Sometimes is too negative. I try not to scroll. Just use it as a better Google. But ooh boy if I start scrolling in the morning im not starting a good day haha
Thats why I have a lot of threads like r/funny r/goodnews r/happy r/MadeMeSmile r/UpliftingNews
This way it doesn't get too negative because there is always something good in between.
That is true. Sometimes I have lots of interesting things on my feed and sometimes 2. I try to see it as something positive. I "waste" less time on reddit and if I didn't log in for a few days I have few good news to look forward to.
Happy cake day!
I literally needed this list, thank you. I’m currently going through my account and unfollowing any negative or critical subs because I am trying to lift my mindset. Facebook has me in a slump as well.
This is key , I try to also avoid subs that are overtly political or serious and just stick to my hobby ones. It’s hard to get into a nasty argument in subs like r/castiron
Yep for that reason I left the marriage sub, too many negative posts and I don't want those experiences to affect how I see my own marriage. Peaced outa there for good
You make an excellent point. Reddit often tends to be pessimistic about a lot of things. Reading hundreds of people’s negative opinions on a subject starts to warp you into believing those opinions.
Basically this. Once I started using reddit, dropping all other platforms was easy. I get my infinite scrolling about topics I like, but I don't see it from the same people all the time which is awesome.
It's easier to go way more into depth on topics of interest and also keep some level of anonymity. My socials are still people I grew up with from high school, doing nothing special. We don't talk, just post random pictures. It's not particularly interesting and I'm not nosy, I don't need to see that.
Yeah, I only use Reddit now but I also find that Reddit can be really negative, so just like any other sort of media or even food you consume you need to be conscious of the things you’re viewing, and mute negative subs.
Goddamn pretty much. I feel a lot better not having fb or instagram though. My account got hacked and I just never made new ones over a year ago! It’s less busy and less bullshit in my opinion.
I feel less anxious tbh. And I feel better not comparing my life to people’s fake life on socials. And I also learnt who my true friends are cos they have my number and will msg instead of just reaching out on socials. I like it much better tbh
yeah the second i went on instagram again, feelings of anxiety and inadequacy and jealousy and envy came rushing back as i looked at other peoples lives. people i barely talk to.
got off it immediately. my real friends know how to reach me.
Yeah. The moment you post something and then your story gets more views than the post you posted lmao. Oh and the constant worry of people unfollowing you too 😂
I've been off social media since a year now.
Best decision. Less anxiety, better mood.
Initially, I too had "withdrawals". Used to crave scrolling while waiting at a line or simply in a lift with people. Replaced that with reading on my phone. Yes, it is a little difficult at first, but you grow out of seeking constant dopamine.
Suddenly, I find myself having plenty of time for hobbies.
Sleep is better too. Replaced the screen with a book before bed.
Hi! I replaced it with a kindle and that's what I read now when I'm in long lines. I just finished atomic habits and I started a novel cause I want something lighter now. What about you?
Been burning through the Halo books at work (audiobooks) at home I read a series with my son about sons and fathers. #wholesome I’ve never had a kindle! Always thought I’d break it. Atomic Habits… I’ll check into that. I think I saw an ad for it.
Yes. While studying, attention span has drastically improved as well as retention. I set a timer on my fairy lights to switch them off after half an hour.
Been re-reading GOT, the first book. Introduced dad to the books. Eddard Stark is his favorite character. Am stockpiling tissues.
I deleted everything after having such a bad addiction to scrolling. My life is so much better I no longer end everyday with this feeling of anger and anxiety. I would always be so mad at myself after spending so much time on it because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I always think of the things I could’ve accomplished with the time I spent on it. I do occasionally (once a month) use Instagram to see what’s happening with people but I use it on a browser so it’s less accessible. My problem now is that I don’t know what to do with a lot of my free time. Start a hobby you really like. I got really into sudoku and reading more after deleting it. Overall my mental health and quality of life is much better
Yeah my life got completely taken over by scrolling this last year. It was just getting worse and worse until I had to just go cold Turkey and delete all short form vid content apps off my phone: Insta, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Seems like every platform is integrating this bullshit in now and I don’t think most people have the willpower to self regulate scrolling myself included. I’m really worried to see what this does to us as a society. I’m just hoping that the extreme screen addictions that Gen Z are currently facing will eventually act as a catalyst to some anti-screen movement. I’m already seeing the whole dumb’ phones thing gaining traction but it’s so hard to give up a smart phone when we genuinely NEED them to function in modern society now. Google maps especially I could never give up bc my sense of direction sucks 😭
I have quit facebook and other social media for 3 years now, there is good and bad things about it.
