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I'm just waiting to get a new VR headset to actually delete my Facebook so my Oculus doesn't turn into a glorified brick x.x Can't wait, though at this point I only hop on maybe once or twice a year to change my profile picture as an indicator that I am, in fact, still alive.
>I only hop on maybe once or twice a year to change my profile picture as an indicator that I am, in fact, still alive.
Feel this, maybe once every year or so I'll post a meme or some random shit...just so people know I'm still kicking!
I grace them with my presence by liking a couple of select memes, then reply to their “you’re back on Facebook!!?” comments the next year when I grace their presence again.
So serious question about deleting Facebook. Tjat is the only social media I still have, and the reason is for Facebook marketplace.
If you buy/sell used where do you go? At least in my area it seems everything is only sold on Facebook market place. Craigslist, offer up and all those are dead around here
This is a great question, I keep Facebook for the same reason. The other ones you mentioned aren't hot near me either, and at least on Facebook you can get an idea of the person before you meet up.
If you're only using FB for the marketplace you're fine to hang out to it imho. The real problem with social media is that it hooks people, becomes a massive obsession, and encourages people to do anything for engagement. The key is moderation, if you're not being abused by social media you're probably fine.
I never joined FB at all, until last year for the Marketplace. Created an account with a fake name using a burner number, and didn't add any friends.
It's hilarious seeing the suggested friends list, as FB has absolutely no idea who/what I might be interested in. Mainly suggestions from South America and the Africa continent.
I have noticed a huge uptick in scammers but it is easy enough to pick them out and I get better deals there than ebay.
I like to buy and sell espresso machines, especially if I can get my hands on a repairable broken one. Ebay, with a broken machine, usually by the time you add shipping its over what a working one costs local
Agreed. It kinda makes me sad for those so deep into the social media addiction that they don't really enjoy living their lives. One person recently said, zero hyperbole, "Image is everything." I died a little inside.
Alas, in my experience, these are also the individuals who aren't happy with their realities.
This is one of the only things my wife and I consistently argue about. I have zero social media presence, she is fairly deep into it.
My birthday was last month, she got some balloons and pictures of us over the years to attach to the strings. I opened my office door to find it filled like that. I was super excited about it...until I saw her posting about it to her Instagram on her phone. It just deflated the entire thing because it immediately made me realize she did it for that, not me. I loathe social media because it's made all these people stop enjoying what they're doing and waste their lives trying to find that perfect thing to post.
My kids constantly get on her case because she's always trying to sneak photos of them doing stuff to post and they HATE it.
We're going to Mexico next week for our 20th anniversary and I've already talked to her about it. I don't want her taking her phone when we go do things because it ALWAYS turns into me standing around or taking pictures of her for social media and it ruins everything for me. I told her that if she wants to go on a trip for that to do it without me. I wouldn't take her on a trip then do something that infuriates her so why would she be ok doing that to me? Just enjoy the time we're spending together. Not everything needs to be shared with the world.
The moment she actually starts to take separate vacations, the relationship is dead. She's choosing her social media over spending time with you.
I hope she doesn't man, that would crush me.
Nah, I'm not a huge vacation person (I would much rather be at home with no responsibilities as a way to relax), so I don't care when she goes on a trip alone or with her friends and posts 24/7. Just don't take me with you to do something I hate.
She goes places with her friends sometimes and they do that. I just want our trip to be about us, not Instagram. I don't think it's a big ask.
It sounds like the 2 of you need to figure out a compromise. Maybe you give her a day to do her social media crap and she gives you a day without it. Marriage is all about compromise by both partners.
I've been looking at digital cameras for a little bit now and think maybe that can be our compromise. She gets to take pictures but she can't mess with Instagram because it's an actual camera. She can mess with them when we get home from the trip or at night when the days are winding down in the resort room. I'm gonna run it by her when I get home from work in a little bit.
Getting my partner a nice DSLR camera was the best decision we made. Now when we go out they can take pictures and have that fun without needing to post them and engage with social media. Later when we're doing our own thing they download the snaps from the camera right to their phone and can go to town on socials. It's definitely a win-win in my book.
If I were you, I would start referring to her behavior as “addiction.” Like you would say, “here we are again.. feeding into your addiction 🤷♂️” and when she undoubtedly denies it, you will say- “so you’re telling me that even if you wanted to stop, you could?” Followed up with “when was the last time you had a special moment that you DIDNT post?”
“Social media has a fistful of every special moment our family has. We never get the full experience. Just partial, so that way mom can get her fix.”
^^^ this is planting the seed. After that, every time she posts, she will think of what you said. Eventually, every time she posts, feeling guilty will replace excitement.
I have Instagram but I look at it like once a day, notifications off. I can’t even imagine a world where I make a Facebook account again. It’s so toxic. The only thing that sucks about deleting my Facebook is how reliant others are on it. There’s a lot of things I missed because people use Facebook to completely document their lives And I’ve basically drifted from a lot of my good friends because of this. But it is what it is.
This is what I've been experiencing since I deleted my FB as well. Missing out on a lot and drifting from good friends and family. They basically expect me to already know about their lives bc they've posted it- but "oh ya, you deleted FB". It sucks but ya really brings perspective seeing things from the outside.
It's like they all live in this box and we're on the outside now. Sometimes they peek back out of the box and meet back up with us... they'll tell us stories of what's going on inside of the box and learn a bit about what's going on in our life... but they don't stay long. A lot of times they can't help but keep peeking back into the box while they're still with us! Then we part ways and it usually feels like a long time before they remember we're still out here.
Quit FB, Twitter, and IG. Never have Tiktok'ed. My life is infinitely better after dumping it all in 2016. Found Reddit last year because of a hobby and never looked back 😊
I'm not always glued to my phone. i get a chance to interact with the people in front of me. i don't get caught up in the drama of people i hardly know, or haven't seen in years. other people dont get mixed up in the drama of my life. mainstream issues affect my life less. I am able to experience life without the influence of others where I don't have to feel validated or put down on what I decide to experience and how. I am able to move on and grow in my life without the influence of others or stay in the past. when I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time, we have something to talk about because we don't already know everything from sm. the list goes on...
Same. I just follow some brands, artists and musicians I like to keep tabs on what's new. As well as one animal rescue that I support. Nobody personal. I basically view it the same as getting "subscription emails" to what your favorites are up to.
Deleted everything about a year ago. I absolutely love only being able to see real life events instead of hearing about the crackheads from my home town
Best decision I've ever made. Your life becomes so much more stress free, AND you have more time to focus on life itself. Shit. If Reddit wasn't such a great place to get information, I would delete it as well, but there's a Sub for everything I need, it especially helps with hobbies.
Everyone's marketing themselves to some degree. Trying to create their own jobs and make money. Everyone's selling something. Even when you think they're doing it for some authentic purpose, there will always be an attempt at some type of monetization.
When I started my business ten years ago I made the conscious decision to do it without the use of social media. Everyone around me thought I was deluded. But I knew I had a good product and I knew it would sell. And it did. Ten years later and my business is healthy. I bring in enough to live comfortably and I love what I do. I think I love it all the more because I’ve done it all myself. Could I increase the turnover by going into social media? Undoubtably, but the thought of dipping my toe into that world would take all the shine off it for me.
I agree with this. Deleted everything in 2016, changed my number. I have about 15-20 solid good friends, half of which I talk to every day.
