If you don't have facebook?

[Rayn]

Can I ask why? I have just deactivated my account for the first time in 12years.
For the first time ever I feel it is negatively affecting my mental health.
I am struggling at the moment like alot of others and fed up of seeing the same thing.
How wonderful people's children are home schooling, pictures of lovely walks. How perfect and how well they are coping.
Then on the other hand it's negative and repetitive. I appreciate alot of it will be Coronavirus but I seriously need a break.
Only just holding things together at home and feel like I am failing.

For those of you who have never used it then why not?
For those of you who did and no longer use it then why did you not go back.

Deactivated and removed the app from my phone. So easy just to click on FB to what's going on but sometimes seeing and knowing too much does not do me any good.

Thoughts?

You need to delete it not deactivate it. I had it for 10 years. Stopped being fun. Was dull, fane and a time waster. The data being sold and fake news was the last straw. Delete don’t deactivate

I enjoy Twitter. Slightly different social media platform. Generally read my news via Twitter from Sky, BBC and some newspapers. A splattering of celebrities (who ever takes your fancy) to add some pizazz and bobs your uncle. You won’t miss Fakebook.

I still have a FB account because some of my friends sometimes contact me through FB messenger, but I haven't posted anything or read anyone else's posts for about two years now. For one thing I don't trust or like Facebook. But the main thing is just that I find it incredibly boring. I don't care what people from primary school who I haven't seen in decades are up to. I'm not interested in endless photos of families/children I don't know, or people's holidays, or what someone had for dinner, or whether or not someone I worked with 15 years ago has completed a level on Candy Crush.

I do really like Twitter though. I find it a lot more interesting, varied and funny.

I do love FB and I have a lot of friends on there from a birth forum I was on when I was pregnant and that is how we keep in touch as we are spread all over the country (and the world). Some of Dd's clubs only communicate via FB too.

I actually enjoy it. Yes, I'm sure some people find my posts banal. Then delete me. Some people probably hate my political posts. Delete me. That's what I do. If I dislike what someone is frequently posting, they get deleted. If someone posts a Britain First or similar type post, they're home straight away. There is one person I can think of who I find really annoying on FB and I know they hate frequent photos of cats being shared so, although we like each other IRL, we are not good friends on FB so we are no longer FB friends. Absolutely fine, no drama. I agree with what a PP said, FB is what you make of it and I'm finding it invaluable at the moment. It's very supportive and lots of people are posting the good and the bad about being in lock down. Some people are having good days and bad days so it's not all "look at how great I am".

MN, however, is dreadful at the moment, and I have provably more than halved the time I spend on here, despite having lots more free time. All the competitive staying in posts are ridiculous, making people feel guilty or stupid for asking a question which they were unsure about.

There are some sensible sites on FB, Springwatch, lovely pictures of birds for example. There is also a great one where people in lockdown with even small gardens are building wildlife ponds. Loads of helpful people posting suggestions for plants etc. Also pictures of the animals that have moved in. So nice people are helping nature in this horrible time

Never had FB, never wanted it. If I want to know what my friends and family are up to, I'll ask them.

I belong to several local community Facebook groups, and loads of local suppliers and the local council post about which places are open, who does deliveries, when the bins will be emptied etc

There's a community facebook group where I live. Being a Farcebook refusnik, I've never seen it. There's also a public online forum.

The latter often includes threads about the guy who "moderates" the local FB group, who appears to be some sort of proto-fascist who shuts down any discussion that includes people who disagree with his views, however mildly they do it.

I do like Twitter though and couldn't getvthrough life without WhatsApp!

I never saw the point. I’ve never been in Facebook. But I have joined in the last two weeks to find out local information. Haven’t got to grips with it at all.

I wouldn't want to come off Facebook because it is the primary means of communication for the children's school stuff and a great source of local info on events etc. I follow loads of local venues and businesses. I would miss out on absolutely masses if I didn't use it.

But I have absolutely zero interest in seeing personal posts, and agree with everyone who says it can be very bad for mental health. But it is really easy to deal with this - I have 'unfollowed' absolutely everyone in my friends list. If I get a new request, I accept it and immediately unfollow.

So my facebook feed is entirely school stuff, updates about local stuff and targeted adverts which I am ashamed to say I actually quite like.

