To dislike social media more and more

[chatterbug22]

I am toying with the idea of coming off social media altogether, but sometimes I think I’d just feel much better if I unfollowed and deleted the accounts that don’t make me feel good for whatever reason: be it they are a reminder of something, not a very nice person or just trying to one-up everyone else with their portrayal of a perfect life. Scrolling and scrolling also steals hours of my life that I will never get back.

It feels too political to remove someone entirely especially if you have to see them in person, just a bit awkward isn’t it?

Maybe IABU - don’t know about anyone else - but I notice a correlation between my social media use on any given day and how dissatisfied I feel with my life, generally. You’re going to Tenerife and someone else is going to Elevenerife. Someone else’s brother/cousin/wife/MIL/daughter is the best human being in the world because they do XYZ. There is a gloating culture most places you turn. Some accounts are wonderfully real and true to life’s ups and downs but I feel these are few and far between. If I take a step away from my phone and devices, mix with friends and family, go watch a show or go for a big long walk, it makes the world of difference.

Does anyone experience the positives of social media or would you say it’s mainly negative for you?

I only use FB to chat to a few friends abroad and belong to one local group for the free items and events....no more....dont have any apps etc...not interested and dont spend hours each day looking at stuff....delete them and keep just one or two useful ones...

You are doing them wrong 😁

Have only few closest people on.
Follow nice happy things!
National trust, hobby pages like gardening, cooking, beekiping, galeries, local artist, local businesses, museums, comedians.

It can be such a happy and relaxing place

I actually doacovered few local artosts via instagram and ended up buying some prints from them. So i guess that is a proper positive not just for me.

I deleted all my 'real life' social media accounts. Don't even follow my husband on anything. I got fed up of my NDN declaring their undying love for each other on FB. While arguing all night loud enough for us to hear every word.

I sighed back up and only follow people I'm interested in regarding my hobbies and interests. No one I know in the real world.

Its so much better.

I’m only on Instagram now apart from here, and use it like a magazine, flicking through beautiful and interesting things.

Never looked back since deleting Facebook and Twitter years ago.

I like seeing pictures of my friends and family enjoying themselves. Some days I check Facebook and nobody has put anything on. I like the times when there are a few sets of pictures.
I also like reading the news on Facebook as it knows what articles I am interested in and they are all there ready for me.

I came off it all (apart from Mumsnet!) and it's like the spell has been broken! I went back on FB recently to buy something from marketplace and I hated looking back at the absolute crap I posted and a brief scroll had me cringing. It's all so attention seeking shite and boring boring boring. You'll have a pipe of people claiming they use it responsibly/selectively and to keep in touch with family members etc, as did I until I binned it. I now see that that was bullshit really. It's still performative crap that didn't enrich mine or anyone else's life at all. The people I like to keep in touch with I message directly and it's much more personal.

Yes I'm prone to this too.

If I'm already feeling a bit low, lost or have PMS, social media can make me feel quite low. Due to a spell of travelling and living abroad I have quite a lot of contacts from other countries so it's not that there pictures are boastful or gloating (apart from one I can think of) but it makes me question if I did the right thing coming home and can make me long for those places.

I have hidden a lot of people now so that I can go on their profiles if I want to rather than be blind sighted.

I also have adhd and a bit of ocd so I think that can spill onto social media if I'm not careful.

I do also like seeing what other people are doing - it mostly makes me happy to see people doing well.

I think I have to gauge my own mood but im generally happier when I use it less.

I deleted all mine ages ago. Don't miss it in the slightest. It's just one giant brag fest. But in reality you know their life's aren't perfect does my head in.

Is there an option to 'mute' or 'ignore' their posts?

I do enjoy social media, but all the performative posts, gloating and bragging makes me want to roll my eyes out of my skull. I scroll past as quick as I can.

I think if I deleted social media entirely I'd become "out of touch" 😁

I stopped all social media about 6 months ago and have not looked back. For me it was the time I was wasting on there, plus it is so fake - I'd rather use my time to do real things. I don't miss it at all.

The main problem for me was the suggested posts and adverts. Instagram and Facebook in particular.

I didn’t want to see reels/shorts but they’d pop up as suggested so I couldn’t help but see them. I only followed accounts I liked but then I would see more suggested posts than the timelines of the accounts I actually followed.

So yes I’ve come off them all and I’m a lot better for it. Yes there’s some information I get slower than others but that’s absolutely fine. I’m mentally better off for it.

So why are you on MN, fora are social media.
MN is the only toxic social media still in my life.

I picked one and ditched the rest. For me that was Facebook, mainly to follow small brands and events I might not otherwise hear from. I firstly unfriended people who are really work related friends so added them on LinkedIn instead. I then muted anyone whose posts I didn't want to see on a regular basis but didn't want the politics of unfriending. Now my feed is pretty much how I want it to be, apart from the odd annoying ad. I can recommed this approach, it has certainly made my life simpler.

You need to Kondo your feed: does this spark joy? No? Discard - be that unfollow, unfriend or block. I'm pretty ruthless with the unfollow button. It doesn't mean I don't like the person, just that we use social media differently, and that's ok.

I keep my FB account to keep in touch with what my grown up kids / grandkids are up to, lol, not in a nosey way, just the outings they've had, pictures etc.. also I find nice things to do locally which are advertised from there.
Also my interests, gardening groups & the like.
If anyone's boring me with perfect lives or whatever, I scroll by.. sometimes I'll have a little argument with idiots (hey, I never said I was perfect) re their stupid conspiracy theories etc.. ;-)
I do agree though that if you're feeling a bit down, it's the worst place in the world to be.

Absolutely best thing I did was deactivate my Facebook account. I am so much happier and don’t waste time scrolling it and just ending feeling rubbish. I have a few friends I follow on instagram who I’m interested in keeping in touch with their lives but I never post anything on there and check it maybe once or twice a month to see what they’re up to.

Ha! Yes, same. I use Mumsnet very differently though - I usually browse for a bit in the morning while drinking my coffee and then that tends to be it. Maybe a bit more during lulls at the weekend. And I have learnt a lot through mumsnet - it's helped me to understand different views, politics, etc.

I only use Facebook but that's because I removed everyone I didn't know/like or did annoying attention seeking posts. Now I only have family, people I'm interested in, and people abroad who I like to keep in touch with. It's a lot better. The only thing ruining it for me is the platform constantly pushing content at me I dont want to see such as adverts, influencers, reels, videos that are about nothing.
I just want a social media to keep in touch with people I know, that's all.