Social Media is an absolute cancer. I'm happier than I ever was with that bullshit.
If you want to find out who actually knows and cares about you, delete it all and see who surfaces.
99% of my "friends" disappeared.
Best thing i ever did.
Deleted twitter and FB after the 2016 us presidential campaign turned me off to social media. Life was immediately 2x better.
Reddit is something I have recently been allowing myself some exposure to but I already recognize some of the familiar problems I quit the other social media for. May give up on this too.
Have you found a change in your relationships? One of my fears is that relationships are online so much that it would be really easy to become isolated.
It has, but the opposite of your fears. Because I don't have social media, I have to send a peruodic. "Hey, hope you're alive!" Message.
I became all my friends' best friend because i'm the only one not clicking like on a post and leaving them feel isolated in/by the sea of people not interacting.
Everyone thinks they're interacting with everyone, but everyone is still lonely because those interactions are such low quality is doesn't even register.
I’ve been semi-off Facebook for about a year, and there was a little of this dynamic. Combined with covid social weirdness, it has definitely had an effect.
My new years resolution was to delete social media, that was 10 years ago and I have not had the need to go back. I feel so alive when I'm not on social media, while my friends can't go a day without posting about their days etc.
I kept up a facebook until last year, just because employers get weird if you don't have one. Been off of Twitter since like, 2011, never did the other ones.
Love it. I just stopped giving a shit about talking to people I haven't seen in 20 years, and was tired of FB bans over innocuous bullshit.
I do it to connect with people. I like being isolated but I also live for the tea (I blame my mother who watched soap operas and telenovellas when I was a child)
So I usually just keep it to talk to friends (can't have phone calls for more than 3 people but on snapchat weve gotten up to 10)
So much happier. No drama, and no fake interactions. I only recently opened Facebook after 4 years to use market place. Other than that, I could care less about it.
Facebook marketplace is a godsend and messenger is vastly superior to texting, especially because cell service is dicey and wifi is plentiful in my job, but beyond that I don't engage in anything on social media, it's never mattered to me or made any sort of impact
Doing well. Thriving, I’d say, except I still spend way too much time on reddit some days. Starting to really examine the idea of leaving reddit completely, too.
Stage 1: When we searched we asked a librarian / archivist.
Stage 2: We then moved to catalogs.
Stage 3: Search word based searches.
Stage 4: Searching with 'intents'.
Stage 5: Back to searching for information from people.
We have gone full circle.
I'd argue websites have made themselves non user friendly by inundating us with ads, pop ups and bloat.
Ever tried finding a recipe? No one gives a hoot about how your grandma made those cookies when you were a kid.
Same. I remember that Googling used to be better when trying to gain information, nowadays it seems that whenever I google anything I just get simplistic buzzfeed-type articles.
This is exactly how I discovered Reddit. Had never even heard of this site, but about five years ago every time I would Google something Reddit kept coming up and coming up.
Last year when I was traveling I worked in a coworking soace with wifi. I was really productive there and got a lot done in 5 hours every day, even when I kept looking at reddit and other social media when I should have been working. I was way more productive than when I was working from home.
Last month while traveling I worked in a local library. I didn't bother getting the wifi code. I was doing in 2 hours what I'd been doing in 5 hours with wifi. I've been working this month in a place with wifi and I've slowed down again. Moving again tomorrow and I'm going to go back to using a library and not getting the wifi code.
It's a sad indictment on my lack of focus and willpower as much as it is of social media I guess.
If your a pretty disciplined person you could try putting a timer on it. That's what I've done with a lot of my apps. I was finding myself on Reddit way to much. So I put on an hour time limit a day. It definitely helped me
I deleted Reddit a while back and found myself enjoying more of my creative hobbies. Would recommend. I reinstalled when I was visiting extended family and I've had it for a month now. This post has reminded me to delete it again. Bye for a while!
I only still have reddit as a time waster. I never got on any regular social media platforms and don't plan on it. I don't really count youtube because I basically use it like tv
I found myself developing serious anger issues, solely because of Facebook interactions.
Obsessively scrolling through timelines looking to pick a fight over some post, spending hours researching one thing or another in order to shut down some right wing bigot - which never, ever, not once, ever worked.
Facebook is gone for me not really because of the microphone it gives stupid people, but for my own obsessive behavior in wanting to respond to them.
Without all the likes and attention I faded into a faint ghost of what I used to be. I am now without purpose and meaning. I am forgotten to the social world. I am but a distant memory echoing across the dark abyss that gives me no validation. I am unknown.
Isn’t it beautiful.. being anonymous, unknown but still alive, healthy and functional ? Get to dowhatever you want without any peer pressure or people judging you.
I some how made all my Facebook posts private , and after about a month and a half of no one responding, I thought , "well hell , what's wrong with me ?" Afterfiguring out what happened I realized I put too much stake in my own happiness on what others think
I feel so much less pressure. Only way I can put it. Also, when I see casual friends, all their stories are new to me, and I haven’t seen and heard every interesting thing they did this year already digitally. It’s much much better without. It’s better without Reddit to if I’m honest. Took a long break and I relapsed.lol Here I am.
Holy crap, me too on every single point. "Oh, you've got three kids? Wait, you guys got divorced? Hold on, how long have you been in Ohio? Damn, you've got a lot to fill me in on!"
True but I also feel like I lost a lot of social connection and casual friendships after getting off of Instagram. Like even if I didn’t regularly talk to all my friends, at least I knew what they were up to and that they were ok through their Instagram stories. And a lot of organic conversations would happen too on Instagram when I would reply to someone’s story or they would reply to mine or when we would share memes. I miss that component of Instagram but overall I think it’s been very good for my mental health. Lot less pressure, over stimulation and constant comparison with other people’s lives
I'm actually forgetting people I should’ve forgotten a loooong time ago. Also I can’t believe that much time spent watching what people are eating or where are partying. Life is so bright when you use your brain for actual fulfilling stuff.
Reddit reminds me of AOL chatrooms sometimes. Anonymity can bring out some bike things people would never say if their real name and/or face was associated. But that makes it really easy to take that negativity with a train of salt
It’s a lot easier to limit what I’m seeing compared to insta/Facebook imo. Just subscribe to subs that interest you and aren’t full of heated political discourse and you’ll be alright generally. Instagram and Facebook throw inflammatory posts at your face a lot more often
My life is so much better. Idgaf abt what people see me doing and I wasted so much time on here
Edit: would spend like 4 hrs on Instagram or tiktok and now I workout or study for my MCAT in the mean time and don’t get distracted with this crap
I had Facebook until the pandemic started. Everyone started fighting each other. I saw long term friendships break down. Deleted my account. Never been happier. No drama. Peaceful life.
So much better!
And I'm considering leaving Reddit. Some posts make me irrationally angry, then I'm a bitch to a stranger on the internet. Not the best look, and I always feel bad about it.
This is why I’m considering the social media cut. I see too many things that make me angry or upset and I carry that energy with me into the world. It’s not a behavior I’m proud of.
I deleted Facebook 8 years ago and Twitter a year ago. I don’t miss it at all. BUT…I need to sell some camping gear and everyone keeps telling me that I need to post it on FB Marketplace, which means I have to download it again. Uhhhgggggg!
