Is JOMO the Answer to FOMO? Collaborative Digital Detox from Social Media for Adolescents

Adolescent’s usage of social media impacts their daily lives—from procrastination to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and other forms of peer pressure. While digital detoxing is a popular solution, it can, however, be an isolating experience. In this paper, we ask—Can JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) be the answer? That is, can we motivate adolescents towards digital detoxification, in a collaborative way? Following a Double Diamond design process, we conducted a user study with adolescents (15–17 years old) in India investigating their social media experiences and challenges. Our findings highlighted the need to combine tangible rewards and offline activities with digital detox; based on which we designed an application, called JOMO, to promote a balance between social media usage and real-life interactions through collaborative digital knitting. Through our work, we highlight the need for innovative solutions to address the negative impacts of social media and FOMO on adolescents and recommend collaborative approaches toward digital detoxing.