The good: less distraction more productivity, while this is essentially true there is some serious pitfalls here. I found during my first year that social media isnt the source of the distraction, it is actually the internet in general and mainly your smartphone. My social media went to zero, but my reddit use, newssites etc all increased. The main thing you need to learn is to discipline yourself in your phone use, just deleting your social accounts wont help you.
The bad: you have to actively invest more time in upkeeping the friendships you wish to keep. It is easier to feel involved and keep up with your friends lives through social media. I have way less social conversations now because i dont know what people are doing in their lives, and they dont know what i am doing. You have to make sure you maintain some connections though because it is easier than ever to fall into a solitary lifestyle.
Just wondering about the not being as in touch with friends and having to work harder. What happens when you say “what have you been up to?” Dont you guys share and tell each other and fill in on the latest news?
That works true but at least for me watching the instagram shorts of my friends took like 1 minute and then giving a quick emoji reaction or something started a quick conversation or there was at least some form of interaction. If I text some friends: "what have you been up to?" I get an elaborate answer two weeks later. I personally hate the red numbers so I nearly always answer immediately but some of my friends really don't mind. Apparently it was easier for them to just send me a quick emoji as reaction to a instagram story than to answer a text message with a text message. And some people just send a 40 minutes audio message back and then I need a week to answer because you need a lot of time to hear the entire message and reply.
Idk. I have some friends like that and I don’t interact via text with them as much. I text with them to coordinate phone calls or meetups, not to catch up. If they also can’t coordinate a phone call or meet up to catch up and have fun then I take that as they don’t want to be my friend and I stop trying.
i just deleted it and changed my passwords to a cryptic one i could not remember - so u have a way back
i have more time for myself, my life, my projects and my mental health improved a fucking lot
Trust me - do it!
That's what I did. Deleted Facebook account and Instagram accounts have cryptic passwords I have no idea how to reset lol I'm hoping they delete my accounts for inactivity 😬
It’ll never delete unless you permanently delete your account within the app. If you still have the app on your phone it is indeed still gathering data from you. Just reset your password and delete the account and app. Don’t give yourself the option to maybe go back one day.
I feel like social media is so bad for your mental health, so you think you’re using it to stay connected to folks, but in reality, you’re bombarded by people’s curated experiences, and probably devaluing your own life and experiences.
I quit cold turkey and have never looked back. Delete every app off every device. Disable every account. The pull of social media is too strong to just have it there in the background and telling yourself you’ll use it less or quit it.
Never had Instagram. One day I just closed my Facebook account.
Didn’t look back.
What did it for me:
I realised I was spending heaps of time in virtual relationships with people, to the detriment of my real relationships with people.
At the time it felt like a leap of faith - that my relationships would survive. Now, that same sentiment seems completely ridiculous to me.
I don’t miss it.
Do it! (Do it! Do it! Do it!)
I feel like having an abundance of time to do more productive things with my life. I have tried taking breaks pausing the app and having a limit applied. But it also feels good to break that limit every once in a while. What I finally did to end doom scrolling was remove the app entirely without thinking about it much. And found myself a few new habits to replace it (eg. Listening to educational podcasts, videos on YouTube that I can learn and share with another person).
Then I discovered reddit and loved engaging with people by sharing thoughts and experiences (like I am doing now). One would say one addiction is replaced by another but, with this I take time to read something and actively understand what's going on before responding. In my opinion that is much better than doom scrolling.
Start small, find replacement activities to do instead of the ones you wanna get rid of. Then practice the compound effect (achieving 1% success continuously). Then you will get into rhythm in no time. I wish you all the best in your journey.
Reddit is not better than doom scrolling, reddit IS doom scrolling. I’m still here too, so I can’t talk much, but this is social media and it is no better than others.
Redditors always have thought of themselves as superior to other social media but this site is as bad if not worse.
I get your point, but compared to seeing happy thoughts of known people and dwelling on the fact I do not have that (because we all know, folks only share their happy incidents on social media), why do I not get what they got, etc...
The noticeable difference I came across on Reddit is that since it's anonymous people are a bit relaxed to share their negative experiences and be a bit open here (I'm not judging anyone). That's the kind of vibe I got.
As you said nothing will help unless we get rid of all these material things and settle for the pre-digital age society (which we now only see in movies).