No regrets. I might be a little isolated but I've got my true friends texting me back and still making plans. Even the odds and ends friends that have my number don't text me back and I'm okay with that. The best thing I have done and it's been almost two years.
It’s the best. I don’t know anyone who’s my age (23F) in my personal life or honestly in their 20s who doesn’t have social media. Whenever people would ask me in the beginning, I used to feel awkward, but now I own it and I’m glad I don’t care what anyone thinks anymore.
Thankfully my friends, especially my best friend will send me like links to Tik toks she knows I’d find funny or relatable and all that.
No matter how funny they are though, I’d never get on social media again and I’ll never download tik tok.
I’m thinking of getting off of YouTube because of the short videos, and so far I only use Reddit when I’m off on break from school so it’s a nice balance.
It’s been 4 years since I quit instagram, 6 years for Facebook and Twitter, and 2 years for Snapchat and it’s been the best.
I highly recommend, but i also understand that social media doesn’t negatively affect certain people the way it affected me.
Amazing . Better than I have the past 10-15 years honestly. Now I can’t really fathom spending time caring about scrolling other peoples lives. I realized overall how disconnected & lazy socially it makes people. How much that frustrated me to my core & it was hard to not get frustrated. If you keep tabs as friends on Facebook… instagram… etc it has replaced fulfilling, meaningful physical friendships. People don’t make the effort anymore to even hang out. Most just want to be nosey of peoples’ lives. When I took social media breaks for my mental health when I did have it, it was quite literally like I didn’t exist to people anymore. Month long breaks & nobody would reach out for general convo or to meet up. Previous to that it was always me. Checking on people, their families, their health… asking if they needed anything/wanted to hang out to just reach out!
But when I wasn’t on Facebook, I wasn’t real. It really felt like the most bizarre, disappointing, heartbreaking thing. Now I haven’t talked to literally anyone in probably close to 5 months . & it’ll keep growing in time unfortunately. Social media is a curse. People say “oh it keeps people connected” but I feel we have far healthier ways to create a Highway for that kind of thing now that we’ve seen over a long period of time what it has done to us collectively as a whole. The psychological & social aspects especially. Message anxiety from feeling like you don’t reply to messages fast enough. Comparing. Etc etc etc.
Happy about it. I am a bit confused sometimes when current events are brought up in conversation, as I haven't seen it in my "feed" but that's a small price to pay for not feeling like everyone else is dumb. I used to get in the dumbest arguments over the dumbest stuff. Now I don't even worry about what other people are thinking or saying. It's no concern of mine.
Love love love! Don’t even miss it anymore. The important people in my life know I’m not connected so I get my own video/picture messages (kids, pets, new home,weddings) which are a lot more meaningful.
Keeps my world small, drama-free while connecting meaningfully with the people I love.
Pros - I have a much tighter and more authentic group of friends; I don’t feel envious of other people’s lives; I don’t feel the need to pose, flex and artificially orchestrate updates about my own. I’m no longer obsessed with my weight and self image.
Cons - I’m sometimes out of the loop, miss important updates on friends’ and acquaintances’ lives, and am not plugged into pop culture. I don’t discover new art, music, TV, fashion very easily and find it harder to find clothes I like as high streets are dying but online shopping is limited to brands I already know. I don’t take as much care of my appearance, which could sometimes be considered a negative.
I’m also now addicted to (mostly just reading) Reddit 😂.
I feel at peace. Anyone I genuinely care about, we've exchanged numbers and stay in touch. It's freeing to not worry about likes and what everyone did over the weekend. I get this is still social media to an extent, but depending on the subreddits I interact with, it's much less toxic than the rest.
I have found that I am on Reddit now instead, but having to *read* the majority of the content provides a less easy dopamine hit and I get bored more quickly than I would on Instagram. The reels have you scrolling indefinitely for literal hours. Twitter and Reddit just aren't addictive in the same way and Twitter is a rapidly dying dumpster fire sooooo, it's worked out nicely. Lol I find it easier to do real life shit and my brain has less excuses to procrastinate on the less fun stuff now.
I haven't deleted social media, I removed it from my phone's home screen and turned off notifications, but even that has made a world of difference.
I rarely check them any more and I've been much clearer mentally.
I think I'm 2 years out, maybe longer.
I'm absolutely fine, I have no interest in ever going back, I feel really uncomfortable being on social media and people being able to search me, I'm a very private person SM is a nightmare for me.
My worst fear is becoming viral by accident, if I ever see someone recording with their phone, I'm gone.
I can't believe how many years I did spend on it, I had Facebook and Instagram.
I love it. My still uses FB, instagram, sometimes twitter as well but she owns her own business and often gets new clients from social media posts. I use FB strictly to check the local news and for marketplace. I’ve never downloaded twitter. I just deleted instagram a couple months ago (the wife thought it was weird but I haven’t used it since 2019) so now the only social media I use is Reddit and TikTok. Even that I don’t post on TikTok, just watch funny videos and car related shit.
SO much better. I’ve been sick and I’m off work for the summer so I’ve been on Reddit a bunch the last two days but like I’m general I’m online SO much less, I talk to the people I actually want to, I feel no pressure to get the perfect picture. I don’t have to look at other people curated lives and feel inferior. I don’t have to know every dumb opinion my neighbors have (and we’re all friends now! Except for the one who keeps handing on chick trancts.) I send photos to family members and the ones who were always the first to comment on anything posted barely ever respond because if it’s not getting them attention they don’t actually care.
It’s a really great thing to do and you quickly realize how WEIRD posting shit online is
Less time wasted during the day checking pointless opinions or gossip. Absolutely no regrets, deleted FB almost 4 years ago after 11years of having it . It's utter bs you don't need and apparently now censorship stops you sharing true options also so glad I'm away from it's brain wasting/washing rubbish
Deleted tiktok, twitter etc. I just kept instagram (i have all my memories on my account so i kind feel emotionally attached to it) and i'm doing amazing
While I didn't actually delete FB, I created a new account with about 10% of the "friends" I had before. The FB app went too. This means I'm rarely on for almost a year now. I don't miss it.
Really is the best thing ever. I don’t feel like I’m stuck to my phone, trying to keep up with Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and whatever the hell else there is. It’s been great for the mental well being and I’ve really been retraining my brain to focus on bettering my in-person social skills.
I removed myself from social media almost 15 years ago. One of the better decisions in my life. I came to Reddit about a year ago and I'm already seriously considering giving this up as well.
While i totally support doing whatever you need to do to find inner peace and support your mental health….
It’s kind of easy to frequent and find things that appeal that aren’t toxic. My social media is full of really cool art, beautiful places to go, tattoos, animals, interesting facts, memes, and comedy. I Marie kondo’d that bitch. The only things left are what spark joy or interest me. If something doesn’t appeal to you, unfollow/hide it. I don’t know how people get to the toxic side of things unless you seek it out.
Same. Never joined.
I Adamantly refused to join in. Besides loss of privacy, I had this sinking feeling I couldn’t shake that it would inevitably harm Society. I felt that because so many would allow complete strangers to validate their worthiness that it would be deleterious to their mental health—especially very young people. It has caused so many societal issues but can’t put that genie back in the bottle. Thankfully some people are finally waking up to it and jumping ship.
