Mira was staring at her phone. Her expression was dark.
"Mira-san, what's wrong?" Hiyori called out.
Silently, Mira showed the screen. A friend's SNS post. Photos of a fun-looking party.
"I wasn't invited," Mira said quietly.
Sora approached. "So you're feeling down?"
"Everyone looks so happy. Only me, left behind."
Hiyori said gently, "Maybe it's FOMO."
"FOMO?" Mira asked back.
"Fear Of Missing Out," Sora explained. "The fear of being left behind."
"That's exactly it," Mira nodded.
Sora opened a notebook. "With SNS proliferation, FOMO has increased."
"Why?"
"Because others' lives are constantly visible," Hiyori answered. "Things we didn't know before, now we see everything."
Mira asked, "How is that a problem?"
"Social comparison becomes excessive," Sora explained.
"Social comparison?"
"Comparing yourself with others," Hiyori said. "A theory proposed by psychologist Festinger."
Sora supplemented, "Humans tend to compare with others for self-evaluation."
"Is that natural?" Mira asked.
"Natural," Hiyori acknowledged. "But SNS has explosively increased comparison opportunities."
"And you only see others' highlights," Sora pointed out.
"Highlights?"
"Fun things, successes. Painful things and failures aren't posted."
Mira understood. "So everyone seems happier than me."
"That's an illusion," Hiyori said gently. "It doesn't reflect reality."
Sora gave an example. "The people in this photo, are they really enjoying themselves? Maybe they're performing for 'likes.'"
"Performing?"
"SNS self-presentation," Sora explained. "Trying to show an ideal self."
Hiyori added, "So posts are not reality, but staged reality."
Mira thought. "So the inferiority I feel is..."
"Comparing others' staging with your own reality," Sora answered.
"That's an unfair comparison," Hiyori supplemented.
Mira took a deep breath. "But the feeling of being left behind doesn't go away."
"That might be relative deprivation," Sora said.
"Relative deprivation?"
"Focusing not on what you have, but on what you don't have compared to others."
Hiyori gave an example. "Mira-san has good friends and has found things you like. But only not being invited to that party bothers you."
"True," Mira admitted.
Sora continued, "Relative deprivation is determined more by subjective comparison than objective situation."
"Then what should I do?" Mira asked seriously.
"First, change the direction of comparison," Hiyori proposed.
"Direction of comparison?"
"Upward comparison and downward comparison," Sora explained. "Comparing with someone superior is upward comparison. Downward is comparing with someone inferior."
"Upward comparison can motivate but also creates inferiority," Hiyori added.
"What about downward?"
"You gain superiority, but long-term it's harmful," Sora answered.
Mira was confused. "So it's better not to compare?"
"If you compare, compare with your past self," Hiyori said.
"Past self?"
"Not others, but compare with yesterday's self. Are you growing?"
Sora nodded. "Self-standard comparison. Healthier than other-standard."
Mira thought. "True, I've grown more than last year's me."
"That's important," Hiyori smiled.
Sora continued, "Another is to distance yourself from SNS."
"Distance?"
"Limit usage time. Only look when necessary."
Hiyori added, "And don't take others' posts literally."
"Understand they're staged."
Mira asked, "But what if I'm really disliked and wasn't invited?"
"That's also possible," Sora answered honestly. "But don't judge everything by one event."
Hiyori said gently, "There are various reasons for not being invited. Maybe just a number limit, or group overlap."
"Not necessarily because you're disliked."
Mira felt a bit lighter. "Maybe I was overthinking."
"The feeling of being left behind is evolutionarily deep-rooted," Sora explained.
"Evolutionarily?"
"For ancient humans, being excluded from the group meant death."
Hiyori supplemented, "So we have a strong desire to belong to groups."
"But in modern times?"
"Even excluded from a group, you can survive," Sora said. "But the brain remains the same."
Mira understood. "So we overreact."
"Yes. But knowing that makes emotions easier to control."
Hiyori said quietly, "Mira-san, you're not left behind."
"You're here," Sora smiled.
Mira's eyes moistened. "Thank you."
Outside the window, birds were flying.
"The feeling of being left behind alone," Mira murmured. "But maybe it's an illusion."
"Usually an illusion," Hiyori said.
"What's important is the relationship in front of you," Sora added.
The three sat quietly. Rather than the world beyond SNS, the connection here and now. That was real.