Have you ever quit social media?

[GracieJane]

I want to quit Facebook and Instagram. Unfortunately, many of my family members and friends live overseas, so Facebook is a major source of photos and updates that make them/me happy. Have you ever quit social media long term? Are you happy with your decision?

[Arcadia]

Facebook itself I could easily go months without opening. However, my family and most of my friends are on WhatsApp. Those not on WhatsApp are on Facebook messenger. So if you exclude, WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype, Telegram, Slack, etc which are primarily used for messaging, I could easily stay off Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Slickdeals and others. Those are more for my entertainment than a need to use.

Edited July 12 by Arcadia
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[Kassia]

I would never quit facebook because I get so much local news and other information there that I don't get in other places.  I don't use it a whole lot for friends but I do love seeing family photos and things like that.  Other things bug me at times but, for me, facebook has been incredibly useful overall in many ways. 

I also use Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit, but very little.  I could quit all of them, but I do like Twitter for news.

ETA - one of my sons deleted his facebook account and is very happy with his decision.  I realized I didn't answer your question in my post - sorry! 

Edited July 12 by Kassia

[SKL]

I would have to tell everyone I was going on "hiatus," but I could quit facebook.  I really don't enjoy it.  But it is the only way I can connect regularly with certain friends / family.  I would rather just reduce how often I look at my feed.  (Currently I look daily, but I think much of my family checks theirs much less often.)  I don't post often and rarely get involved in "conversations."  I unfollow/snooze or, in extreme cases, unfriend people whose posts are too annoying.  I also keep my friends list pretty limited.

I have a sister who has never joined facebook or any other social media.  It seems to work for her. 

I joined Instagram and X just to follow BTS.  😛  On X I started following some others, but I can control that and will just stay off of it if things are crazy.

I've been on other sites that I quit over the years.  Basically whenever it felt too annoying.

Then there's WTM ... I don't think I could ever quit WTM.  😛

[mommyoffive]

I am not quitting WTM!

 

I have an Instagram account, but I am never on it.  Who knows what the password is.

I use Facebook a bit.  Just got an account this last year because one day when I was trying to view pictures taken of something my kids were in you need to have an account.  Of course the next day or so you didn't need it anymore.  But I have bought some great things off Facebook Market place so I mostly use it for that and viewing pictures of the things my kids are in.  Other than that I am not on any SM.

[KungFuPanda]

I’ve deleted the Facebook app and check it on a web browser. That’s enough of a speed bump to slow me down. I don’t check the other one’s daily. This site might be a bigger problem than the rest. 

[catz]

No, but I have my social media very curated and locked down and I don't scroll it very much.  I post photos for my own timeline because I like having things documented and I know some of my relatives really like seeing my feed too.  But since covid, I don't try to keep up with other people very closely.  I have unfollowed/unfriended when people aren't sparking joy.

I very rarely look at instagram at all.  I have some private groups on FB I enjoy so I do go there a bit.

[WildflowerMom]

16 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’ve deleted the Facebook app and check it on a web browser. That’s enough of a speed bump to slow me down. I don’t check the other one’s daily. This site might be a bigger problem than the rest. 

That’s what I’ve done re: Facebook.  I can’t stand fb without the app, so deleting the app keeps me from getting on it 9/10.  I check it for about five minutes a day.   But like someone else mentioned, it’s what keeps me up to date on my local community so I don’t feel like I can get rid of it.   

I check Reddit daily.   It’s such a great resource for me.   I don’t feel any need to delete it  

However…. instagram is addicting and strictly for fun scrolling so I guess it’s a guilty pleasure and I could easily delete it.  But I don’t.  🤣

[elegantlion]

I wouldn't but I use it for keeping up with friends and events. My SO has only friended his children and sister - we're not even friends on facebook because he doesn't want to deal with requests from people we both know. He uses is only to keep up to date with them. 

If you're not ready to quit, you could create a small group of overseas family and just share things to that group. 

 

[Katy]

I stopped social media and news watching for 4 months twice when current events were distressing to me. But I haven’t quit except Twitter. 

[ScoutTN]

Not giving up these boards!

I have a Fb acct, but it is very locked down and I only use it to access two online book discussion groups. And that is rare lately. I probably have not been on there in at least 6 months.

I use IG to follow some of my kids’ activities. Maybe 10 minutes/week.

I would rather be outside or reading or cooking than scrolling. 