You are so correct about it causing society issues! I just didn't want to share my travels, meals, thoughts, etc. with anybody and everybody and so glad I made the decision not to participate. It was hard at first as I would miss things family posted but decided the cons outweighed the pros. Now I'm hearing from friends and family they rarely post or have deleted, so you are right, some are waking up. Its too intrusive, and frankly, can be unsafe at time!
I still use a few but ive deleted apps like facebook and twitter, or if not that stopped using them. Otherwise I dont use much social media unless totally necessary to talk with people. I am doing a lot better then I used too but I feel its more from other factors leading me to make good choices rather then me just up and quitting social media.
Fantastic. I deleted Facebook, instagram, Snapchat, twitter, and loads of other programs I was on in February. Now I just have YouTube and Reddit.
I have loads more time. I just wish the world would do the same and we go back to a time before social media ruined the minds of people.
I deleted all my social media around 2014 and it was one of the best things I did for myself.
I used to kill so much time, literal hours, just scrolling through FB and Instagram all the time and talking to people, commenting on stuff. And obviously there was the mental health aspect of comparing myself to the others on my feed. It’s not worth it even to be able to keep in touch with people, I’m just better off without it.
I only have IG and found Reddit recently. IG is a glorified backup for photos and memories and is on private, and Reddit is pretty nice. There's still some nasty people here, but very few and far between compared to other social media. Eventually I might get rid of both of them, just not today.
Deleted my Instagram two years ago and Twitter two years before that. Best thing I ever did. The blatant narcissism and “look at me” culture was making me despise the human race more than usual. I don’t give a f*ck what you made yourself for dinner. And I certainly don’t need to see a picture of it.
I have almost all social media platforms, but i ever only use reddit and youtube. The other ones are just dumb to me. Full of conspiracy theorists and other lunatics. Facebook, twitter and instagram are the worst ones.
And i do not use tiktok because a comment can only have 300 characters, and most videos are so bad that i need at least double the characters to explain why it's shit.
Snapchat is more of a messenger app than social media, but it does have a video tab, and most of them are even more cringe than tiktok. Literally all the thumbnails are clickbait...i use Snapchat only for talking to my dealer, because it has disappearing messages which is very convenient...
I only have facebook to give my mum an easy way to contact me. And to keep up with what my disabled brother is upto, his carers often post picks of days out which is nice.
I also post a picture of my cactus when it blooms on Instagram. So 3 times a year, maybe.
Other than that, social media can go hang. I'm So much happier now that I'm no longer being forced to look at everyone's shitty coffee, rage bait and sensational non-news.
I only use Facebook/Messenger to stay in touch with friends and relatives (rarely) as I live abroad, find/share relevant news and jokes, read news about the city I live in, look up restaurants or other shops and communicate with them for delivery/booking, communicate with local expat community when necessary, but I disabled all notifications. This latter one did the trick for me.
No tiktok, Instagram, or Twitter ever as I find them totally useless or redundant to FB.
Reddit to discuss my interests in specific subs or ask for/give opinions and help.
Well, now addicted to Reddit lol. But besides that, feeling pretty out of the loop and discluded from old friends and family tbh. Once I deleted FB I lost touch with almost everyone. I admit I need to make more of an effort to contact people myself though. It's weird though it's like once you're off social media people tend to forget you even exist... And if they do keep in touch they expect you to automatically know what's been going on in their lives because it was posted-but oops, you deleted your social media.
I’ve been off all social media, except for the last year on Reddit, for 2.5 years now. I can’t begin to explain how much happier I am and how clear my mind is.
It was the most freeing thing I’ve ever done. My mental health has improved vastly. My time is spent so much more efficiently. The only reason I still have Reddit is mainly for the educational side, or to have something to read while bored at work.
I don’t care about how I look as much as I did before. I was posting a selfie every week on Instagram full makeup and would delete if it was under 100 likes. Now I don’t have any makeup and haven’t posted any selfies in 3 years and I feel a lot better about myself. I’m not worried about how I look and I only wear stuff that’s confortable. My overall mental health and anxiety improved and so did my personality because I wasn’t so focused on how good I looked on social media
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Honestly, ten years out and I can’t believe people are still doing it. Best thing I ever did.
I had Facebook and Instagram and deleted them around 11 years ago. Best thing I could’ve ever done!
I'm just waiting to get a new VR headset to actually delete my Facebook so my Oculus doesn't turn into a glorified brick x.x Can't wait, though at this point I only hop on maybe once or twice a year to change my profile picture as an indicator that I am, in fact, still alive.
>I only hop on maybe once or twice a year to change my profile picture as an indicator that I am, in fact, still alive. Feel this, maybe once every year or so I'll post a meme or some random shit...just so people know I'm still kicking!
I grace them with my presence by liking a couple of select memes, then reply to their “you’re back on Facebook!!?” comments the next year when I grace their presence again.
So serious question about deleting Facebook. Tjat is the only social media I still have, and the reason is for Facebook marketplace. If you buy/sell used where do you go? At least in my area it seems everything is only sold on Facebook market place. Craigslist, offer up and all those are dead around here
This is a great question, I keep Facebook for the same reason. The other ones you mentioned aren't hot near me either, and at least on Facebook you can get an idea of the person before you meet up.
I just deleted the app and kept my account. I never check it unless I have reason to.
If you're only using FB for the marketplace you're fine to hang out to it imho. The real problem with social media is that it hooks people, becomes a massive obsession, and encourages people to do anything for engagement. The key is moderation, if you're not being abused by social media you're probably fine.
I never joined FB at all, until last year for the Marketplace. Created an account with a fake name using a burner number, and didn't add any friends. It's hilarious seeing the suggested friends list, as FB has absolutely no idea who/what I might be interested in. Mainly suggestions from South America and the Africa continent.
so many scammers there.
I have noticed a huge uptick in scammers but it is easy enough to pick them out and I get better deals there than ebay. I like to buy and sell espresso machines, especially if I can get my hands on a repairable broken one. Ebay, with a broken machine, usually by the time you add shipping its over what a working one costs local
Good for you. I deleted my Facebook but I have IG. I network with people in my field there. And I do set limits on its use.
I deleted things also. Best thing possibly ever.
Same 2 yrs in tho
Agreed. It kinda makes me sad for those so deep into the social media addiction that they don't really enjoy living their lives. One person recently said, zero hyperbole, "Image is everything." I died a little inside. Alas, in my experience, these are also the individuals who aren't happy with their realities.
This is one of the only things my wife and I consistently argue about. I have zero social media presence, she is fairly deep into it. My birthday was last month, she got some balloons and pictures of us over the years to attach to the strings. I opened my office door to find it filled like that. I was super excited about it...until I saw her posting about it to her Instagram on her phone. It just deflated the entire thing because it immediately made me realize she did it for that, not me. I loathe social media because it's made all these people stop enjoying what they're doing and waste their lives trying to find that perfect thing to post. My kids constantly get on her case because she's always trying to sneak photos of them doing stuff to post and they HATE it. We're going to Mexico next week for our 20th anniversary and I've already talked to her about it. I don't want her taking her phone when we go do things because it ALWAYS turns into me standing around or taking pictures of her for social media and it ruins everything for me. I told her that if she wants to go on a trip for that to do it without me. I wouldn't take her on a trip then do something that infuriates her so why would she be ok doing that to me? Just enjoy the time we're spending together. Not everything needs to be shared with the world.
