This episode has been a long time coming… but at the same time, I feel it’s happened exactly when it should.  As we stand at the dawn of 2020, voices are being raised heralding the next decade as “the era of JOMO,” a decade of reassessing and renegotiating the excesses of social media, hyperconnection, and hustle of the past ten years. What was very recently regarded as fringe, unrealistic, or even ignorant criticism of the harm that a completely unconsidered shotgun wedding to technology might bring has begun to be seen as synonymous with wellness, and even human rights. It was early in that decade that Anil Dash, today the founder and CEO of modular app design startup Glitch, coined the term that brought both the title of my first book and all the work I’ve done in the years since into bright focus: JOMO. The Joy Of Missing Out. https://anildash.com/2012/07/19/jomo/ Anil has gone from pioneer of the digital wilderness to townie of the now-ubiquitous web to ombudsman of the digital community with his company’s emphasis on accessible code for one and all. He’s seen the rise of the social media giants, the fall of the quirky, creative underground that defined the early online landscape, and the social and personal harm that has come from taking a wild west of free expression and participation to a labyrinth of gated communities locked down by unimaginably powerful entities with profit as their only motivating force. On today’s episode, Anil reflects on the past, present, and future of who we are when we’re with our tech, starting with the inception of that crazy little acronym -- JOMO. In this episode, we discuss: How the domination of the digital landscape by social media and marketing was neither a natural nor inevitable progression How Anil’s moments of unplugged silence have made him realize how missing out is its own reward The double-edged sword of fame, social influence, and self-censorship The ways mindful tech use can be harnessed for social good How the digital landscape can evolve in the coming decade to build community Why YOU have a part to play in helping individual voices reclaim the web GO DEEPER  Sign up + join the JOMO community at experiencejomo.com for gentle humor, powerful insights, and actionable tools to live joyfully in a digital age.  Favorite Quotes “Everything is not just a blue box where you put all your photos and they do creepy things with your data. There’s got to be a better way to be online.” “We have tools that are designed to keep us at a red alert level of intensity, even for something that is meaningless, trivial pop culture ephemera.” “We can’t just move away from things; we need to move toward things.” “I’ve deliberately set out not to become famous.” “Choose what you’re not going to be in the world. Don’t let people outside choose for you what you’re going to be.” Follow Anil: Twitter: @anildash LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anildash Function With Anil Dash podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/function-with-anil-dash/id1439658455 Blog: http://anildash.com/ Follow JOMO: Instagram: @experience_jomo SUPPORT If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love your support. Subscribe + Write a 5-star review. Every rating helps attract new listeners, which helps us keep making the show!  If you want to be empowered to experience the joy of missing out in your daily life, become a JOMO member and engage directly with Christina at www.patreon.com/jomocast