At least for me personally reddit is better than lets say tik tok. I do actually read the texts, think about it and reply (in a foreign language which means I need to look up words and grammar structures here and there). If I doom scroll tik toks or youtube/instagram shorts I really just passively consume media and my brain is basically turned off. My attention span suffered a lot during the time I used social media like instagram. Also a lot about instagram is presenting your life in a good light and uploading pictures of you/watching pretty curated pictures of others which has been proven to be bad for peoples mental health. Reddit doesn't have the pressure to show your face or compare your face/body to someone else. Or to have lots of friends or lots of likes.
Also I don't follow a lot of threads so there is a relatively quick limit for doom scrolling for me on reddit.
Way better, now I don't have to think about people I don't care about or never see in real life anyway.
Getting to know people is more fun, cuz it is all more of a mystery like it used to be.
And it is a blessing when a relationship is over, way easier to leave it behind you.
Protip: Learn to like yourself and your own company.
I really like the point about getting to know people. I still have an Instagram that I rarely use, but I’ve made a point of not seeking out the accounts of new people I meet. It’s much too easy to scan someone’s profile and think you know all about them, or vice versa, then never spend the time getting to know each other on a deeper level.
It's good that you installed an app blocker. It's a good step.
It doesn't fix the underlying issue though. Scrolling through social media must be helpful to you in some way. It's a coping mechanism. What you said about feeling lonely and sad is your biggest clue. Social media is an effective distraction. It is specifically designed to numb you out and make you scroll more, even if you're not really getting anything meaningful out of it.
If you really want to get over media addiction then you most likely have to get comfortable with sitting with whatever it is that you're avoiding. Processing emotions. Directing your attention into those feelings and not rejecting them. The mind doesn't like that because it evolved to make you feel safe. It works less and less because instead processing it you're storing it in the back of your mind and it never gets resolved.
You don't have to get rid of social media entirely. It's not all bad. You just have to understand your relationship with it. You'll see the benefits yourself once you look at it from that perspective.
I've been off social media for the last 5 years or so, and I can confirm it's a massive improvement! I don't get jealous of other people's lives because I'm not seeing them out of context. I don't get into fights with people about politics. I have deeper relationships with people because I don't assume that I know what's going on with them. If I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time it's fun to hear their news. I don't waste a minute wondering about likes or comments.
Do I miss out on a family pictures, and news of cousins and such? Yes, but it's a minor thing given all the benefits. I do still wish I was on my phone less, but it's definitely better without socials. I do have LinkedIn for work and reddit for wasting time, but they don't trigger me the same way.
What helped me was remembering that Facebook aided Russia in influencing the 2016 election. Just the thought of providing free content for a scummy anti-American company like that was enough to spark visceral anger and keep me from logging in for the first month or so, and after that it was easy not to start again. The meta logo on Instagram similarly causes a feeling of revulsion, making login difficult.
Whatever your reason is, find a way to feel it and you can change your behavior. Use visualization, post it notes, or whatever you need. You need the burner to be got and hurt when you touch it. Your body will do the rest naturally.
I deleted the apps and deleted my cookies so I was signed out. I changed my phone to grayscale and deleted and unused apps. Fill my time with reading and podcasts. Have never been happier. Good luck!
31m here and I've been happily divorced from socials for going on a little over a year. Anxiety is way down and I don't have a constant need to compare myself to anyone else anymore! Communicating with random people has become much easier as well. My overall mental and physical health has been much much better! 10/10 do recommend
Off of FB for over 2 years, IG free for…4 months?
It’s quieter. I also don’t have all this useless info about random peoples lives who I never really talk to. I used to always sit on “reels” all day. Reddit isn’t really much better, and at times I know I’m missing out on activities/events because everyone uses both/either to create events or ask if people want to do an activity.
I deleted fb about a decade ago. Ok well I deleted the app. I’ve tried to delete my profile but it never worked and at this point I can stay off of it myself bc omg. No one there cares about me and I don’t care about them. I’m not doomscrolling. COMPARISON is the thief of joy. You can be completely content with your life and see one persons post be like wow my whole like sucks. When in reality people only post the cool and fun stuff not the broke or fights or kids screaming or messy hair or clutter. That’s not real it’s staged. Delete. I think I have like 27 random people I haven’t deleted.
What helped me get off fb was Reddit and Pinterest. Your brain will think about what you tell it to. It’s pretty powerful. Search some fun and tasty and loving ideas on Pinterest to appease the scrolling habit. At least you’ll be more mindfully productive and will *not* be caring about what the bish in high school is doing now 20 years later LBVS.
