FOMO

While it's not exactly a revelation to me, it occurred to me yesterday that I would rather spend my time in solitary contemplation riding my bike out in the country than I would playing organized games with people who seemingly have only one interest...No music playing...no motor going...no people shouting...just me and the spinning wheels, the wind in my face, and the feeling of muscles working.
It does not bother me that lots of group things might be fun and going on without me. I have no Fear Of Missing Out. I don't dislike the idea of people...it's just that I can take them or leave them in most cases. It could be generational; this in light of a new study that proposes young people who depend on social media like Facebook for social interaction actually feel a reduction in their feelings of self-worth and a decrease in life satisfaction as a result of spending interactive time online.
According to reports, a billion people have Facebook accounts, and more than half log in each day. I admit that I do...mostly when I'm bored and have 10 minutes to kill.
This study mirrors previous ones that found, basically, the same thing...though they were contradicted by other research. That's the deal with statistics...one can prove or disprove anything, I guess. However, the one interesting point I got out of the latest research is that while interacting on Facebook regularly resulted in respondents feeling worse than they did before the session, real, live, personal interaction HAD NO EFFECT on how satisfied they were with life in general! That's amazing to me since personal interaction has always been touted as the way we gain self-worth and self-satisfaction. Maybe not.
Maybe being alone on a bike is enough.