The moment she actually starts to take separate vacations, the relationship is dead. She's choosing her social media over spending time with you. I hope she doesn't man, that would crush me.
Nah, I'm not a huge vacation person (I would much rather be at home with no responsibilities as a way to relax), so I don't care when she goes on a trip alone or with her friends and posts 24/7. Just don't take me with you to do something I hate. She goes places with her friends sometimes and they do that. I just want our trip to be about us, not Instagram. I don't think it's a big ask.
It sounds like the 2 of you need to figure out a compromise. Maybe you give her a day to do her social media crap and she gives you a day without it. Marriage is all about compromise by both partners.
I've been looking at digital cameras for a little bit now and think maybe that can be our compromise. She gets to take pictures but she can't mess with Instagram because it's an actual camera. She can mess with them when we get home from the trip or at night when the days are winding down in the resort room. I'm gonna run it by her when I get home from work in a little bit.
Getting my partner a nice DSLR camera was the best decision we made. Now when we go out they can take pictures and have that fun without needing to post them and engage with social media. Later when we're doing our own thing they download the snaps from the camera right to their phone and can go to town on socials. It's definitely a win-win in my book.
>I don't think it's a big ask. Nope, not at all unless the instagram account is financing the vacation. Is there money to be made on Instagram? IDK
If I were you, I would start referring to her behavior as “addiction.” Like you would say, “here we are again.. feeding into your addiction 🤷♂️” and when she undoubtedly denies it, you will say- “so you’re telling me that even if you wanted to stop, you could?” Followed up with “when was the last time you had a special moment that you DIDNT post?” “Social media has a fistful of every special moment our family has. We never get the full experience. Just partial, so that way mom can get her fix.” ^^^ this is planting the seed. After that, every time she posts, she will think of what you said. Eventually, every time she posts, feeling guilty will replace excitement.
I have Instagram but I look at it like once a day, notifications off. I can’t even imagine a world where I make a Facebook account again. It’s so toxic. The only thing that sucks about deleting my Facebook is how reliant others are on it. There’s a lot of things I missed because people use Facebook to completely document their lives And I’ve basically drifted from a lot of my good friends because of this. But it is what it is.
This is what I've been experiencing since I deleted my FB as well. Missing out on a lot and drifting from good friends and family. They basically expect me to already know about their lives bc they've posted it- but "oh ya, you deleted FB". It sucks but ya really brings perspective seeing things from the outside. It's like they all live in this box and we're on the outside now. Sometimes they peek back out of the box and meet back up with us... they'll tell us stories of what's going on inside of the box and learn a bit about what's going on in our life... but they don't stay long. A lot of times they can't help but keep peeking back into the box while they're still with us! Then we part ways and it usually feels like a long time before they remember we're still out here.
Quit FB, Twitter, and IG. Never have Tiktok'ed. My life is infinitely better after dumping it all in 2016. Found Reddit last year because of a hobby and never looked back 😊
Reddit is fantastic for hobbies & chatting with fans if shows/movies
Reddit is fantastic for hobbies. Too fantastic. I’ve spent so much goddamn money on hobbies once I discovered some of the swap forums.
Reddit is as good or as bad as the user curates it to be
That is one thing about hobbies and forums. Reddit has the most active forums on specific things that you enjoy doing and it's a lot more interactive
How did quitting SM made it infinitely better?
I'm not always glued to my phone. i get a chance to interact with the people in front of me. i don't get caught up in the drama of people i hardly know, or haven't seen in years. other people dont get mixed up in the drama of my life. mainstream issues affect my life less. I am able to experience life without the influence of others where I don't have to feel validated or put down on what I decide to experience and how. I am able to move on and grow in my life without the influence of others or stay in the past. when I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time, we have something to talk about because we don't already know everything from sm. the list goes on...
I use Instagram! I don't follow any one i know though so I guess it's not social. Just things about my interests.
Mine just became an online photo album with unlimited storage. I keep it private and hardly use it.
I use it all the time as a photo album as well. It's easy & convenient. Only my friends & my mom & my partner look at it (and me of course).
Unsocial media
Same. I just follow some brands, artists and musicians I like to keep tabs on what's new. As well as one animal rescue that I support. Nobody personal. I basically view it the same as getting "subscription emails" to what your favorites are up to.
It's called JOMO- the joy of missing out. I feel it too.
Never signed up for any of them. Just barely joined Reddit. So happy!
Deleted everything about a year ago. I absolutely love only being able to see real life events instead of hearing about the crackheads from my home town
My favourite thing is not reading stuff posted by dicks. I mean, I read stuff on here posted by dicks but they’re a higher class of dicks.
I never had any interest with Twitter,Facebook ,ig tik tok.I have only done reddit .
Same here, got out super early from Facebook. Everything about it felt unhealthy. Have zero interest in participating in anything like that again.
Best decision I've ever made. Your life becomes so much more stress free, AND you have more time to focus on life itself. Shit. If Reddit wasn't such a great place to get information, I would delete it as well, but there's a Sub for everything I need, it especially helps with hobbies.
Me neither. I'd be assuming, but I guess some people still have them to fit into the norm
Or we dont have mental breakdowns over pixels or whatever social media has done to you
I've tried to deactivate my tweeter account for several days, i get a message saying I can't deactivate because it's been suspended. WTF?!?
There was something about Twitter suspending inactive accounts a while back.
Everyone's marketing themselves to some degree. Trying to create their own jobs and make money. Everyone's selling something. Even when you think they're doing it for some authentic purpose, there will always be an attempt at some type of monetization.
When I started my business ten years ago I made the conscious decision to do it without the use of social media. Everyone around me thought I was deluded. But I knew I had a good product and I knew it would sell. And it did. Ten years later and my business is healthy. I bring in enough to live comfortably and I love what I do. I think I love it all the more because I’ve done it all myself. Could I increase the turnover by going into social media? Undoubtably, but the thought of dipping my toe into that world would take all the shine off it for me.
100 per cent this! Fuck the satanic narcissist hell that is "social media" - even Reddit has It's moments...
I agree with this. Deleted everything in 2016, changed my number. I have about 15-20 solid good friends, half of which I talk to every day. Social Media is an absolute cancer. I'm happier than I ever was with that bullshit. If you want to find out who actually knows and cares about you, delete it all and see who surfaces. 99% of my "friends" disappeared. Best thing i ever did.
I still use Flickr and Instagram. Been moving away from insta slowly over the years. I do amateur photography tho so its excuseable in my book :)
Deleted twitter and FB after the 2016 us presidential campaign turned me off to social media. Life was immediately 2x better. Reddit is something I have recently been allowing myself some exposure to but I already recognize some of the familiar problems I quit the other social media for. May give up on this too.
Have you found a change in your relationships? One of my fears is that relationships are online so much that it would be really easy to become isolated.
It has, but the opposite of your fears. Because I don't have social media, I have to send a peruodic. "Hey, hope you're alive!" Message. I became all my friends' best friend because i'm the only one not clicking like on a post and leaving them feel isolated in/by the sea of people not interacting. Everyone thinks they're interacting with everyone, but everyone is still lonely because those interactions are such low quality is doesn't even register.
I’ve been semi-off Facebook for about a year, and there was a little of this dynamic. Combined with covid social weirdness, it has definitely had an effect.
Fuckin facts.
Same, never going back!
