At what point in your life did you ditch all SM?

[justanothermanicmonday1]

light hearted

Just that really.

At what age did you completely ditch all social media and never looked back?

Was there a specific turning point that made you do it?

I haven't had FB in about 8 years. However, I still have instagram.

Problem is, I find myself comparing myself to what my other friends and family are doing and I end up feeling less than. I know people only show the good "moments" however I know this isn't healthy so I think I'm going to delete my account.

I'm about to have my second DC, and me and DP have made a lovely little life for ourselves. So im wondering if it's just raging hormones at being 8 months pregnant or whether anyone else feels the same towards SM?

Thanks :-)

Late forties, early fifties. Have Facebook for various hobby related groups and occasionally keeping up with friends, but don’t have anything else. The lack of noise is brilliant - I realised how little gossip and boring work-related stuff I needed in my life.

I don’t have Twitter, Tik tox or shite like that

I have Facebook & Instagram (I follow some people who posts workouts)

I left Facebook when my 2nd dc was born and didn’t reactivate my account for years! Never missed it.

To be fair I don’t use either very much anymore 🤷‍♀️ I could deactivate my accounts really

In my 40s. I have Twitter and instagram but don’t actually use them. I got Twitter when I was self employed to try and build up work, and the stopped using it when I got employed again and then started again as the kids school was using that for posting photos. They don’t anymore so I barely log in. I got instagram as my ex was using that to post pictures of my kids out with him so a way to see pics but he’s doesn’t use it much now so I barely log in. I do use fb a lot. Mainly I have several photo albums shared to family living all over the world so helps with that. I also have some locked to me only and it’s just useful to store them.

I’m 30 and still have Facebook but it’s definitely very quiet there these days. I’ve noticed younger family members either don’t have a FB profile or never really post much on there- it’s mainly my parents/in-laws/aunts and uncles etc who are active. It’s a shame as I genuinely like seeing what everyone is up to, especially relatives I don’t get to see a lot irl due to distance etc. Think I need to make my way over to Instagram as I think that’s a bit more active.

Thanks to everyone for sharing all their reasons as to why they deleted SM/reasons for keeping.

After a discussion with my DP, we actually both decided to deactivate Instagram and he did the same with Facebook.

About to welcome our second DC, so want to really enjoy these last few weeks with our oldest before. And hopefully we will be moving house soon too.

Time is just too precious, and I'm easily distracted!

💐 xxx

Good for you OP.

I've never been overly interested in it to be honest.

I'm mid thirties and deleted FB in my twenties, have never had Twitter. I did join Instagram a couple of years ago but have a private/anonymous I suppose account related to a personal interest so it isn't followed by anyone I know IRL. I've found it really enjoyable and useful for that purpose and have made a couple of friends as a result of it, attended some courses I'd not have known about otherwise and so on.

I'd use LinkedIn if I had to - ie - if I were job hunting and it would be of a benefit, but don't have it.

I think if you are a person who struggles with comparison and self esteem then that is going to be an issue regardless in life and should probably be tackled more deeply than just deleting SM. But yes, if it does serve a positive purpose then why not get rid.

Ummmm, you're on social media

I’ve never been a fan of social media. But then I’m quite an introverted sort of person. Other people need a lot more social interaction I think!

I have a Facebook account I use only occasionally for a couple of social groups. But even that’s tiring when people I’ve never met just post random pictures of their pets or where they are on holiday (nothing informative, just “look at me”). Twitter holds no interest at all, though I guess if you are following someone who is a leader in your hobby/job/passion I guess that might be different.

As for the rest of social media - people’s vanity is nearly always disappointing! Here’s me in my bikini, here’s a photo of my amazing child who’s passed her driving test, here’s my amazing Valentine’s Day gift, on and on. Often nothing more than a vacuous brag-fest. One reason I do like it is the thought that it’s possible to keep in touch with new people I’ve met when occasionally travelling: it’s nice to think you can, though most people don’t keep it up, inevitably (but that’s fine).

As for MN, currently looking at chat a fair bit, but hoping this passes soon lol.

I like Quora though. Its mostly uplifting and genuinely interesting . But I waste too much time on MN atm.

You haven't ditched social media if you're on mumsnet.

But anyway. No I haven't ditched it, because I like it. They do do different things. Facebook I use least because no-one really posts much anymore and it's all ads - it was good in my early 30s when we were all out partying but also starting to get married and have kids. It's a life update site for people I rarely see.

