I love that fears have special names, like arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. And that crazy one for the fear of the number 13. Yikes!

My favorite fear these days is FOMO. FOMO is the Fear of Missing Out. It's a powerful force that has been sweeping the nation--and world. Or should I say swiffering the nation? (Shout out to Dane Cook.)

The fear of missing out on something is precisely the reason many have flooded to Twitter and Facebook, and FOMO is also the motivating factor behind the clicking of links. If everyone is clicking @coolguy's link, I better not be the only one who doesn't see what's there!

The trouble with FOMO and links is that there are a lot of @coolguys and a very lot of links. (Yes, word fans, I just split my "a lot" like Captain Kirk split his infinitive...try it!)

With so many links to not miss out on, nobody has time to hang out on a site, to linger and peruse, to establish a relationship with, or to take the time to buy what might be offered.

FOMO is powerful despite being irrational. But most fears are. Do you have it? Is it driving your clicking decisions? Is it hurting your web business?

Eric Matas
http://ericmatas.com

Sent from my HTC smartphone.