Have you ever deleted Instagram (or social media) and it's improved your self esteem?

[kitchenboard]

Find myself scrolling instagram, feeling shit if folk don't reply to me and constantly wondering what people are up to (I live overseas now).

Want to delete but feel like I'll miss something or something bad will happen if I do..

Anyone did this before?

I’ve never had insta or twitter. I don’t have time for either! I have a FB account and DH likes to put holiday photos on there where he tags me, and then he pushes me to log on and interact with people who comment etc but otherwise, I don’t go on there. I have v little interest in the minutiae of other people’s lives and I find myself going off otherwise decent people because of their online personas being so utterly cringe 😬

I deleted Facebook about 5 years ago and never looked back!!!! I've still kept Instagram but have it set to private and very few followers (actual friends) I mainly use it to share pictures as the majority of my friends are scattered around the world rather than living in the same town as me. I've never had twitter, TikTok etc and wouldn't bother either

Get rid of it all except MN (of course)!! You won’t regret it!

It depends what you use it for, my insta is about house renovation as we’re in the middle of one, and it’s great to get ideas and be able to ask questions about practical stuff, but I don’t follow any “influencers” or that kind of thing so no issues with self esteem etc

Agree with Nuff - I've never used social media (apart from Mumsnet - does that count?). I have high self esteem, strong friendships and & busy life. I probably do miss out on some things but if I don't know about them then how much am I really missing out? .

35 and best thing I ever did, mn only!

Does anyone get it when someone hasn't replied to your message and then you see them active or posting and feel a bit hurt or is this just me? 🤣

I've never been on Instagram and don't feel like I'm missing out, but then again how can you miss what you've never had. I'm not even 100% sure what it's for. I tried Twitter for a few days but deleted my account as it seemed pretty toxic.

I'm the opposite. I joined Facebook about 7 years ago and it's been brilliant for me. I connected (or reconnected) with friends in a way that was easy to do - especially if we lives miles apart.
I became involved with various Facebook groups - some to do with my hobbies and interests, some local ones. I made new friends, found out more about local issues and my community - what's going on etc.
I used to be quite discontinued from what was happening in my local community. I was stuck in a rut of work - home - telly - sleep. I didn't do much, I wasn't involved. I was just existing.
Now Facebook (plus some other forums) have given me a platform to be proud of who I am and my (not particularly exciting) life. It's given me confidence in being part of the wider community. I communicate with people I would never have had chance to do before this. I chat, I gossip, I learn things, I have a laugh, I admire people's photos, I can give my opinions.
Facebook (etc) has given me loads of self esteem.
(My personal page is mostly cat memes and Lego pictures)

Deleted Facebook and Instagram years ago. Don't miss them at all.

I one gave up mumsnet for Lent. I was much more productive but I was more lonely.

No because a) I need it for work and b) it has zero to do with my self esteem. It's a practical tool and a way of keeping in touch with real people in my life who I don't see a lot of, and who also don't need likes to feel good about themselves.

If someone in my family died and not a single person reached out via phone/text/email/in person to break the news I'd be wondering what on earth is wrong with my entire family and our relationships, not being thankful that I had facebook

We aren't close. We see each other like once a year and don't text etc in the meantime.

We are quite a "broken" family in that sense. I am only close to one person in my entire family. The rest, well, like I said maybe once a year at Christmas for a meal. Some I haven't seen in a few years tbh. We just aren't a close extended family. Lots of generation trauma etc.

I deleted Facebook 18 months ago and have no regrets. Lots I didn't like, for instance seeing quite personal information about people I'd only met a handful of times years ago, or seeing friends in a different light, or feeling inadequate. Never had instagram.

I got rid of Facebook & Instagram about 8 years ago. It was like self harm looking at it. Hard at first as it is a habit, it’s also hard re-educating people on how to actually contact you. I’ve barely kept in touch with anyone that was on there (not a bad thing really!)

pandemic was tricky through it as everything to help seemed to be run through it. But on the whole, much much much better without it.

Got rid of FB and IG, best decision ever. Do it!

I deleted my FB account in 2012 and it's the best thing I could have done for my mental health. I'm not on Instagram. I use WhatsApp, but only for one to one messaging. I avoid groups on social media as some people love to hog the groups and start seeking attention non-stop.
Looking at photos of people on holidays and expecting likes and superficial attention for my own posts and photos was exhausting and quite demoralising at times.
I think the whole dynamics of social media is very unhealthy but people seem to love it. I rather keep out of it and live in the real world.

I’ve never seen the point in most social media.

I used Facebook for a while for ‘community issues’ and it was quite interesting, useful sometimes. But I am a private person and don’t like broadcasting myself to strangers I’ve never met. But some people I know are perfectly happy to.