Positive Mental Health for GEN Z – NO MOre Fear Of Missing Out (NOMO FOMO)

The NOMO FOMO project aims to address the growing concern about youth mental health in Europe, especially influenced by the intensive use of social media. The project seeks to provide tools for young people to understand the impact that digital platforms have on their emotional well-being and learn to manage their mental health in a more balanced way, promoting awareness about the FOMO (fear of missing out) phenomenon.

To achieve this, educational resources such as interactive infographics exploring FOMO, combined with digital activities such as videos and quizzes, were designed and offered. In addition, a training programme aimed at those working with young people was developed, providing practical tools to support young people in managing their mental well-being on social media and other online environments.

Another key component was the peer leadership programme, which trained young people to become mental health ambassadors in their environments, with other young people. The project aimed to empower youth to promote emotional well-being in their environment and act as agents of change, contributing to the creation of support networks at a local level.

The project also implemented the “Smartfeed” program, designed to help manage the consumption of content on social media and encourage healthier use of digital platforms. Finally, a multilingual MOOC platform was created, which centralizes all the materials developed during the project and facilitates free access to them for youth workers, young people and their communities in general.

As a result, 52 youth workers completed the NOMO FOMO curriculum, 62 young people participated in the peer leadership programme and 86 youth workers and young people participated in the smartfeed training. NOMO FOMO managed to exceed its initial objectives, surpassing the target of engaging 160 youth stakeholders in the multiplier events organized in the different countries of the project, and reaching 240 instead. Also impact of the project was promoted in social media, reaching more than 42 thousands of accounts in the Facebook account of the project. Through the tools and resources created, the project set a precedent in the use of digital technologies to promote emotional health and well-being of young people. As an example, the NOMO FOMO project outputs are currently being used in 5 regional youth centres in Ireland.