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.

I am not trying to be my own personal PR machine

This.

Also all the bragging and random nonsense.

Eg I am a member of a women’s camping group, which could be good - but every day it’s 80% strangers randomly posting photos of their dogs. Why would I be interested?

The irony of posting on a social media site (Mumsnet) saying "Social media is so unhealthy!"

Actually I think mumsnet can be unhealthy too and I often have breaks! Maybe due one now!

I only use forums really, I use them for the good I get out of them OP I really dont think you can blame social media if you have those issues it will happen if you use social media or not, you better address the issues first

I use a pseudonym so I have no friends on the account. But I haven't used it in years. Just not interested in using SM. I use a Twitter account for updates from DCs schools. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't use it.

I use MN, and WhatsApp for contacting friends and family. No FB, Instagram, or anything else. I don't know what mindless scrolling is as it's not something I have ever done. There's nothing on my dummy FB account, it's practically locked down with minimum info and no friends. Nothing to scroll.

DH has a regular FB account and I know he does occasionally mindless scrolling often before going to bed, whilst I am reading a book or listening to an audiobook. Each to their own.

Surprised to see mumsnet referred to here as SM.

Personally I don’t class mumsnet as social media, any more than Money Saving Expert or Quora.

I’d call it an anonymous internet forum.

This is me. Haven’t posted for over a decade. Now my son is a toddler I don’t feel I can ever post again 🤣 half my old acquaintances would be like who is this child?!

I've come off Facebook as it's become useless for keeping in touch with people - which is a shame, as it was genuinely useful, but if I look it now, in about 50 posts, 5 will be from friends, 5 from groups I follow, 10 will be adverts, 25 will be rubbish 'suggestions' and 5 will be ridiculous AI-generated memes liked by 20,000 bots and the odd confused grandma.

TBH, social media isn't social anymore mostly, it's just the algorithm pushing stuff at you. When it was more social I think it was a genuine positive for me, but then I only followed people I liked and I didn't get into arguments with randoms, but there's no longer any social element really.

Yes, I have this with FB. The thought of going back on to my old account gives me a sense of dread and foreboding! Like you, not entirely sure why.

I do have a ‘dummy’ account set up, where i’ve not added any contacts and use it to dip into a few groups I like. (That was what kept me on my personal account so long.) But my old personal one, set up in 2007, I never go on now, and don’t feel in any way drawn towards.

Do MN and WhatsApp count as sm? I have a few WhatsApp groups I occasionally post photos etc. on. Those are the only things I do. Was never on FB. Tbh it would be too much like hard work to feel I had to maintain a sm presence and I definitely think it would affect me negatively.

I agree with this.

I've never seen MN as social media in the same sphere as Facebook or instagram.

Well after an horrendous couple of weeks with my mental health, and I am sure seeing other people's best bits wasn't helping, I deleted the Facebook app off my phone. I can't remember my password so don't have it on my iPad and don't use my laptop for Facebook.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

I don't care what others are doing but if something bothers me I stop following on fb. They don't show up on your feed anymore but you're still 'friends'.

Tiktok and instagram are a massive headache. It's sad to see adults taking it so seriously. It's empty content about nothing. I don't like the whole "vibe" on social media, the lame videos or the lingo.
I deleted it all because I kept coming across things that triggered me and I don't get to choose what's put in front of me. I don't use mn either as I used it years ago and got a "b*tchy vibe" and never came back until now. I'm trialling it. I only use Youtube and fb for buying secondhand.

The Social Dilemma on Netflix is about how they deliberately make platforms addictive and are purposely designed to keep you on there for longer. Which is gross.

Yes I came off it, and to do so had to delete all the apps on my phone and install a blocker to stop me accessing it via website browsers. Mumsnet and WhatsApp are my only social media now (and I have a time limit on WhatsApp as otherwise check it too frequently).

My case is probably quite extreme but I needed to do it. I don’t miss it and am much happier.

I do vet my teen’s social media (he shows me his news feed so I know what the algorithms are serving him, and we regularly discuss the content and messaging he’s consuming).

I sometimes don’t use a local business which is only accessible via Facebook but that’s a small price to pay (and in those cases I just choose an alternative business that uses email / website / phone to provide their service).

I keep up with friends and family who live abroad and far away via WhatsApp mainly but also occasional phone calls / FaceTime, and in person meet ups once a year or more.

I still use the web and a couple of credible news apps daily, and get a fill of celebrity, culture there as well as hard news of course.