 

[sweet2ndchance]

I have a Facebook account but I only use it when I have no other choice. For example, kid's sports pictures and such. I never just idly scroll through it anymore. If someone messages me on Facebook, it could take me months to see it and respond sometimes. So when people ask, I tell them I'm not on Facebook. 🤷‍♀️

I don't have any other social media accounts. I just don't care for social media honestly. I wander through reddit sometimes (usually I'm looking for something specific) and of course I browse on WTM boards most days. But that is the extent of my social media use. So I guess you could say I quit social media since my usage is anywhere from zero to less than an hour a week. I was active on Facebook about 10 years ago. Honestly I don't miss it at all. I'm quite happy with my choice to not participate on that particular platform. 

[Ginevra]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’ve deleted the Facebook app and check it on a web browser. That’s enough of a speed bump to slow me down. I don’t check the other one’s daily. This site might be a bigger problem than the rest. 

This is what I did at one point. I do have the app again but I don’t look at it much. I also altered my name at one point and deleted a bunch of “friends” I knew from school/church/stuff when I was a kid and haven’t seen in 20-30 years. I’ve kept my altered name on there. I rarely add new “friends”. I use FB primarily for groups and to photos of my actual friends. And my best friend posts reels whenever we hike, so I do love to look at those. 
 

For me it has worked better to modify my SM than to delete it altogether. I don’t do IG, X, Snapchat, Slack, Discord…I do like Reddit and read there a good bit. 

[Melanie32]

I quit Facebook years ago and never looked back. I am so much happier without it. 
 

After my experience with Facebook I never got into the other social media platforms.

[marbel]

I have not quit but I don't use it much.

Facebook: I have an account just to see photos/updates of my nieces and nephews and their kids. I check it once a day or so. I will comment on/like their posts but I don't post anything myself. It's a way to keep in touch, if only peripherally. My kids are not on Facebook. Sometimes a friend or relative will post something outrageously annoying; I will snooze them and when they pop up, maybe they are behaving better. If not, I snooze them again. 

Instagram: I have an anonymous account and do not follow any individuals and have no followers. I mostly following cooking, garden, and local attraction sites. I started it when I was working late nights and had times of quiet, and wanted something nice to look at that didn't require I disengage from work (call center, so never knowing when a call would come in). So I don't use it as social media. My kids are there, but I don't follow them. 

Reddit: I have an account and dip in daily to read a few groups. I occasionally comment on others' posts but not often. 

Other than this group, that's it.  I have basically no social media presence, and no stress from it at all. 

I'm curious, @GracieJane, why you want to quit it, if it makes you happy? I mean, you don't really have to have a reason other than that you want to, and you don't have to answer me. But your post makes me think it's not a source of stress for you, so... I'm just curious. Feel free to ignore. 💗

[Ottakee]

I only have FB and this group.  I think my kids made me a Pinterest account but I have never looked at it.

That said, I use it way too much but also not going to give it up.   I enjoy the deep thinking and wide variety of topics here.

FB I use a lot but connect with friends out of the country (even FB calls for free) and relatives and friends near and far.  Since my blog went down due to costs, I post things on a FB page with my blog name.   

[Murphy101]

Define quit?

I didn’t delete my accounts but I no longer post and rarely read most of them. So I have the accounts but I don’t interact on them and the majority of my activity history on them has been deleted.  If someone doesn’t try to directly contact me - there’s no interaction anymore. 

I kept the accounts bc I like to research things and there are helpful groups and whatnot that should I want or need to - I can access that information that isn’t available without an account or joining that private group.

So I still have Fb, IG and TT.  I still have Reddit and discord accounts. But I don’t interact with them much. I’m still on here but not nearly as active as I used to be.  

I’m most active on Kakao because I’m learning Korean and all things Korean.

Why have I stopped or greatly reduced being active or engaging online? 

Frankly I felt no one gives a damn so I just don’t feel an inclination anymore. Anyone who supposedly cares knows how to reach me if they ever want to. I’m well known for always answering the phone or the door no matter the day or time and that’s not changed.

I’m more likely to text directly than communicate via social media with individuals.

But I haven’t deleted anything bc I do actually care about those I met online or irl who connect online and I usually do not choose to cut off any avenue of communication with someone. So for example while *I* might not use FB to communicate - I’ll keep that optional line of communication open for others until no one else who uses it.

