Life before social media

[LastnightaDJsavedmylife73]

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how much time I waste on social media and what I used to do with that time before. I’m tempted to just get rid of it, but have a hobby I’m trying to turn into a side business and instagram is vital for that.

Am I alone? Has anyone successfully moved away from endless scrolling whilst still having a profile?

its pathetic really, I’m not a child but I don’t seem to be able to stop.

I was born in 1973 & this was me too. I still always have a book with me to read on the bus / tube.

I do have my phone at the gym though, because it’s got my workout plan, timer & audiobook on it.

How do you know what anyone has been doing? - you speak to or message the people you’re closest with to catch up.. anyone else you don’t actually need to know they’ve been up to. I had unfollowed or muted so many people on insta before deactivating - I don’t need to know about what the child of someone I haven’t seen in 15 years has made in school, or an acquaintance going on yet another 50 mile cycle, with cake pit stop and wine time after. Also at the end of the day so much on social media is fake. I have a friend who would post so much cutesy stuff with her husband and son - turns out husband was cheating on her and they had a very drawn out break up and divorce. You’d literally never have known from her stories.

How do you let people know any big news? - speak to or message the important people! Tbf I never shared a lot on social media anyway.

How do you get recommendations for stuff? - take a punt, speak to people, or get your pal who’s still on TikTok to look 🤣 tbf I am still on Pinterest which is good for looking up things but way way less stimulating.

I'm gen X too.
I read in bed in the morning and before going to sleep (also in the bath).
My phone (and everyone else's) stays downstairs overnight to charge.
We have kept our landline because once every few months someone doesn't hear their mobile as it's in a different part of the house or still in a bag from a trip out and being able to ring the landline has meant they could get through.
But I still spend far too much time on here and FB (plus LinkedIn at work).

Because it’s affected my productivity, at work and at home. I want to write a book, I’ve started, but I need to use what little free time have to focus on that and not on instagram. I got rid of tik tok a year ago, but I do like FB for keeping up with people I don’t see often, including relatives abroad. And I like instagram for lifestyle stuff.

I grew up and had children before the internet.
As others say I read a lot. I watched less TV than I do now because there was little choice.
As a teenager we had telephones but mainly friends were local and you just called round. Arrangements and plans were made and stuck to. People now won't commit and are flaky because a better offer might come along via messages.You couldn't change plans last minute without a lot of difficulty.

That was me too.

Social media and smartphones has destroyed my ability to enjoy a book.

Im trying to get back into them
with audio books

So you are trying to grow a side business via instagram yet want to reduce your social media?

Herein lies the issue, many creating content so the social media overlords just have to keep autoplaying whilst earning almost all the money as people spend hours of their over time freely creating content that may or may not be financially beneficial for them. It’s a great business model.

The social media companies pay psychologists a lot of money to keep everyone hooked. They answer to virtually no one, people are fed the dream you can be part of the revolution and earn money for existing and round and round it goes.

It’s meant to keep you addicted.

Yeah i get you. I have had enough in some ways too and come from a time when i didn't even gave a smartphone or social media until I was 30! Its useful for a few things but facebook starting to get me down.X is vile, Instagram is ok. It's facebook i scroll mostly on. I don't want to see laughing emoji when children have died, just because they are a differently race/religion. They are children! So Innocent and even in death are laughed at. It's not even news or groups I follow, it Just pops up . I do the 'see less' and end up seeing more. Horrible people around. I want to go on less too. Just enjoying sharing pics and stuff with family and friends abroad. Also, a few groups I enjoy for similar hobbies and beliefs.

Me too. I used to read all day every day whenever I had time. I'd read a book a day on holiday throughout the 70s to 90s. Then I had children and by the time DS2 was at school I realised I was reading under 20 books a year. I started keeping track of my reading but it's only been in the last few years I've increased it to nearer 50. I still waste far too much time on here (not so much on other SM and I hate IG).
The booker threads on here are very motivating.
I can't do audio books as I just drift off and it doesn't feel like reading to me, more akin to listening to podcasts. Podcasts are another distraction but at least the ones I like are educational.

