From FOMO to JOMO: Examining the Fear and Joy of Missing Out and Presence in a 360° Video Viewing Experience

Document Title

From FOMO to JOMO: Examining the Fear and Joy of Missing Out and Presence in a 360° Video Viewing Experience

Document Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction and Virtual Reality
• Keywords: Virtual Reality, Immersion, Presence, FOMO, JOMO, Immersive Technology, Storytelling, 360° Video

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges:
  • In 360° panoramic videos, users can only focus on one perspective at a time, often leading to a fear of missing out on other content (FOMO, Fear of Missing Out), which may negatively impact the viewing experience.
  • Conversely, users may experience a sense of joy from intentionally missing certain content (JOMO, Joy of Missing Out), but this aspect has not been thoroughly studied.
• Importance of the Issue:
  • FOMO is believed to disrupt immersive experiences, affecting users' engagement with the narrative and their sense of presence.
  • Understanding the dynamic characteristics of FOMO and JOMO can provide valuable insights for designing more engaging and user-friendly immersive content.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • FOMO has been extensively studied in social media contexts, but research on its role in virtual reality remains scarce.
  • The relationship between FOMO and JOMO is unclear, and existing studies have not explored how these factors influence user experience in depth.
  • Further investigation is needed to determine whether repeated viewing affects FOMO, JOMO, and users' sense of presence.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:
  • Conduct experimental research to analyze users' experiences of FOMO, JOMO, and presence while viewing 360° videos under different conditions, particularly examining changes in these variables during repeated viewing.
• Innovative Aspects of the Solution:
  • Introduces the contrasting concepts of "FOMO" and "JOMO" and explores their dynamic changes in immersive video experiences for the first time.
  • Utilizes split-sphere technology to create dual 180° perspective videos, controlling users' freedom of choice and facilitating experimental analysis.
• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:
  • Experimental Design:
    • Participants are randomly assigned to four viewing conditions: free choice of perspective (Free Choice), time-based perspective switching (30-second or 90-second rotation), and single 180° perspective condition.
    • Participants use head-mounted displays (HMDs) to watch split-sphere 360° videos, with head movements recorded during two rounds of viewing.
  • Stimulus Materials:
    • Video content features two characters in parallel first-person perspectives across different scenes, allowing users to switch perspectives to experience different content.
  • Data Collection and Measurement:
    • Quantitative measures include FOMO/JOMO scores, user presence scores, and responses to open-ended questions.
    • Measurements include spatial presence, social presence, and self-presence.

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:
  1. Regarding FOMO:
     • FOMO primarily stems from users' perception of multiple parallel events rather than the autonomy of perspective choice.
     • FOMO significantly decreases during repeated viewing, indicating it is not a fixed characteristic in immersive viewing.
  2. Regarding JOMO:
     • JOMO is strongly associated with the sense of freedom in perspective choice and the perception of event parallelism.
     • JOMO scores remain stable across repeated viewings.
  3. Coexistence of FOMO and JOMO:
     • Users can simultaneously experience negative FOMO and positive JOMO during the viewing experience.
  4. Presence Analysis:
     • FOMO does not significantly affect presence, whereas JOMO has a noticeable positive impact on presence.
     • Spatial and social presence decline after repeated viewing.
• Comparison with Existing Solutions:
  • Previous studies generally regarded FOMO in virtual reality as a negative disruptive factor. This study suggests that FOMO may not be entirely negative and can coexist with JOMO.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Under free choice conditions (Free Choice), FOMO significantly decreases during the second viewing, while JOMO remains high.
  • FOMO and JOMO scores under different conditions are significantly correlated with the intensity of perceived parallel events.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • The study utilized a single video, potentially limiting generalizability to other contexts.
  • Future research should expand sample diversity and video types to explore FOMO and JOMO in social virtual reality scenarios.
  • Investigate the potential of virtual reality to guide users in transitioning from FOMO to JOMO.

Summary and Design Implications

1. Story design should focus on enhancing users' sense of JOMO without excessively reducing FOMO.
2. Visual cue design needs to balance guiding users with preserving exploration freedom.
3. Presence, as a key goal of immersive experiences, may diminish during repeated viewing, posing a design challenge.
4. JOMO strategies for short-term content may not be easily transferable to long-duration or social interaction scenarios.

This study provides a novel perspective on user experience research in 360° video viewing and offers data-driven insights for designing future immersive storytelling approaches.