Fomo (n): aka “Fear of Missing Out”, the anxiety created by the constant influx of information on social media informing you that your friends are doing something way more fun than you are (buzzfeed.com)
tfti (exp): aka “Thanks For The Invite”, usually used when a bunch of your buddies go out and they dont think to invite you (urbandictionary.com)
The 1910s had its ‘Lost Generation’, that left the United States for Europe in disillusionment. Their literature conveyed their feelings, like the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Later, The ‘Greatest Generation’ came of age during The Great Depression and World War II, and came to personify the values of tenacity, economy, and perseverance. The 1950s introduced us to the ‘Baby Boomers’, who dazzled with their affluent suburban lifestyles, ‘destructive abundance’ (as noted by writer Simon Sinek), and were ‘rebels without a cause’. They later became ‘Hippies’ and anti-war protesters during the 1960s -1970s, turning the VW van, the peace sign, and LSD into their icons. Later came the 1980s with the ‘Yuppies’ (‘Young Urban Professionals’) with their Rolex watches, Beemers, and lucrative Wall Street jobs. Then we had the 1990s, okay there probably wasn’t much that symbolized those who came of age here. At least not that I can think of right off the bat! ;D
Finally, we arrive on the scene: the idealists, the ‘digital natives’ who grew up with the Internet in their palms, and learnt how to grip a phone with 4 fingers, while changing the world with a swipe of our thumbs.
We are the ‘Left Out’ Generation, characterized by our ‘FOMO’ and subsequent ‘tfti’ s.
In an era where technology informs us about the microdetails of our friends’ lives such as the brand of cereal they eat and when they wake up on weekends, we are also sadly made aware when we’re not part of the fun. This results in a ‘gnawing fear of missing out (fomo)’. Since we’re perpetually connected, this fear is constant and everywhere. We never know when we’ll open up Instagram to see our friends enjoying without us, or not be added to a group chat, or worse left on ‘read’. And this devastates us.
Eventually, when we meet up with our friends again, we’ll blurt out ‘tfti’, a sarcastic, half-joking, half-serious remark expressing ‘thanks for the invite’. We might even let our feelings be known through a brief Insta comment. In any case, they were just ‘hanging out’, and forgot to invite you. This might even be true, because in Millenial Town and the ‘hangout era’, effecting a casual air of carelessness and being ‘chilled out’ is critical.
Thus, we are the ‘Left Out generation’… The Millenial loneliness epidemic might finally have a cause.