Quitting social media

[happy20218]

Hi everyone I’m thinking of taking a year off social media and seeing how I feel . I post and scroll to much and definitely look for validation . I find myself looking for good photos to upload rather than just enjoying the moment . Comparing myself online to other people . I won’t deactivate as I do have my business page with lots of reviews linked … I’ll just delete my apps . Instagram / facebook / tick tock.

has anyone done this ? Do you feel better for it our out of touch with people . I think I’m addicted so expect it to be very strange at first but perhaps very freeing after ?

So a year ago I deleted tiktok, Instagram, never had a Snapchat anyway but I kept Facebook. A lot of family send me tiktok video links which without the app/account I cannot view which annoys them more than me because it's something they obviously want to share with me but other than that I don't feel like I'm missing out. I do still spend too much time on Facebook for my own liking but compared to a year ago my social media time has been cut in at least half. I prefer it.

Do you have digital wellbeing settings on your phone? If so you can set a time limit on each app on your phone. You might be better off starting by gradually reducing the time you spend on social media rather than going cold turkey and deleting completely

i did it like you. didn’t deactivate accounts but did delete apps. I also deleted MN app periodically. I keep 1 social media for work but have screen limits on - it’s terrifying how quickly you can doomscroll for 30 mins. i also keep the icon for it in a folder on my phone as i found i was clicking on it absently mindedly when i picked it up to do something else.
i feel so much better without it - you don’t need to titrate down - it’s not heroin just get rid of easy access and forget about it.

I was only on FB (no others) and posted rarely. Doom scrolled mostly ! I quit it last January - SO liberating Never looked back !

Some people are gobsmacked, which I find amusing
Others in awe (you have such will power etc, like its a drug I guess )

Give it a go :)

Never had tik tok as was wise to it by the time it came out, I know I have an addictive side anyway.

I deleted Instagram by first unfolllowing everything, I mean everything. After that it would show me random stuff and it was boring so easier to delete. TBH could have just done it the fast way and got rid 😂 Pick a busy week and you don't notice.

I'm flip flopping on deleting FB and will probably do that this year. I'm also thinking of getting the Balance phone but need to do more research.

I gave up Insta (completely deleted it), never used snap or tiktok but kept FB account (removed all content and have no followers, follow nobody and am not in any groups) - only kept the account as my business page needs me to keep a login.

I did it 9 months ago because I felt worried about how much of my visually identifiable data was available and the potential for AI misuse.

My life hasn't improved. I lost contact with a dear group of friends (we had a messenger group that I was active in). I still doom scroll randomly on Facebook - which is almost worse as I see random content from strangers instead of friends and family).

There is a middle ground, but I haven't found it and I now feel like a dick reinstating my accounts - resending connection requests and my pride won't let me.

I do, however feel happy that my data and pictures were removed before the serious rise of AI. I have no basis for my worry on this front, just an existential angst.

ive never had tik tok or insta. I have an FB profile but rarely go on it and never post anything. only time I seem to use it is to find out about an event that may be happening in my local area. A few years ago I did scroll through fb but noticed it would negatively impact my mental health as everyone seemed to be living much better, happier, fun filled lives than me. with beautiful photos of happy smiling dc who looked like they were always having an amazing time. my dc hated their photos being taken so would often look miserable in photos even though we had had a nice day. it just didn't look it compared to other people's. the comparisons just made me feel rubbish and comparison is the their of joy as they say. Even my aunt in her late 70s says her life feels rubbish and boring compared to all the fun she see's her friends posting about on FB!
I've definitely felt so much better since avoiding social media.
my only guilty pleasure now is obviously mumsnet!

Watching with interest as this is something I've considered often as I can waste hours on facebook doomscrolling. As I have health anxiety, the algorithms love to show me tragic cancer stories due to Google my search history.

What stops me is that it's a good way of keeping in touch with certain people and some of the groups are useful, it's how I find out about local events etc. I also like seeing the memories come up, a bit like a diary. Thankfully, I only have Facebook. I don't actually post much these days and I've noticed a lot of my friends don't either but I'm still reluctant to delete it.

Sometimes (& I'm doing this currently), I only allow myself to check it 3 times a day - with my morning cup of tea, on my lunch break, and at the end of the day before dinner, after which I put my phone away until the next day. When I check, I only check my memories, my friends feeds (click feeds, then friends) & my groups. If I see any triggering content I click "not interested". I do feel better when I do this, but it's so easy to slip back and to date I've not managed to do it for more than a few days.

I'm trying to keep busy and read/watch TV/exercise in my spare time instead of scrolling but it's so hard!

I deleted everything years ok and it made a massive difference to my MH. Comparison is no longer the thief of joy as there’s nothing to compare to! Twitter just made me depressed and angry so don’t miss that either.
When I meet up with friends now and they share their news I’m not thinking’oh yeh I knew that already’ because I’d seen it on FB.
What I do miss is seeing close family/friends photo’s but I set up a few WhatsApp groups and we post photos in there of holidays etc.

A few times I’ve also missed out on birth/marriage/death type announcements but someone usually thinks to let me know.
Im still on my phone a lot though. Mostly researching holidays and Rightmove !

I don’t do it at all. Just MN. I couldn’t get to grips with the showing off mentality- just not how I was brought up. I did do FB for a while but it made me unhappy. We have family WhatsApp groups which feels safer for sharing hols / kids news etc.

Set up a WhatsApp group with those friends.

Hi everyone. So after I wrote my last post, I deleted all my apps except Messenger for work, and honestly I haven’t missed them at all.
Last night I downloaded Instagram just to check my inbox, as I still have a few old work friends who message occasionally…. that was always the plan just to keep a little eye on it now and then. Not permanently remove my profile

I did have a little scroll stupidly just because I was on there , and I realised I didn’t enjoy it one bit. I’ve been having what I’d call an “ugly week” as I've been feeling real under the weather and within seconds I saw a stunning girl pop up on my feed and it just made me feel rubbish. so Its reconfirmed my Decision… So far so good xxxx thanks for all the messages back

Are you coming off here too? Mumsnet is Social media too.

no I don’t think so … I know it’s classed as Sm but it doesn’t feel like social media, if that makes sense ?