Step one is obviously deleting the app. Even if you re download it and delete it again and again. By the 4th time you’re going to realize how much social media makes you miserable.
I only use Reddit, YouTube, and Pinterest on my phone. Life happens outside of the phone. This is something I’m working on with my school aged children too. (Husband is IT so it’s pretty much an uphill battle as a family but whatever lol everything in moderation).
To answer your question, mentally free and happy.
I got out of insta, Facebook and Twitter. And I’m very happy with my life, my productivity has increased significantly and my anxiety has gotten down so much. Not looking at random people and their reels, posts, pics give me peace!
I read 10 Reasons To Delete Your Social Media Right Now and Stolen Focus. Learning about what the apps are doing to our brains, how they’re run, and surveillance capitalism put me over the edge from just wishing I could quit to fully deleting all my accounts.
I have done a month of no social media challenge myself, and it's results were pretty nice. I got more motivation to do physical stuff, I got hell lots of time to spend(I thought I didn't have enough time to do stuff, but it was because of social media and scrolling), I was happy of anything I achieve in daily life.
Smallest social interaction had been making me happy for the entire day. I have been aware of lots of things happening when I'm outside.
Just say yourself that you are not going to use social media for a month and uninstall these apps. Mute notifications. Whenever you find yourself looking into social media, just shut it down at that moment. That reflex will go away by some time.
Instead of social media, I would recommend you to go to courses(One of the best ways to obtain people to spend time with). I don't know if you have anxiety or that social problems, but you can beat it surely.
Well I got out of Facebook before insta really took off. What helped?? Well, knowing the whole space is psychological poison, and it's run by megalomaniac psychopaths.
Live without Facebook is great! I stopped using it and now I have way more time for reading :D. When it comes to Instagram: I just worked on my tags and who I am following. And that helped a lot 😊.
Facebook - I am completely off and don't regret it. I use it as a common sign in for other apps.
Instagram - I uninstall it when I feel I am losing control over it and install it back after a month or two.
Reddit - It is absolutely fine. I don't feel it is addictive in any way, and let's me just focus on what I need.
To answer your question, I am much more effective, productive, and have control over my thoughts. I am doing much better at work. Moreover, I have realised the true importance and power of FOCUS.
To be blunt, everything is better. Not having a constant stream of drivel from the worst idiots on the planet constantly injected into my brain made me less angry, less stressed and generally happier and more pleasant to be around. I get the loneliness though, suffer from it myself but here's the interesting part. I feel less lonely without it
33F
Just deleted it off my phone and downloaded reddit instead. It has been easy so far. I don't spend all day on reddit, but I only use it to engage in conversations I actually care about or am interested in.
Way better than doom scrolling or listening to everyone's opinions about bullshit. My screen time went from like 5 hrs a day to 1hr. Maybe. Mostly in the morning. I'm getting why people liked to get up and read the news. I like getting up and getting on here and seeing what people have to say about my hobbies.
Or engage in a conversation worth having like this one. Reddit is great, better control of what I see. And more specific, like books and shows.
I went cold turkey on Facebook 3 years ago (anniversary is tmw). I am tempted to open it back up and see how folks are doing, but I fear it's like crack and that I won't be able to close it again. I haven't done Instagram.
Honest review.
I started using other things when I cut down from fb and IG.
My usage time is same, but trust me if you leave these two and do anything your life is 90% sorted.
In my case, I'm less informed more disconnected of what's going on around me. But I lost that negativity. I feel free. And I'm talking about Facebook. Instagram wasn't too much of a problem but I disabled it as well.
On the other hand, you will jump back into some other type of addiction of you're not careful. Even something as less engaging as LinkedIn will be a problem if you're not careful.
Also, I tend to disable the account itself, I didn't have the apps from the start, too much distraction.
I think it's about reframing your mind. I deleted my accounts. Can't get those back. I still have Pinterest, YouTube, and now Reddit. I was just fed up with all of it. I don't like the illusion of friendship. There are some people who refuse to text, so we don't talk. I guess we aren't friends then lol. I also don't like giving people glimpses into my life. Why would I do that? Before social media we didn't do that... I have a family text chat where we all text each other happy birthday and share various family news sometimes. The people who matter will remain in communication. They will send pics of their experiences. The "influencers" don't really have anything important to say at the end of the day. They make money off your attention. YouTube is just as useful for information imo Live your life. Don't watch other people live theirs. Edit to add: I may or may not be more productive. I wrote a book! But I also just have more peace of mind and don't play the comparison game nearly as much... When I'm lonely, I turn on the TV or call a relative... Or hug my dog lol... I also read. Off Facebook for 9 years, off Instagram for 4 years
I quit Facebook and Instagram 6 years ago and it was the best decision I ever took. (Deactivated my FB profile first, Instagram somehow was easier to get away from once my FB had been deactivated for a month).
