In the fashion world, the experience of FOMO—the acronym for "Fear of Missing Out," which has become commonplace on every social media platform from Instagram to Facebook—is commonly considered a rite of passage. If you're a true fashion aficionado, but you live anywhere outside of New York, Paris, Milan, or London, then you've probably felt FOMO yourself—"Gah, I wish I were sitting front row at that Céline show."
Well, according to writer Alexis Swerdloff of New York Magazine's The Cut, FOGO might soon be replacing FOMO as the social-media-induced emotion du jour. "I believe that I have developed the opposite of FOMO, in fact: I have a case of FOGO, or Fear of Going Out," she writes.
She explains: "OK, well not literally a fear of going out. I still love a party. Always have and always will. But I have an active non-desire to attend the mass-Instagrammed events that clog up all my social-media feeds on several-week-long intervals throughout the year." Examples, you might have guessed, include but are not limited to: the highly-shoppable and replicated Coachella festival. South by Southwest. Fashion Week. And so on.
So it's not exactly a fear, per se, as much as it is a breaking point reached due to the oversaturation on social media when it comes to certain events. If you're not there, instead of experiencing FOMO, you simply reject the notion that those events are things you need to attend.
In a way, FOGO seems way healthier than FOMO, which is an emotion centered on envy, jealousy, and a desire to be one of the "cool kids." FOGO, by contrast, gives you the freedom to reject all those negative feelings, instead choosing to go your own way, with a sound mind and a full heart.
What do you think? Have you ever experienced FOGO or FOMO? Share your story in the comments below!
