To delete all my social media accounts?

[AmIAGrinchx]

Does anyone find having social media (bar MNs as it's more a forum! ) has effected their mental health badly?

Do you find it's mostly fake posts or posts like look at me, look at me? Or full of pointless drama. It's really beginning to get me down.

I deleted it once before and felt so much better within a few weeks and kept it up for 6 months (found out I had a lot more time on my hands rather than scrolling through pointlessly and it made me so much happier as a person and as a mother!) but went back on it as I was missing what my family were doing but now they tend to share with me in other ways rather than over Facebook etc.
I've decided my new year resolution this year is delete all my social media and not to return to it. Done it today and deleted everything and I already feel like a weights been lifted.
Anyone else doing this? Or done this already and feel much happier mentally?

I deleted everything other than MN about 18 months ago and my mental health was so much better. Foolishly rejoined Twitter in the spring and it nosedived again. Am off everything now and whilst not as well mentally as I have been I’m doing ok. It’s so freeing.

I'm the same as @broccolibush.

Deleted everything bar MN about a year and half ago. I truly thought I'd end up installing everything again within a week, but I've honestly not missed anything

I had a lot of people from school on my social media (wasn't all that long ago I left sixth form), but as I had an awful time during my last two years of school, seeing their faces everyday make me relive that trauma almost daily, so I zapped the whole thing.

Feels much better, and i've never looked back.

I'm actually the other way round. I don't mind social media, but a 2-3 month break from Mumsnet every now and then does my mental health a lot of good! Everything becomes too tense on here after a while.

Yes, I get it. I deleted Fb and Instagram, but kept Twitter as there’s a great community on there around a hobby I have. I ignore the rest.

I deleted twitter a few years ago, went back on it last year and found it was really affecting my MH. So deleted it.
Deleted Facebook.
I have Instagram still, so I can see what friends are up to etc. But I made a decision to unfollow alot of accounts, and start following ones that show you all the beautiful places in the world, which makes me happier.

I have tiktok but that gets more and more like Facebook every day so might delete that too. I mainly only keep it because my DH has FB, tiktok, is part of lots of online communities and spends hours glued to his phone and I get bored

I've never had FB or Twitter. I have MN and Instagram. I did leave MN for a few months last year as the Coronavirus threads were just repetitive and whiny and it's getting a bit like that again now.

On Instagram I follow a few celebrities that do interesting things, and a lot of cat/music/sport stuff.
I have a few friends on there that post the odd picture of their dog or their evening out etc, nothing to get fed up about.

All social media effected my MH. Deleted Facebook, Instagram & only kept people on Snapchat I wanted. Nearly been a year now since I deleted them & I’m so much happier 🙂

@BHX3000

I'm actually the other way round. I don't mind social media, but a 2-3 month break from Mumsnet every now and then does my mental health a lot of good! Everything becomes too tense on here after a while.

I'm the same. I find MN too much sometimes.

Especially ATM. If i see one more post about Santa VS Father Christmas, I'll launch my phone through the window

I’ve never had any social media so can’t compare, although what I’ve seen on Twitter it just looks horrible. But the only down side I’d say is I miss out on a lot of things. For example, a former work colleague moved to Europe and got married and I didn’t know until much, much later. It’s not like I would have gone to the wedding myself but would have sent a good luck (for the move) and congratulations (for the wedding) had I’d known. Still don’t know if that outweighs wading through all the bad stuff though!

I don’t use Facebook, Instagram or tick tock and I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything of any significance at all. I’m old enough to remember that life existed before smartphones & social media were invented, however, which gives me a degree of perspective which someone in their 20s may not have.

Deleted them all, apart from a couple of forums which are anonymous anyway. I disliked the way it tries to distort reality where everyone was competing on who is the best, happiest, biggest etc...and most of it was a crock of shit. My life has been drama free since too, I'm actually appalled at some of the spats that I've witnessed on SM thinking back over the years, and the mob mentality that is associated with SM. I don't miss it, or the virtue signallers, or the competition queens, or the fake reality.

I deactivated Facebook over 3 years ago and it completely changed my life. I stopped looking at where I was in my life and where others were. Stopped feeling shit about not having expensive holidays and expensive cars. I live my life according to my own standards and goals. And I’m HAPPY!

This year I logged in and downloaded all my pictures and videos and then completely deleted the whole account, so it’s never coming back. Also deleted all friends and unfollowed people on Instagram too.

I have WhatsApp for close family and friends, and I have Twitter for fun, but no one knows me on there.

l have never posted anything ever on facebook l only joined for a few of the groups. Never been on Instagram , twitter, etc., dont know of any or follow any influencers. it just doesn' t interest me.
Mumsnet is ok in small doses, l don' t get the endless Corona threads, can' t relate to those at all, but obviously alot do.
There are some very uplifting and positive groups on social media, these aer the ones l favour and am most interested in, they can open up a whole new world, so l would say social media does have its benefits.

I'm with you. Since 019 I've constantly deactivated snapchat, IG and twitter. I'm now barely on anything, my snapchat is permanently deleted. My twitter is still deactivated, I have IG but try to hardly use it. I spend more time on MN so I definitely need a break from this soon😂 but yes it's so nice to stop wasting time on social media!

I'm only on Instagram and it doesn't annoy me half as much as MN.

I’ve deleted all of mine. I feel so much happier and those that want to get in touch know where I am!

I read so much more and me and doggy have spent more quality time together.

We are giving up screens unless it’s for work in January. No social media. No telly. I’m kind of looking forward to it but also it terrifies me 😆 Hoping to read a lot more, listen to music, play games, sleep better. But seriously what do I do at 3am when I can’t sleep and I can’t trawl through AIBU?! 🤣

Left Facebook 4+ years ago and haven't looked back.

Recently deactivated FB as my mental health was declining. This wasn't because of social media but it certainly wasn't helping. I feel so much lighter and less anxious. I still have Instagram which I find much less problematic and have a more select group of friends.

I unfollow everyone on Facebook and just use it to know what’s happening in my local area/swimming/walking groups meet-ups etc.

Through it I’ve made a number of real-life friends which has enriched my life.
I don’t use it to compare my life to others, or feel left out of stuff……..

I'm surprised so many on here use Twitter.

I have Facebook and Instagram accounts. I rarely post to Facebook, and have never posted to Instagram.

I'm also on LinkedIn, slowly LinkedIn seems to have started to have non job related stuff which annoys me.

It depends what you use it for/how you use it. I do think the ‘constantly on’ approach to it doesn’t help anyone.

I have Twitter as a sort of news feed, following local news/council and some organisations I like. I check it out here and there. Connected with a few people I know professionally but nothing much in the way of personal.

LinkedIn is purely professional, fairly private and only check it once in a while.

FB is totally locked down, no friends/family etc and all privacy settings maxed out. I’m only on it to access certain groups.

MN I use on and off, for 10 years now, I go through phases of using it then deleting or ignoring for months or years!

The only personal thing I have is WhatsApp. Privacy maxed again, just have some personal contacts, it is mostly for family abroad to easily send photos and do video calls. I have settings so no one can see when I’m online.

All my social media apps have all notifications turned off and apps sit in folders, so I check it when I want to and don’t have nonsense red circles staring at me (I find them irrationally annoying ).

Oh I also hardly ever post on social media, I’m mostly following things. Most of my posting of any kind happens on MN, because it’s anonymous.

Deleted them all a year back.