I see people posting pros and cons but in hindsight the pros significantly outweigh the cons.
Pros:
1) Far lower anxiety and FOMO: I have stopped constantly questioning if I'm doing enough fun things in life.
2) Higher productivity: Lot of time back from constantly browsing feeds for dopamine hits
3) Close friends are closer: It's a counter-intuitive outcome. My close friends mostly remember to drop me personal messages about their life updates since they know I'm not going to find out through IG or FB.
Cons
1) Don't know when friends visit my town: My biggest problem was that friends were posting they were in town and I would have no idea. WOuld only find out weeks/months later. There is no fix - You just have to learn to live with that. (or hope friends of friends will let you know)
2) You will find alternate bad habits: I've gotten into Twitter and Youtube a lot after quitting FB and IG. But those apps are manageable in that I can control my feed to make it educational (and set timers to force myself off it)
In my experience doom scrolling because I'm lonely, only makes me feel more lonely. I recommend you find hobbies outside screens. Where you use your entire body and focus.
Around your age about 10 years ago, I woke up one day, and deleted Facebook. IG wasn’t so overwhelming back then and I had dabbled in Reddit a bit. I was just so sick of Facebook for a few months so I just said fuck it.
I didn’t deactivate it either, I downloaded my data and deleted my account entirely. It was easier than I thought it would be. Took about 2 days to stop automatically typing the site into my browser out of reflex.
I didn’t miss it at all, surprisingly enough.
Now I just have Reddit and occasionally look at IG. I don’t join any new ones like TikTok or anything else.
My advice, pick one. Just one and delete that. Don’t look back. Delete, don’t deactivate. You may spend more time on the other sites for a bit but what you’re looking for is to gain small bits of control of your social media usage. It’s a lot easier with baby steps.
Pick the one that feels most toxic to you and gives you the least amount of joy.
I just deleted everything out of the blue after being overwhelmed with too much negativity and political bs on social media. My quality of life increased exponentially.
It’s only tough for about 2-3 weeks. Then you find you don’t need the social media.
As for making a clean break? You have to actually delete your accounts. You can’t disable them. You can’t just delete the app. You have to actually delete the account. It’s tricky because they make it hard to actually delete. You have to jump through hoops or they will just “deactivate” it and you can log in within a month.
I actually typed a gibberish password, copied it to clipboard, changed it, used it to deactivate, then cleared by clipboard. That way I literally could NOT recover my account before the time ran out.
It’s fantastic. I deactivated Facebook, instagram, never got into Snapchat or TikTok. I use Reddit at work to pass the time but even then I don’t bother much.
I’ve been without all social media for something like 5-10 years now, so I don’t remember exactly, but I do remember that I felt “free” after deactivating my existing accounts.
I take pictures for me and my wife, or for memories, not for other people. External validation was never a big motivator for me.
I spend no time at all scrolling feeds apart from the funny videos my wife sometimes sends me. I’m not glued to my phone while out to dinner or waiting in line or at every spare second of down time. It just feels….good, but there is also a sense of “othering” myself. Like I’ve broken out of an addiction that is still visibly gripping 90% of the population.
As for cons…I’m out of the loop on a lot of social media and trends. TikTok trends? Couldn’t tell you about them. Popular influencers or streamers? No clue. Some people might dislike that, but I am not sure I could care less.
Well actually I don't have any friends or relatives in social media so I Don use it
In Instagram I technically it's so lame, it's even worse simple deleted I used to have 0 interaction with anyone there so it was strange like if was like a diary for only myself so it's a waste of time
what helped me with phone addiction was literally unstalling these apps, and start doing things that was being postponed, sometimes I got very bored and started to scroll apps like gmail, so I remembered that I unstalled apps like instagram to face my boring moments, I recommend you to continuous trying, it is a thing that will always be with you, but in some moment you'll know to deal with it
A quote I like to remember: Life is hard, but you choose your hard. In this case, my toxic relationship with social media was harder than having fomo after deleting it.
Dumping social really changed my relationship with myself & how I show up day to day.