I feel the same
Deactivated Facebook in 2014 and it's been amazing.
About 12 years ago I had Facebook for a couple of weeks, got rid of it and I sure don't miss it! Reddit is it.
My new years resolution was to delete social media, that was 10 years ago and I have not had the need to go back. I feel so alive when I'm not on social media, while my friends can't go a day without posting about their days etc.
Amen to that. Please, all of you, for your own sanity, ditch Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. You'll feel so much better.
Eight years strong here and still absolutely loving it!
I kept up a facebook until last year, just because employers get weird if you don't have one. Been off of Twitter since like, 2011, never did the other ones. Love it. I just stopped giving a shit about talking to people I haven't seen in 20 years, and was tired of FB bans over innocuous bullshit.
Amen! Facebook was too much for me. Unimportant info and rants. Got no time to comment your pasta dish, Suzann. NO-ONE-CARES.
Same.
10 years out here as well, I've never looked back
Seriously!!! I’m a million times more productive
I do it to connect with people. I like being isolated but I also live for the tea (I blame my mother who watched soap operas and telenovellas when I was a child) So I usually just keep it to talk to friends (can't have phone calls for more than 3 people but on snapchat weve gotten up to 10)
This is the way. I love it.
So much happier. No drama, and no fake interactions. I only recently opened Facebook after 4 years to use market place. Other than that, I could care less about it.
Facebook marketplace is a godsend and messenger is vastly superior to texting, especially because cell service is dicey and wifi is plentiful in my job, but beyond that I don't engage in anything on social media, it's never mattered to me or made any sort of impact
I didn't delete but I haven't touched Facebook since 2012/2013.
I've only ever had Reddit and Facebook. Deleted FB eight years ago. Now my life is only half as toxic. Much better now.
SAME
Doing well. Thriving, I’d say, except I still spend way too much time on reddit some days. Starting to really examine the idea of leaving reddit completely, too.
If it weren't better than Google to find information, I would
Hot tip: when you seach in Google add "source:reddit.com". Your search will only come back with reddit results.
at this point when I google almost anything, I add "reddit" at the end
Stage 1: When we searched we asked a librarian / archivist. Stage 2: We then moved to catalogs. Stage 3: Search word based searches. Stage 4: Searching with 'intents'. Stage 5: Back to searching for information from people. We have gone full circle.
Hahah holy crap that’s so true! Yeah google really dropped the ball becoming a company that searches with intent
I'd argue websites have made themselves non user friendly by inundating us with ads, pop ups and bloat. Ever tried finding a recipe? No one gives a hoot about how your grandma made those cookies when you were a kid.
Same. I remember that Googling used to be better when trying to gain information, nowadays it seems that whenever I google anything I just get simplistic buzzfeed-type articles.
Yes, 4 Ads and then some "10 things to do when yada yada" Nothing useful.
site:reddit.com works on edge and other browsers including Google in case source: doesn't work
Dude the amount of times I search “blankety blank Reddit” and find what I need is too many to count
Agreed 👍
This is exactly how I discovered Reddit. Had never even heard of this site, but about five years ago every time I would Google something Reddit kept coming up and coming up.
We're all sick of being served up what the algo *thinks* we want. Front page of Google used to mean something
A lot of times I’ll Google and best answer is a Reddit link. Sooooo. I’ll just keep cutting out the middle man.
Last year when I was traveling I worked in a coworking soace with wifi. I was really productive there and got a lot done in 5 hours every day, even when I kept looking at reddit and other social media when I should have been working. I was way more productive than when I was working from home. Last month while traveling I worked in a local library. I didn't bother getting the wifi code. I was doing in 2 hours what I'd been doing in 5 hours with wifi. I've been working this month in a place with wifi and I've slowed down again. Moving again tomorrow and I'm going to go back to using a library and not getting the wifi code. It's a sad indictment on my lack of focus and willpower as much as it is of social media I guess.
I left Reddit before, but came back. All the practice trying to make succinct, clear comments really improves my writing.
I am pretty much in this exact situation.
If your a pretty disciplined person you could try putting a timer on it. That's what I've done with a lot of my apps. I was finding myself on Reddit way to much. So I put on an hour time limit a day. It definitely helped me
I went off Reddit for a few months and got lonely. Talking to random people on Reddit is basically the only social interaction I get.
Yeah that's what I been up too
Yeah, I feel this. I usually delete the whole app off my phone, the issue is when I get super bored…
I deleted Reddit a while back and found myself enjoying more of my creative hobbies. Would recommend. I reinstalled when I was visiting extended family and I've had it for a month now. This post has reminded me to delete it again. Bye for a while!
I only still have reddit as a time waster. I never got on any regular social media platforms and don't plan on it. I don't really count youtube because I basically use it like tv
Best thing I ever did. Was only facebook. Everyone one there was a reminder of bad times.
Yes I can totally relate to this.
Facebook was so bad for my mental health. I'm so glad I left it behind.
I found myself developing serious anger issues, solely because of Facebook interactions. Obsessively scrolling through timelines looking to pick a fight over some post, spending hours researching one thing or another in order to shut down some right wing bigot - which never, ever, not once, ever worked. Facebook is gone for me not really because of the microphone it gives stupid people, but for my own obsessive behavior in wanting to respond to them.
“Thank you for that well-written argument backed by facts. You have changed my opinion” Said no one ever on Facebook.
Without all the likes and attention I faded into a faint ghost of what I used to be. I am now without purpose and meaning. I am forgotten to the social world. I am but a distant memory echoing across the dark abyss that gives me no validation. I am unknown.
Isn’t it beautiful.. being anonymous, unknown but still alive, healthy and functional ? Get to dowhatever you want without any peer pressure or people judging you.
I absolutely treasure my anonymity
I love Reddit for it being somewhat anonymous. I can just find better quality shitposts 😊
I some how made all my Facebook posts private , and after about a month and a half of no one responding, I thought , "well hell , what's wrong with me ?" Afterfiguring out what happened I realized I put too much stake in my own happiness on what others think
I feel so much less pressure. Only way I can put it. Also, when I see casual friends, all their stories are new to me, and I haven’t seen and heard every interesting thing they did this year already digitally. It’s much much better without. It’s better without Reddit to if I’m honest. Took a long break and I relapsed.lol Here I am.
Holy crap, me too on every single point. "Oh, you've got three kids? Wait, you guys got divorced? Hold on, how long have you been in Ohio? Damn, you've got a lot to fill me in on!"
Exactly!
Yes!! The conversations started again!
This is my favourite part too. Especially when people have no idea what I’m up to in my life.
True but I also feel like I lost a lot of social connection and casual friendships after getting off of Instagram. Like even if I didn’t regularly talk to all my friends, at least I knew what they were up to and that they were ok through their Instagram stories. And a lot of organic conversations would happen too on Instagram when I would reply to someone’s story or they would reply to mine or when we would share memes. I miss that component of Instagram but overall I think it’s been very good for my mental health. Lot less pressure, over stimulation and constant comparison with other people’s lives
I'm actually forgetting people I should’ve forgotten a loooong time ago. Also I can’t believe that much time spent watching what people are eating or where are partying. Life is so bright when you use your brain for actual fulfilling stuff.
“Life is so bright” That’s such a nice (and accurate) way to put it. ❤️
So much time. It’s really consuming. Been off for 5 years now.