[happypamama]

I volunteer for a nonprofit that runs a large FB group, so I can't quit FB, and I don't do Insta or other social media other than the occasional visit here. But these are my tactics for spending less time on FB. First, I unfollowed a lot of people during the pandemic due to their views on politics and science (and unfriended a few) so my FB shows me less and it stays mostly positive. I also have my desktop machine set up to go to my group's page in FB, rather than my general feed, and even when I use FB on mobile, I almost always have notifications from the group, so I click those first, which takes me directly to the group, so that's often all the FB I do. 

[wisdomandtreasures]

I quit FB for about a year in 2016 and then again in 2020. The negativity was draining me. I don't miss it at all. I also quit IG at the same time for about 6 months. It is such a time-waster. I want to delete it but there are a couple accounts I like to follow so I haven't yet. 

Edited July 13 by wisdomandtreasures

[Momof4sweetkids]

I deleted my Instagram and that was fine. I want to delete FB but the local homeschool group uses it to plan outings and we buy anything we can used and marketplace is the best place for that. I only have my parents as friends so we can video chat but I still get distracted on it. I try to use app time limits on my phone for it.

[bookbard]

I deleted Twitter once Elon Musk took it on. Apart from this site, I've got FB and run a few support groups via that medium, so can't get off it. However, I have no family on it and only a few friends. I ignore friends requests and have never updated my profile (which isn't my picture) so no one can see any of my posts. When I go to check my posts, I click 'search' so I can go directly to the groups I need to check on - I don't scroll through all the adverts. 

In terms of internet wasting time, it's this site, the Guardian and the comments there (I don't post, but I do read them), and random rabbit holes. But I think the key is to do other things - like have books to read or art/craft to do or daily walk to take - so that you're already too 'busy' to do much online. 

[GracieJane]

On 7/13/2024 at 7:46 AM, marbel said:

I have not quit but I don't use it much.

Facebook: I have an account just to see photos/updates of my nieces and nephews and their kids. I check it once a day or so. I will comment on/like their posts but I don't post anything myself. It's a way to keep in touch, if only peripherally. My kids are not on Facebook. Sometimes a friend or relative will post something outrageously annoying; I will snooze them and when they pop up, maybe they are behaving better. If not, I snooze them again. 

Instagram: I have an anonymous account and do not follow any individuals and have no followers. I mostly following cooking, garden, and local attraction sites. I started it when I was working late nights and had times of quiet, and wanted something nice to look at that didn't require I disengage from work (call center, so never knowing when a call would come in). So I don't use it as social media. My kids are there, but I don't follow them. 

Reddit: I have an account and dip in daily to read a few groups. I occasionally comment on others' posts but not often. 

Other than this group, that's it.  I have basically no social media presence, and no stress from it at all. 

I'm curious, @GracieJane, why you want to quit it, if it makes you happy? I mean, you don't really have to have a reason other than that you want to, and you don't have to answer me. But your post makes me think it's not a source of stress for you, so... I'm just curious. Feel free to ignore. 💗

No worries, it’s sort of (?) benign, but Facebook and Instagram (especially reels) distracts me from pursuing things I would rather do (read books, snuggle babies, clean my bathroom haha, etc.). I would like to quit for a year just to see if it helps, but I would miss my family/friends pictures, if that makes sense. 

[marbel]

47 minutes ago, GracieJane said:

No worries, it’s sort of (?) benign, but Facebook and Instagram (especially reels) distracts me from pursuing things I would rather do (read books, snuggle babies, clean my bathroom haha, etc.). I would like to quit for a year just to see if it helps, but I would miss my family/friends pictures, if that makes sense. 

That does make sense! Thanks for responding! 

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, GracieJane said:

I would like to quit for a year just to see if it helps, but I would miss my family/friends pictures, if that makes sense.

Set a time limit. Also if you go to Facebook and click on notifications and don’t go to the general feed, you would likely save a lot of time. 

[Brittany1116]

Yes, in 2020. Best decision in years. I had FB and Insta and left both. Now I only occasionally check a few "old style" forums like this one and that is plenty. 

[Rosla]

I also almost quit social media. I can't remember when I opened FB for the last time. I rarely check Instagram to watch my friends' photos and visit Twitter to read news. However, I started using Reddit more often. There are many great communities organized around my interests. And using  reddit proxies has helped me browse anonymously and avoid tracking too. It's been a refreshing change from the noise of mainstream social media.

Edited September 13 by Rosla

[KungFuPanda]

Have you tried setting limits on your phone?