As an older teen I:

Read
Drew/ painted
Daydreamed
Procrastinated.
Flipped through magazines.
Watched crap on telly.
Played my instrument.

Now I:
Run
Read
Piss about in the garden
Play a different instrument (self taught)
Scroll

Life before social media was a slower and a more private time. No digital updates and people experienced events directly instead of viewing them through a screen.

Queen's legendary 21-minute set at Live Aid on July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium featured a sea of 72,000 people completely engaged in the moment. With no smartphones or digital cameras in the crowd, every single fan was fully locked into Freddie Mercury's performance, clapping in unison to "Radio Ga Ga" instead of viewing the show through a screen.

I was (and still am) an avid reader.

call them ? See them ? This post has made me laugh and realise I really am a dinosaur!

We wrote each other postcards and letters over the school holidays - phone calls were expensive

we waited

thats really changed - we waited until we saw someone. We made plans perhaps by post and stuck to them. Didn’t matter if a better offer came up.

if we wanted a new record we waited until we had saved the money then waited for the weekend then waited for the bus / no next day delivery or instant streaming

plans and patience

A ‘bygone age!’

When I was a teenager, people didn’t even have mobiles.

If you wanted to contact a friend, you phoned their land line & left a message if necessary, and only one person in the house could use the phone at a time.

It does all seem very weird now.

I deleted Instagram off of my phone in a moment of impulsiveness just over a month ago. Haven't missed it for a single second.

Caveat: I didn't delete my account. So I know it's there, and I could access it on my computer if I really wanted to. And, since I also avoid TV news, I've noticed that information isn't reaching me so fast.

BUT, I've been reading and writing and making and baking so much more! It's been great, and I wish I'd done it sooner :)

Do it! Give yourself a couple of weeks and then see how you go. Can always download it again if necessary.

You used to wait until after 6pm to make a phone call as it was cheaper.

I remember the days before social media and mobile phones. People spoke directly to each other. On the landline or face to face. They connected in a real way. Life generally felt more real than it does today.

People who had extreme views did not get a global audience.

I gave up on some social media and have never used others that are commonplace. This is the only thing I use.

It is a dangerous thing. You do not know who you are talking to. People fill in the gaps about people without knowing anything. People make assumptions.
But worse, people sometimes write posts to evoke sympathy, to gain popularity online, carefully using language that does that.
Some will be real. Some will be all made up.

It is not a healthy way to communicate. And I have vowed when and if this site goes over to America then I am off. It will become unusable.

I think once hooked in the system is designed to keep you there. It is quite sick. And I never lose sight that it is all about making money. Not about caring for anybody.

Yes! And people only cancelled last minute if they had a very good reason, because otherwise you might leave the other person waiting with no idea what had happened.

Social media has changed how people communicate.

But not for the better. Not overall.
It has become a place that has normalised crazy views, theories, bullies.

I'm the same, but I'm not sure that you can really compare reading an entire book (however shallow) with scrolling through tiny bits of info and photos on a phone ....

The other thing it has done is shortened peoples attention span to that of a gnat.

I remember arranging to meet a friend outside Woolworths one Saturday. She was late as her bus was delayed but she had no way of letting me know! Still, she turned up in the end. I just stood there with nothing to do (no scrolling!)

It affects our brain so badly, which is why I read the Johann Hari book.

I do recommend it. Just the opening chapter is really interesting. It is definitely affecting our brains and our attention spans. I think the damage is going to be more than anyone could have guessed though.

For once, I made sure I got everything done today before coming on here! I’m obviously not as bad with it as some people, but I’d like to be better.

Really it needs people to leave en masse. I remember years ago reading an article that said “ we cannot make social media good - because it’s fundamentally bad”. I agree with that.

I wonder how much of the absolute craziness we see these days is linked to adults having broken their brains. Only we can decide to walk away!

I’m going to read a book now!

Totally agree and I feel SM has taken over our lives to a point! I’m not on FB but am on Insta purely because I’m a musician so have a page for that but I truly resent having to post for promotion. It’s just an extra pressure of life nobody needs!