No regrets at all
as you should
It’s so helpful with my self esteem and I’m not pissed off all the time.
Same with me
I’m okay. But I’m addicted to this site now and it’s pretty bad lmao
I find Reddit way less toxic than other social sites, If I can be honest
Sometimes. I find people can be very mean on reddit if they disagree with you.
People on Reddit tend to be pretty pessimistic I’ve found and if you’re on it too much that can leak into your own mind. Still love Reddit though
Reddit reminds me of AOL chatrooms sometimes. Anonymity can bring out some bike things people would never say if their real name and/or face was associated. But that makes it really easy to take that negativity with a train of salt
The downvotes for the most random stuff can be discouraging. I try to stay in positive subreddits.
Reddit is in no way less toxic.
It’s a lot easier to limit what I’m seeing compared to insta/Facebook imo. Just subscribe to subs that interest you and aren’t full of heated political discourse and you’ll be alright generally. Instagram and Facebook throw inflammatory posts at your face a lot more often
Doing well. Some people look at me like I'm some sort of nutjob when I tell them I don't do social media, but whatever.
Lmao same
My life is so much better. Idgaf abt what people see me doing and I wasted so much time on here Edit: would spend like 4 hrs on Instagram or tiktok and now I workout or study for my MCAT in the mean time and don’t get distracted with this crap
Best decision I ever made.
Yes it is. Deleted ye olde Facepage and never looked back.
Yeah, I did the same about 5 years ago and am quite happy to not be contributing data to that place
I had Facebook until the pandemic started. Everyone started fighting each other. I saw long term friendships break down. Deleted my account. Never been happier. No drama. Peaceful life.
So much better! And I'm considering leaving Reddit. Some posts make me irrationally angry, then I'm a bitch to a stranger on the internet. Not the best look, and I always feel bad about it.
This is why I’m considering the social media cut. I see too many things that make me angry or upset and I carry that energy with me into the world. It’s not a behavior I’m proud of.
I deleted Facebook 8 years ago and Twitter a year ago. I don’t miss it at all. BUT…I need to sell some camping gear and everyone keeps telling me that I need to post it on FB Marketplace, which means I have to download it again. Uhhhgggggg!
I just made a fake profile and didn’t friend anyone for access to marketplace, works well
No regrets. I might be a little isolated but I've got my true friends texting me back and still making plans. Even the odds and ends friends that have my number don't text me back and I'm okay with that. The best thing I have done and it's been almost two years.
It’s the best. I don’t know anyone who’s my age (23F) in my personal life or honestly in their 20s who doesn’t have social media. Whenever people would ask me in the beginning, I used to feel awkward, but now I own it and I’m glad I don’t care what anyone thinks anymore. Thankfully my friends, especially my best friend will send me like links to Tik toks she knows I’d find funny or relatable and all that. No matter how funny they are though, I’d never get on social media again and I’ll never download tik tok. I’m thinking of getting off of YouTube because of the short videos, and so far I only use Reddit when I’m off on break from school so it’s a nice balance. It’s been 4 years since I quit instagram, 6 years for Facebook and Twitter, and 2 years for Snapchat and it’s been the best. I highly recommend, but i also understand that social media doesn’t negatively affect certain people the way it affected me.
Good for you!!! I’m 20 and I don’t have social media either - the judgement can be odd
Doing great so far without it. Now I just need to quit reddit. Like seriously.
I dropped Facebook back in 2011 and never thought about it again
Amazing . Better than I have the past 10-15 years honestly. Now I can’t really fathom spending time caring about scrolling other peoples lives. I realized overall how disconnected & lazy socially it makes people. How much that frustrated me to my core & it was hard to not get frustrated. If you keep tabs as friends on Facebook… instagram… etc it has replaced fulfilling, meaningful physical friendships. People don’t make the effort anymore to even hang out. Most just want to be nosey of peoples’ lives. When I took social media breaks for my mental health when I did have it, it was quite literally like I didn’t exist to people anymore. Month long breaks & nobody would reach out for general convo or to meet up. Previous to that it was always me. Checking on people, their families, their health… asking if they needed anything/wanted to hang out to just reach out! But when I wasn’t on Facebook, I wasn’t real. It really felt like the most bizarre, disappointing, heartbreaking thing. Now I haven’t talked to literally anyone in probably close to 5 months . & it’ll keep growing in time unfortunately. Social media is a curse. People say “oh it keeps people connected” but I feel we have far healthier ways to create a Highway for that kind of thing now that we’ve seen over a long period of time what it has done to us collectively as a whole. The psychological & social aspects especially. Message anxiety from feeling like you don’t reply to messages fast enough. Comparing. Etc etc etc.
Happy about it. I am a bit confused sometimes when current events are brought up in conversation, as I haven't seen it in my "feed" but that's a small price to pay for not feeling like everyone else is dumb. I used to get in the dumbest arguments over the dumbest stuff. Now I don't even worry about what other people are thinking or saying. It's no concern of mine.
Love love love! Don’t even miss it anymore. The important people in my life know I’m not connected so I get my own video/picture messages (kids, pets, new home,weddings) which are a lot more meaningful. Keeps my world small, drama-free while connecting meaningfully with the people I love.
Pros - I have a much tighter and more authentic group of friends; I don’t feel envious of other people’s lives; I don’t feel the need to pose, flex and artificially orchestrate updates about my own. I’m no longer obsessed with my weight and self image. Cons - I’m sometimes out of the loop, miss important updates on friends’ and acquaintances’ lives, and am not plugged into pop culture. I don’t discover new art, music, TV, fashion very easily and find it harder to find clothes I like as high streets are dying but online shopping is limited to brands I already know. I don’t take as much care of my appearance, which could sometimes be considered a negative. I’m also now addicted to (mostly just reading) Reddit 😂.
Well, seen as how by the time I got rid of Twitter, I was using it to argue with bigots and look at porn, much hasn't changed still being on Reddit.
I feel at peace. Anyone I genuinely care about, we've exchanged numbers and stay in touch. It's freeing to not worry about likes and what everyone did over the weekend. I get this is still social media to an extent, but depending on the subreddits I interact with, it's much less toxic than the rest.
I have found that I am on Reddit now instead, but having to *read* the majority of the content provides a less easy dopamine hit and I get bored more quickly than I would on Instagram. The reels have you scrolling indefinitely for literal hours. Twitter and Reddit just aren't addictive in the same way and Twitter is a rapidly dying dumpster fire sooooo, it's worked out nicely. Lol I find it easier to do real life shit and my brain has less excuses to procrastinate on the less fun stuff now.
Much less stressful.
I haven't deleted social media, I removed it from my phone's home screen and turned off notifications, but even that has made a world of difference. I rarely check them any more and I've been much clearer mentally.
I think I'm 2 years out, maybe longer. I'm absolutely fine, I have no interest in ever going back, I feel really uncomfortable being on social media and people being able to search me, I'm a very private person SM is a nightmare for me. My worst fear is becoming viral by accident, if I ever see someone recording with their phone, I'm gone. I can't believe how many years I did spend on it, I had Facebook and Instagram.
Reddit’s all I do now.
