Following Social Media Influencers in Early Adolescence: Fear of Missing Out, Social Well-Being and Supportive Communication with Parents

Social media influencers who use video blogging, so-called “vloggers,” are highly popular among adolescents. Receiving video updates on a constant basis may not only serve adolescents’ informational or entertainment needs, but also fuel their fear of missing out (FoMO), which can lower their social well-being in the long term. Supportive communication with parents about digital media use might be an important resource in preventing these negative outcomes. This study used a national quota-based two-wave panel survey of early adolescents between 10 and 14 years (NT2 = 384) to investigate the influence of adolescents’ perceived quality of communication with their parents on the relation between following vloggers, FoMO, and social well-being. Findings of an autoregressive panel model revealed that supportive communication with parents decreased early adolescents’ FoMO directly and prevented them from experiencing FoMO in response to following vloggers. Higher levels of FoMO in turn resulted in lower social well-being over time.