There's a name for that pang of jealousy you get from seeing people's Venmo transactions
Ever feel inexplicably jealous and sad all because of your friends' Venmo transactions? There's now a name for that reaction.
Mic has dubbed the feeling "Venvy," or Venmo envy. It's the Venmo version of the fear of missing out, better known as "FOMO," that social media users describe when they feel left out of their friends' fun posts.
Venmo is a money transfer app where users can send and receive payments. Payment notifications are shared via a public news feed - hence the Venvy.
Alongside each cash transaction, users can add a personal, playful message. So the Venmo feed gives you a glimpse of all the fun your acquaintances are having together, while you're watching Netflix alone at home.
The connection between social media use and anxiety is nothing new, particularly among college students and twenty-somethings.
"One of the things we have seen is there is an association of depression and time spent on social media," Dr. Victor Schwartz, a psychiatrist and medical director at The Jed Foundation, told the Huffington Post earlier this year.
While it might not seem like a traditional social network, by showing users who their friends are paying, Venmo can quickly make people feel like they're missing out.
"Just because Venmo lacks the frills and thrills of instagram and Facebook, the FOMO is still very present," Charlotte Gilbert wrote in a Thought Catalog piece in March. "I am nowhere in that transaction. Bring on the anxiety."
People on Twitter are also feeling the Venvy.
One of the biggest causes of Venvy, Mic notes, is that most Venmo transactions are vague at best. A payment for "That crazy night," could just as easily be repayment for a night spent cleaning your apartment and eating Thai food, as repayment a pub-crawl that lasted until 4 a.m.
"I know my friends all say funny things like 'blowie' or '1 million cats' [on Venmo] when really it's just for weed, but I get jealous," Andy, 31, told Mic. "Is everyone getting blow jobs and hanging out with 1 million cats without me? And are they getting high at the same time?"
Not all the transactions are glamorous, but they can still induce Venvy all the same. It's impossible to know how much fun was actually had at "No fun August," but you can be sure you weren't invited.