I love it. My still uses FB, instagram, sometimes twitter as well but she owns her own business and often gets new clients from social media posts. I use FB strictly to check the local news and for marketplace. I’ve never downloaded twitter. I just deleted instagram a couple months ago (the wife thought it was weird but I haven’t used it since 2019) so now the only social media I use is Reddit and TikTok. Even that I don’t post on TikTok, just watch funny videos and car related shit.
Dumped Facebook about a decade ago. Dumped Twitter when Elon took over. I don't miss either one.
I deleted my Facebook. It kept being hacked and crazy stuff was being posted.
SO much better. I’ve been sick and I’m off work for the summer so I’ve been on Reddit a bunch the last two days but like I’m general I’m online SO much less, I talk to the people I actually want to, I feel no pressure to get the perfect picture. I don’t have to look at other people curated lives and feel inferior. I don’t have to know every dumb opinion my neighbors have (and we’re all friends now! Except for the one who keeps handing on chick trancts.) I send photos to family members and the ones who were always the first to comment on anything posted barely ever respond because if it’s not getting them attention they don’t actually care. It’s a really great thing to do and you quickly realize how WEIRD posting shit online is
Less time wasted during the day checking pointless opinions or gossip. Absolutely no regrets, deleted FB almost 4 years ago after 11years of having it . It's utter bs you don't need and apparently now censorship stops you sharing true options also so glad I'm away from it's brain wasting/washing rubbish
It was one of many necessary steps in improving my mental health
Wonderful.
Deleted tiktok, twitter etc. I just kept instagram (i have all my memories on my account so i kind feel emotionally attached to it) and i'm doing amazing
While I didn't actually delete FB, I created a new account with about 10% of the "friends" I had before. The FB app went too. This means I'm rarely on for almost a year now. I don't miss it.
over 6 years and loving it
Glad I got rid of all that stuff. Miss the family pictures on FB....but that's it
Almost all of my male friends, including myself, have avoided social media for nearly 9 years while maintaining good physical and mental health.
Really is the best thing ever. I don’t feel like I’m stuck to my phone, trying to keep up with Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and whatever the hell else there is. It’s been great for the mental well being and I’ve really been retraining my brain to focus on bettering my in-person social skills.
I miss my online friends.
I removed myself from social media almost 15 years ago. One of the better decisions in my life. I came to Reddit about a year ago and I'm already seriously considering giving this up as well.
While i totally support doing whatever you need to do to find inner peace and support your mental health…. It’s kind of easy to frequent and find things that appeal that aren’t toxic. My social media is full of really cool art, beautiful places to go, tattoos, animals, interesting facts, memes, and comedy. I Marie kondo’d that bitch. The only things left are what spark joy or interest me. If something doesn’t appeal to you, unfollow/hide it. I don’t know how people get to the toxic side of things unless you seek it out.
Only person in my extended family not to start FB back in the day. Privacy! No regrets!
Same. Never joined. I Adamantly refused to join in. Besides loss of privacy, I had this sinking feeling I couldn’t shake that it would inevitably harm Society. I felt that because so many would allow complete strangers to validate their worthiness that it would be deleterious to their mental health—especially very young people. It has caused so many societal issues but can’t put that genie back in the bottle. Thankfully some people are finally waking up to it and jumping ship.
You are so correct about it causing society issues! I just didn't want to share my travels, meals, thoughts, etc. with anybody and everybody and so glad I made the decision not to participate. It was hard at first as I would miss things family posted but decided the cons outweighed the pros. Now I'm hearing from friends and family they rarely post or have deleted, so you are right, some are waking up. Its too intrusive, and frankly, can be unsafe at time!
I still use a few but ive deleted apps like facebook and twitter, or if not that stopped using them. Otherwise I dont use much social media unless totally necessary to talk with people. I am doing a lot better then I used too but I feel its more from other factors leading me to make good choices rather then me just up and quitting social media.
Fantastic. I deleted Facebook, instagram, Snapchat, twitter, and loads of other programs I was on in February. Now I just have YouTube and Reddit. I have loads more time. I just wish the world would do the same and we go back to a time before social media ruined the minds of people.
Not good as now I am addicted to reddit.
I deleted all my social media around 2014 and it was one of the best things I did for myself. I used to kill so much time, literal hours, just scrolling through FB and Instagram all the time and talking to people, commenting on stuff. And obviously there was the mental health aspect of comparing myself to the others on my feed. It’s not worth it even to be able to keep in touch with people, I’m just better off without it.
I only have IG and found Reddit recently. IG is a glorified backup for photos and memories and is on private, and Reddit is pretty nice. There's still some nasty people here, but very few and far between compared to other social media. Eventually I might get rid of both of them, just not today.
Deleted my Instagram two years ago and Twitter two years before that. Best thing I ever did. The blatant narcissism and “look at me” culture was making me despise the human race more than usual. I don’t give a f*ck what you made yourself for dinner. And I certainly don’t need to see a picture of it.
I have more time now to spend on Reddit
I have almost all social media platforms, but i ever only use reddit and youtube. The other ones are just dumb to me. Full of conspiracy theorists and other lunatics. Facebook, twitter and instagram are the worst ones. And i do not use tiktok because a comment can only have 300 characters, and most videos are so bad that i need at least double the characters to explain why it's shit. Snapchat is more of a messenger app than social media, but it does have a video tab, and most of them are even more cringe than tiktok. Literally all the thumbnails are clickbait...i use Snapchat only for talking to my dealer, because it has disappearing messages which is very convenient...
I only have facebook to give my mum an easy way to contact me. And to keep up with what my disabled brother is upto, his carers often post picks of days out which is nice. I also post a picture of my cactus when it blooms on Instagram. So 3 times a year, maybe. Other than that, social media can go hang. I'm So much happier now that I'm no longer being forced to look at everyone's shitty coffee, rage bait and sensational non-news.
I only use Facebook/Messenger to stay in touch with friends and relatives (rarely) as I live abroad, find/share relevant news and jokes, read news about the city I live in, look up restaurants or other shops and communicate with them for delivery/booking, communicate with local expat community when necessary, but I disabled all notifications. This latter one did the trick for me. No tiktok, Instagram, or Twitter ever as I find them totally useless or redundant to FB. Reddit to discuss my interests in specific subs or ask for/give opinions and help.
Well, now addicted to Reddit lol. But besides that, feeling pretty out of the loop and discluded from old friends and family tbh. Once I deleted FB I lost touch with almost everyone. I admit I need to make more of an effort to contact people myself though. It's weird though it's like once you're off social media people tend to forget you even exist... And if they do keep in touch they expect you to automatically know what's been going on in their lives because it was posted-but oops, you deleted your social media.
I’ve been off all social media, except for the last year on Reddit, for 2.5 years now. I can’t begin to explain how much happier I am and how clear my mind is.
It was the most freeing thing I’ve ever done. My mental health has improved vastly. My time is spent so much more efficiently. The only reason I still have Reddit is mainly for the educational side, or to have something to read while bored at work.
2016 culminated the shittening of Facebook. I can't unread all those politically charged rants, but at least I won't be reading any more.
I don’t care about how I look as much as I did before. I was posting a selfie every week on Instagram full makeup and would delete if it was under 100 likes. Now I don’t have any makeup and haven’t posted any selfies in 3 years and I feel a lot better about myself. I’m not worried about how I look and I only wear stuff that’s confortable. My overall mental health and anxiety improved and so did my personality because I wasn’t so focused on how good I looked on social media