our time.
The attention of the one we need is already ours, forever.
It involves learning that one more ‘like’ won’t fix our anxious hearts. In fact, the pursuit of security there is akin to forsaking the spring of living water and digging cisterns that barely hold water (Jeremiah 2:13).
The attention of the one we need is already ours, forever (Ephesians 2:12-13). As Tim Keller put it, “To be loved but not known is superficial. To be known but not loved is our nightmare. Only Jesus knows us to the bottom and loves us to the sky.” Missing out on a party is temporal. But you don’t want to miss out on the feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
Delighting in Our Limitations
‘All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful; the Lord God made them all.’ Many of us would have sung those words at some time. Seeing past their familiarity, they highlight the diversity of God’s big, beautiful world. Social media and other online spaces, along with technology, reaffirms that bigness. However, it’s essential to note that the more we explore God’s world the more we rediscover our limitations.
The more we explore God’s world the more we rediscover our limitations.
Few things sound more like a rotten apple to our generation than that word, “limited.” We associate it with defeat, previous generations, or a lack of imagination and excitement. But we’re always rediscovering how thoroughly finite we are. No, you can’t know it all. Yes, it’s impossible to sustain 1000 friends. There’s only so much you can enjoy, belong to, and keep tabs on; not to mention the limit of what ours brain can process in a day.
God’s grace then frees us from this chokehold of perceived aloneness into gladness with God’s providence, supplying us with all we need in our surroundings for today. Only those who’re freed and bound up in the loving arms of our God can have the courage to live a small life of one day at a time, and in spite of what they need to forego in every season of their lives (Matthew 6:25, 34).
