FOMO

From IndieWeb


FOMO is an abbreviation for the Fear of Missing Out, a Dark Pattern utilized in silos and various websites to motivate their users to return frequently; IndieWeb sites and apps should strive to avoid causing this emotion because it is manipulative and disrespectful of user-agency.

Features that commonly cause FOMO

For some people the following features of silos and the internet can cause increased FOMO.

  • story
  • infinite scroll
  • poorly-implemented notifications, particularly deferred (e.g. being notified of an event only after it took place) or algorithmic in nature ("Your friends liked this post" et al)

See Also