Twitter I like for current affairs and politics, political twitter is brilliant.

Instagram I like for my hobby, there's a great community on there. Also comedians and well-placed ads - I would never see clothes I like without Instagram ads! I should probably watch fewer reels and avoid getting sucked into the explore page when I should be going to bed, but it's hardly the end of the world.

I agree! I'm on here the most

I have Facebook and Insta, but I really would like to get rid of insta and keep facebook only to keep in touch with some friends or book hairdresser appointments etc. What annoys me is that businesses invest less in websites and they prefer to post pictures of their work on social media. I get why, but it means that sometimes you can't even order birthday cake without having facebook or instagram, because they don't provide mobile number and there are limits when you check fanpages without the account.

I left FB about 8 years ago. My method was to unfollow everything and then it was so boring there was no point logging on.

I don’t find Twitter addictive. I don’t particularly like it.

instagram I only follow things that interest me. Not people’s lifestyle nor people I know.

don’t do TikTok, I’m too old for all that

Mumsnet is thoroughly addictive

Yeah, you can’t compare MN to Facebook & Instagram. This is an anonymous forum.

Yes, I don’t know what you’d class MN as. It’s a little like newspaper comments, book reviews or product reviews or various forums. Are they all social media? 🤷‍♀️

I'm in the late thirties with a couple of kids age group too and I came off insta a few months ago. So relieved to see others say they felt they were comparing themselves as I felt this was a problem I had with it and I also found it a time drain. Still on FB and put the occasional contrived family pics or holiday post there.

Early 40's and made the decision to ditch FB and IG in April.
Not been on either since.
Like you OP I was comparing myself to others even though I have a nice happy life. I was also having horrible thoughts about other people eg. 'How do they afford that?' 'Why are they doing this' etc that made me feel like a not very nice person.
I also felt like every time I went out, was on holiday, day out etc I had to take pictures and do something worthy of posting which is pretty fucked up because I should be enjoying time with my family and friends.
Since giving up I have felt happier and more secure in myself and my decisions.
I don't count Mumsnet as social media proper as its anonymous.

So funny. I am also 8 months preggo and have just deleted instagram.

how did you find the break? Did you go back?

I have FB and use MN (obv!) but nothing else and go on FB once or twice a week. It can be isolating but overall v liberating.

A friend of mine had a breakdown largely caused by stress she'd put on herself to maintain an insta worthy lifestyle, and it was like a wake up call of how toxic it all is. So I quit the lot right then.

Unfortunately I have to use it for work, but I have no friends on there and am not critiquing what I've posted or how many likes it gets etc other than from a business engagement perspective. It feels so much healthier. Agree with others about the addiction of it too...though this website is also very addictive, and I guess counts as social media?!

My next step is the overall phone addiction. I thought I lost my phone today, and my first thought was 'if it is lost I'm going to replace it with a basic, not smart phone'. That felt good. So think this will be my last smart phone. I switch it off over Christmas every year and try to keep it off as long as I can. 6 weeks is my best so far.

i ditched facebook and insta january last year... i had a whole year off and it was lovely.

unfortunately, as DD is due a baby soon, i began gathering stuff, and used my husbands facebook for the selling sites... and he got fed up and i had little choice but to go back to facebook.

Never post on Facebook these days and use it only for following groups or local info.
Don’t use any other social media apart from this site which I spend far too much unproductive time on. I’m working myself up to deleting my account soon. I wish I had never found it.

Well today I accidentally deleted WhatsApp and all its history from four years! I thought, ah well, no one died. Then I thought, apart from a few pics that I can get off my family, I don’t need any of it. Thought about not activating it again but I have kids and family groups so am back on with a clean account.

I don’t really see MN as SM it’s a chat platform which to me feels different. I have learnt over the years how to use MN without falling out with people!! It has taught me tolerance. I love it. Despite the tough talk, it is a safe space and it has taught me loads. It’s got so much to offer and never a dull moment!

I want to delete Insta as scroll mindlessly. I loved it at the start as all I saw were funny cat vids which were hilarious and I used it to catch up with my DDs pics. But now the algorithm thinks it knows best and I get loads of health/wellbeing/beauty stuff sent my way and it’s lost all its charm. I just think who the hell are you in my feed, telling me what to do??

I deleted Facebook a few years ago and never once regretted it or looked back. It seems completely outdated now. The thought of reading posts about someone’s day out or whatever seems absolutely dull! It’s amazing how fast you move on. Just delete it you won’t miss it. Or the people who post on it!