Deleted about a year ago. Facebook doesn't give a single shiny shit about UK laws. I lost count of the number of adverts that were either straight out scams or else not compliant with basic UK law. Martin Lewis had to threaten them with legal action to get them to stop bogus adverts appearing with his image and name on them. Note - Martin Lewis has plenty of money for this, but Facebook still waited until the start of the process rather than do the right thing straight away.

They (Facebook) are a nasty organisation.

I quit about 8 years ago or so. I hadn't enjoyed it for a while, but the final straw was when someone I went to school with posted a photo of a pile of vomit on a trampoline.

I still use and like Instagram, I don't post but I follow artists and crafty people I like so it's a nice thing to scroll through.

I deactivated my account well over a year ago best thing I ever did

Over zealous showing off. Yuk.

I was an active user for about 10 years and enjoyed it. I then became ill with PND and realised that Facebook was making me feel worse. I’ve never been a jealous person but seeing other people’s seemingly ‘wonderful’ lives, holidays, homes, children, pets was making me miserable. I knew that many of my friends were putting a false image of themselves on there, but it still got me down that everyone looked so happy and I was so depressed. I was also really sick of hearing other people’s opinions, constantly.

I wanted to remove my account entirely but the process of saving all your photos was surprisingly difficult. So I just deleted all my friends!! Literally everyone. So I still have an account and weirdly, I quite like it now!!

I’m in a couple of groups I’m interested in and i can keep up with local events.

I’m so pleased I don’t have to see all the crap on there at the moment. My anxiety is bad enough as it is.

I deleted all but 20 'friends' a couple of years ago, and most of that 20 I have block their posts. I only see my adult DC and a couple of close friends' posts. I am on various groups though and would miss those - writers groups, photography groups etc. and I follow some local animal rescue places and other charities. Also my husband's professional governing body is on fb and there are really useful discussions going on right now, so it has its uses.

Instagram, even though it's owned by FB, is far less intrusive. My account is private, I'm not selling anything, and you can simply put a photo up of anything that captures your fancy that day if you feel like it. My followers are mostly friends in RL. But if for example, I like a certain place or country or the same author as someone and get chatting I might add them.

It's not all glamour models etc, attention seekers, wannabe s'lebs or people trying to flog you stuff.

Their accounts tend to be public .

I've unfollowed quite a few people, not because of drama but because of crappy live love life type memes. I've cut down on my birthday greetings too.

I dunno what facebook other people are talking about but mine is quite dead. Most people are inactive on it. It’s not like it was say, 7-8 years ago. There are still some busybodies there but the vast majority of people are quiet and rarely/never post. I think folks are on Instagram now but I am not on it.

I gave it up after the election - not the last one but the one before that. I was sick to death of hearing opinions from idiots on there.
I also deleted Instagram earlier this year. I don’t miss that either.

I had it for 8 years ish. Deleted it a couple of years ago.. I just found it a bit pointless... I feel better not having it!

You can choose what you see - and what you engage with. Having had an account for years that I barely used, since the lockdown I've been using it a lot. Mostly to keep in touch with friends and family and make sure they're ok. But my feed is full of jokes that lift my spirits, and helpful stuff on self-care, mindfulness, etc plus uplifting things from people like the Dalai Lama. You don't have to follow shit!

I gave up Facebook because I was finding myself getting envious of other peoples' lives (holidays, houses etc).

I appreciate that as a grown adult I sound pathetic but I can't afford a holiday or to live in my own home (minimum wage worker and not in a position to aim higher right now) and seeing those that could do these lovely things bought out a jealousy in me which isn't a nice trait.

Depends hhow you use it really doesn't it, I rarely.post anything on there but it was very useful.when my son first diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder as there are lots of groups on Facebook ,plus all the various disability groups

I have Facebook despite a good few deactivations. I always end up reactivating but mostly because of groups or the marketplace. I live really rural and there are no actual groups for my particular hobby so I use Facebook for that. My brother lives at the other end of the uk to me and has not long had his first baby, my first nephew. I do love being able to see little videos and pictures of him on Facebook.

I have about 40 ‘friends’ which are mostly just family and people I actually speak to. Sometimes it gets me down using Facebook but ultimately, it allows me access to things I would otherwise struggle with.