The NY Times had a fairly good article on this issue, which I happened to bookmark in April 2011. The article is called "Feel Like a Wallflower? Maybe It’s Your

The NY Times had a fairly good article on this issue, which I happened to bookmark in April 2011. The article is called "Feel Like a Wallflower? Maybe It’s Your Facebook Wall" [1], and the phenomena is described in the article as FOMO (fear of missing out) which "refers to the blend of anxiety, inadequacy and irritation that can flare up while skimming social media like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram." The OP seems like a manifestation of one aspect of this. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10ping.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10ping.html