Anyone quit social media?

I need to quit Reddit. Absolute time sink. The content is awful. The comments are awful.

Delete any accounts you have, rarely visit r/all (or the different versions of it they have), only use the browser version, bookmark handful of favourite subs, visit 'hot' rather than 'new'. It has gone from a place to dig for interesting discussion to a place that sells things and is full of bots talking to each other.

I've never had any social media accounts and don't know how Facebook or Instagram even works despite being 28. I never felt like I missed out on anything but I'm certainly an outlier. I do remember a time when everybody just suddenly stopped using MSN Messenger and switched to Facebook but I think my closest group of friends kept MSN/Skype so I had no reason to change. Then Whatsapp came about and that's all I've used until today.

I have a reddit account which I use it to browse but tend to avoid reading the comments because in the past few years, no matter the subreddit, they've become just another platform for childish, hateful americanised political discourse

Im aware I'm unusual re S.M largely because I don't consider it as having a value to me. professionally and personally I require an amount of anonymity .I've watched for over a decade while friends build a list of the ways in which SM is robbing them rather than adding much . Maybe they're just prone to the ways that SM is designed to put itself between them and their conscience.

Same here, never had any social media account and seeing how it controls some people's lives I am glad. I can see it has some advantages but I don't feel I have missed out on anything.

OG lordy it when it does being about looking and the comments feature was ramped up.

FB is deleted. I use it about as often as I celebrate my bday. I may still ditch it.

The difficult bit is that you become persona non Grata once you're not there. It requires much more work to keep in touch with people; another area I lack in..😒

Ditched FB many years ago (8+)
Still have Twitter but rarely use, it is handy for football updates (non-league)
Uninstalled Instagram a few months ago, found myself just scrolling aimlessly and watching stories that I DGAF about.

Still use Reddit and LFGSS.
Tried to get on with STW but it is shit and annoying so sacked it off.

I binned off FB years ago - it was fun at the start but became a massive waste of time over the years with no real benefit.
(BTW, you can still use FB messenger without having a FB account. i have one cycling group that still use it so keep it for that reason)

i have an insta but don't post that much, and also a twitter which i don't really use but find is quite useful for customer service enquiries / complaints etc.

i think the best approach as someone else mentioned is to delete the apps from your phone/ipad or whatever, then you have to make a conscious effort to look at stuff on the computer.

I deleted FB in 2019 and I'm really glad I did. Still have an IG account but recently deleted the app and I actually haven't been on since (around four weeks ago). I'm pleased because before this step I found I was endlessly scrolling and would end up losing 30 min at a time, often several times a day. I've got a nextdoor account but I only go there to sell stuff so it's fine. My only other social media account is on here and like others have said my ignore list has sadly ramped up over the last year. I think the majority of the bile and willy waving stuff is generated by around twenty people so once you've got them on ignore it's ace.

Miss you...

Too too long, friend. I hope Auz is treating you guys well? (Aside from the feds blocking your front doors...)

the vibe these days so negative

I’m guilty of contributing to this (hopefully not the following bit). I regret that LFGSS at one point became a place where I allow myself to express negativity or vent rather than come to learn and contribute. Actively striving to change that. Hopefully general forum mood will improve as the times improve.

Drastically cutting down on social media and most ‘news’ worked well for me. Have returned to SM this year for job hunting and it’s definitely hit my mood hard once or twice.

He may not read this if you are on his ever lengthening ignore list.

We are all occasionally the villain in someone else’s story. It’s not my place to dictate their experience, I just have to practice acceptance.

I quit facebook in 2006, I can't believe how much worse it's got.

I never got it. Things were going so well. You had friends, you had each other's numbers. You text to meet up or say hello. Then suddenly it's walls of political arguments and pictures of swimwear and meals and being eaten by people I don't know. Being constantly reminded of people you barely know or don't want to, meanwhile overtime it becomes "where were you? Oh we invited you on FB".

Yuck

Deleted instagram about a year ago - was a major source of FOMO and really didn't help my self-esteem as I'm terrible for comparing myself to the [curated] successes of peers - which when I think about it probably isn't the healthiest way of dealing with it, but has definitely helped.

Tried to do the same with FB, went through all the steps to delete the account and all data, but I think due to the fact I still used/wanted to use the Messenger app, it essentially won't delete my FB account unless I delete this too. I removed the app from my phone, and only occasionally hop on via a browser for one local neighbourhood group that's pretty useful, so maybe as others have said removing the phone app(s) is half the battle, if not more.

I'm also another one for whom reddit has become a huge time sink - essentially replaced the mindless scrolling I was doing on FB/insta...

I have a Facebook account but haven't gone in it since about 2010 and didn't use it much before then either. total waste of time and does a good job of highlighting how stupid some of your friends are and the drivel they come out with.

forums like this where you can learn a bit or impart some knowledge or see some nice pictures and theres a bit of genuine value floating around I think is the only healthy bit of social media personally.

I don't have a tv either. that opened up a lot of time, don't miss it, never want a tv again, nearly as bad as social media.

Instagram especially got realllly bad once people turned the camera around and started making it about themselves instead of just photos of sunsets with novelty filters. Once the marketing and companies got their teeth stuck into it and learned how to sell and manipulate people it has literally become hell.

The sad thing is a lot of people haven't even noticed that gradual change. They are more than happy to @ a company or throw in a hashtag or location just to let the people know. They are trying to emulate the 'influencers' who are playing the same game. It's made the whole of the UK feel a lot closer to America where a really high level of marketing is so normal that people don't even notice.

Deleted FB about 4 years ago. Haven't missed it one bit at all.

Downsides? Not a single person wished me happy birthday this year. Shows our reliance on social media to notify. I USED THE BE POPULAR. 😔

IG as many have mentioned has turned into the new scroll of doom. Where it's been taken over by tiktokers who upload videos over non-original sound tracks and do short clapping to caption nonsense. I literally could waste hours of an evening on it. For literally zero gain what so ever.
TIP: if you do continue to use is - delete your search history. It nukes the algorithm data and sets you back to 'learn'.

happy belated birthday 🎂

Thank you kindly.

I've actually just deleted IG App. The web version is far more pleasant for a single daily catch up and non-doom-scrolling.

I'm going to use my time to learn something instead. Come at me Swift Playgrounds.

a major source of FOMO and really didn't help my self-esteem as I'm terrible for comparing myself to the [curated] successes of peers

This resonates

Aside from the feds blocking your front doors...

That has got to be a euph, right? 🤣😘

I'm sure we all do that to a degree and I wasn't singling you out... I miss the good natured piss taking of old by a motley crew of bike obsessed dickheads, it's been replaced by much chin stroking and 'I'm the smartest person here' type bollocks by a small band of internet dullards... 😴

I'd like to be out of here by the end of the year...

No, you’re an internet dullard