The Meaning of FOMO, YOLO, and FOPO Terms

November 22, 2023 | 08:03 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As time goes by, slang has developed very widely among young people. This development is marked by the emergence of figurative terms with specific meanings. The recently popular ones are FOMO, YOLO, and FOPO.

You could say, these three terms sound familiar to young people or Gen Z and the millennial generation. So what exactly are FOMO, YOLO, and FOPO?

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

This term is used to describe the fear of feeling left behind because of not participating in certain activities. Someone who feels FOMO usually has feelings of anxiety and fear that arise within a person due to being left behind with everything new.

The new thing referred to here can be news, trends, activities and other activities. Reporting from the Yankes.kemkes.go.id page, the fear of missing out refers to the perception that other people are having fun, living a better life, or experiencing better things.

In this case, social media plays a very vital role as a common cause of people experiencing FOMO. One can easily receive various information and see the activities of people out there. This allows feelings of anxiety to arise so that someone tends to compare their life with other people who look happier and more enjoyable.

YOLO (You Only Live Once)

This term is used to describe people who take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy life. Referring to the fact that "you only live once" makes this slang an inevitable trend among Gen Z and millennials.

This trend regarding YOLO is widely followed and carried out by young people, in order to motivate others that in this life we only have once, we should never waste it. Compared to FOMO, the emergence of the term YOLO generally brings out more positive feelings.

YOLO encourages a person to enjoy life without thinking about other people's opinions. However, if YOLO is applied excessively it can also have negative impacts. This is because excessive application of YOLO indicates that a person has no control over anything that really needs to be paid attention to and fought for in life.

FOPO (Fear of Other People's Opinions)

The acronym FOPO is usually used to describe a condition where a person feels afraid of what other people think when he says or does something.

Quoting from Decoholic.org, even though if you look at it, this feeling of fear seems familiar and normal, but this can have detrimental effects for most people. Imagine how difficult your life would be, if you held back too much from doing something just because you were afraid of what other people would think about you. It will also limit your world to other people's ideas of what it should be.

SHARISYA KUSUMA RAHMANDA

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