Social media - have you come off?

[Hydrate100]

My husband says that social media (FB) is not healthy for me and I do agree. I compare myself, feel guilty when I see neighbour's little girl riding a bike at a younger age to my kid, who cannot and doesn't show interest. I feel ungirly when I see women looking lovely made up with perfect hair and nails when my hair is fine and lifeless and I bite my nails. I see other people doing exciting things at weekends and feel guilty that I am not doing these things with our kids, although we are restricted as the youngest has autism.

Has anyone come off social media and how did you find it? All my school/uni friends are scattered around the country/world so that's my main reason for keeping it.

Not come off completely, but go on it much less often these days.

I think fb used to have a function where you could "favourite" accounts & see them most of all & less of others.

How did you ration yourself?

Social media isn't your problem, it's self esteem/confidence or similar. Comparing yourself to others and giving yourself negative feelings isn't at all healthy. You need to work on that, deleting Facebook won't change anything permanently, it's just another way to shut yourself off.

I still have a FB account but haven’t posted anything for years now. Since before my children were born.

I reached a point where I started feeling a bit odd and uncomfortable announcing things to a large blanket audience, some of whom I hadn’t had any personal contact with for years and/or never even knew that well in the first place.

I do use the messenger function though to contact people individually and that works well for those who are geographically scattered.

I only use FB for storing photos and browsing. I deleted all friends a few years back as it was really affecting me. Lots of work colleagues on there and it was becoming an issue.

I found it had a positive effect on me.
Another benefit is I stopped trying to take photos of every experience we ever have to post on there and started just enjoying the moment and having photos for mine and my kids memories alone.
I am not trying to be my own personal PR machine all the time it's a huge relief.

Hi! I only go on Mumsnet and watch YouTube, I have no other social media I deleted it all. I actually think I'll reduce Mumsnet massively and I want to get rid of my YouTube addiction.

I just deleted all my social media accounts, it took a while to get used to it but now I have I don't look back at all. I don't miss it, I don't need to know what's going on all the time. It's nice that my life is what I choose to have it in not what I see passively as I scroll through pictures of people who really don't matter. Any news that's worth you knowing people will tell you and any friends that are worth having will still text you and meet up etc

I'm on it but I have severely limited my use.

I would like to do this because I waste so much time scrolling but it’s helped me stay in touch with friends and family who I hardly ever get to see so I’m keeping it for now. I hardly ever post anything, mostly it’s only sharing posts about lost pets etc. I did once help someone find their missing dog because of FB so that’s positive!

Is it always the same people doing exciting stuff or different ones? Are they doing specific things that you’d like to do, or is it a general feeling of missing out?

I stopped going on FB at some point in the pandemic and don't miss it. When I do go on occasionally (say for a birthday), I immediately hate being there. Never feel happier for it. Will admit I do feel less connected with my ‘network’ of friends, acquaintances, ex colleagues, relatives, etc. (many of whom are international and spread out). It’s really not enough to tempt me back tho.

When you don’t go on much you’re instantly hit by the weirdness of it. People posting pictures of kids’ certificates or doing a public service announcement about a nice dinner they had. It feels a bit desperate.

Yeah same still use messenger for actual friends

When you don’t go on much you’re instantly hit by the weirdness of it. People posting pictures of kids’ certificates or doing a public service announcement about a nice dinner they had. It feels a bit desperate.

This.

I came off about 5 years ago. I have to very occasionally check a group I'm in. It still amazes me that people post utter crap multiple times a day, even the old "Awful day today, can't trust anyone anymore" shite. Surely folk know that's called vaguebooking and people think you're a dick for doing it.

Yup I came off at Christmas. Lots of things are tricky for me at the moment at it wasn't helping me stay emotionally strong. I thought I'd detox for a month but when I went back to it briefly in February I realised I hadn't missed it and felt crowded in straightaway so been off since.

I miss knowing what's going on locally a bit but feel much calmer and more present. And I'd been on FB since 2007!!

Yep, some of the personal PR seems quite cringeworthy now too.

I deleted the apps and feel much better. I can still check in on the browser but it takes a little longer so I do it less. Social media platforms are designed to be addictive.

The last thing I posted on Facebook or Instagram were photos of something I did with work which was really interesting (it wasn't just me sat at a desk). I use both now as a sort of online photo album.

I'm a member of a couple of local groups and a PA/EA networking group but I don't post anything they're just useful for information. The local one is good if you have a problem and you know others in the area will have had the same (eg boiler problems) or you need a window cleaner/house cleaner.

I find facebook boring these days - no one posts any more, and i don't engage with stories because i don't like that people can see who has looked.

Facebook was only ever any fun when it was subversively nosy to be honest.

I hate instagram & tiktok.

I actually find mumsnet the hardest to get off. Reason; being? Its full of active posters. Intelligent, thoughtful people, interested in politics, education, the economy. Good content. Facebook is full of junk now, it's lost any decent content. Mn through anonymity and lack of tracking is the online equivalent of the glass of wine with friends that no one can be bothered going for any more.

Have never done FB or the like and my arms and legs havn't dropped off....
I know there are uses for it but it causes soooo many problems....

I actually find mumsnetthe hardest to get off. Reason; being? Its full of active posters. Intelligent, thoughtful people, interested in politics, education, the economy. Good content. Facebook is full of junk now, it's lost any decent content. Mn through anonymity and lack of tracking is the online equivalent of the glass of wine with friends that no one can be bothered going for any more.

This is a really good point.

FB is boring now, so I don’t bother.

I'm mostly on instagram, where I follow things I’m interested in. I watch a few stories as I love seeing people’s holidays and interesting things; but I’m not prone to jealousy, so it doesn’t bother me that people are having a good time.

I'm also foreign, so it’s useful for keeping up with family and friends and what they’re doing.

TikTok and Snapchat are my no go zones, as I don’t want to get caught wasting too much time on those addictive beasts. Haven’t been on twitter in over a year - cesspit, but my MN addiction makes up for everything I may be missing elsewhere.

Deleted the lot a few years ago, mumsnet aside, and it has been life changing. Could not recommend it more - social media is largely a cancer which cannabalises the very small amount of free time I have

Try it for a week, I doubt you will want to go back

I deleted all social media. I can't express how freeing it felt ! I didn't miss it once!

I have a FB account but it’s rubbish now, I never post, and it’s an endless succession of adverts and content the algorithm thinks I’m interested in but I’m not. I don’t use any other platforms and you know what, life went on!

I'm slightly pissed that thanks to Meta, WhatsApp now has companies that have channels, it's like the start of Facebook all over again.

I don't want to follow The Daily Mail or the Lionesses on WhatsApp, it's for messaging or calling people not yet another place to be bombarded with shite.

I haven’t, but I only have close family and close friends on there.

Colleagues used to laugh at me for having 30ish friends and a few openly asked what the point was.

Still use it exactly the same now and I think it makes a difference when you actually want to see the pics and comments of the people on there.