Photo: WBZ News Radio
QUINCY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — If you are not up to date with the latest social media lingo, you may be familiar with the common phrase FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), but you may not be familiar with the latest acronym: FOPO (Fear Of Other People’s Opinions).
It has caught on, especially among teens and young adults in relation to social media. Up to 95 percent of young people aged 13-17 reported using a social media platform, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jim MacKay caught up with some Quincy High School students, many of whom expressed concern about what the new acronym implies.
“Of course, you don’t want people saying bad things about you,” a Quincy high schooler went on to say. “It kind of makes you depressed sometimes. You just want to lay down and cry.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 46 percent of adolescents aged 13-17 said social media makes them feel worse. The idea of not expressing yourself in fear of what others might say could be a destructive tendency for teens who spend increasingly more time on social media, doom-scrolling, and constantly checking notifications.
The fight to combat FOPO is on and many high schoolers are urged to ignore the outside negative noise and embrace themselves. Students are constantly reminded that they can’t control what everyone says on social media.
“Like how you look, like how you are,” is the message Quincy students have received to fight FOPO.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.