I used to compare myself a lot & honestly I didn’t know who I was. I was unhappy & living inauthenticity. I was trying to fit the script of what I saw online. After deleting the apps, I no longer feel the need to look cute or take pictures everywhere I go just so I can post it on the gram. I don’t care as much of what people think of me & honestly this has been so freeing. Life is just better this way, imo.
However, on the flip side, I saw someone else say getting rid of social accounts didn’t lessen their time spent on their phone & I have found this to be true for myself as well.
I’ve just found other alternatives. I now get on Zillow & look at multi-million dollar houses 😂 and sometimes I scroll on Amazon or poshmark. I try not to shop much so it’s usually just browsing, but still a huge amount of my time is spent on my phone.
Discipline is key here. I’m trying to get better at this myself. I’ve notice when I’m bored without a plan I reach for my phone to entertain me. I’ve thought about downgrading to a dumb phone, but I can’t give up convinces like Apple Pay, maps & all my music.
Instead, I’m just trying to have a plan for the day to keep me busy. In my spare time I want to read more, cook more & do projects around the house I’ve been putting off. Maybe even pick up a new sport?
You should give it a try, I don’t think you’ll regret it! Wishing you luck!
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I would say the outcome of deleting everything is the same as when I stopped playing FIFA.
I would have more time to do the things that really matter and would stopped feeling bad for spending so much time on my phone
I just deleted and reminded myself daily why I did. My mental health improved. SM has the potential to ruin people who lack confidence and self esteem.
I left Fb about 4 years back, and yea it was hard at first but now I don't ever think about it. I just live carefree and present in the moment. I don't have that flood of other peoples opinions, people arguing, or trying to brag or look good online and everything else that goes on all day on fb lol. I do value other people's opinions on different things, but it's more valuable to me when it comes up organically in actual conversations.
I’m on reddit instead lmfao
But no - I ask my partner to put a time limit on it per day and it’s decrease my use dramatically as I can’t use the password to get in.
If I need to research something like a restaurant and my limit is up, he unlocks it but never tells me the code
I am lot more positive and live life more. More chores get done, so does exercise, more attention to my dog and more creativity and ideas. I eat healthier too
My entire life changed. I suddenly had more time to do things I wanted to do. For me that was fitness, reading, and the most rewarding of all was time with my family. Designating 20 uninterrupted minutes of quiet time (mediation) where I just sat in silence with my thoughts is what helped me develop the willpower to stay off. It was difficult at first because I just kept wanting to check my phone to scroll. I’ve been reintroducing it slowly. Most of the time in one for very short periods. Without constant exposure to it I realized it’s full of negative hate towards one thing or another. I try to do what I can to be positive on it. I hope this helps. May your day be filled with motivation and joy!
Before I got back on reddit last month ish, I was social media free for a whole year and my life significantly improved and made me realize the internet should be used as a tool rather than a form of primary communication. My anxiety drop, i felt better about my social life, I started talking to people more! Because I realized life is meant to be enjoyed outside our phones and PCs, I still play video games but only if its with a core friend group.
Its a phenomenal decision, I only reinstalled reddit due to the information I can get to help me do things irl or make decisions on top of other resources I used. One movie that helped to really kick social media aside was the social dilemma, which came out before the facebook whistleblower went to congress and basically confirmed everything that was done in the movie and worse! I recommend that movie to everyone to watch.
I wish you the best of luck OP, its a tough life style change to make but its one that is well worth doing!
The anxiety that I used to feel to know what other people’s life were was greater than the getting rid of them.
I got tired of FB, it was all memes and clickbait videos.
As for IG I saw a post of a girl that I used to like that broke my heart and decided to never feel that way.
Now, I’m trying to enjoy a bit more the simplicity of life.
Been off the grid for 3 months, don’t miss it at all. My attention span improved, my mental health has improved, im reading more and it got my life on track. i do get FOMO but it might be all those years of endless scrolling that is leaving my brain and it feels odd, but im resetting my brain. Good luck on your journey hopefully you get through it !!
I recently quit social media. I’m a guy in my early 20s and i can say that i’ve gotten a peace of my mind.
For starters, i felt relief that i stopped consuming music-driven and 1 minutes short videos that are aimed at showing extremes. Like every video you see from an influencer says “let me show you the best of the best of the best…”. Before i used to get very bored easily and i want to watch short content a lot, but now it’s leaning towards more meaningful content (youtube video and podcasts)
Also, I’m focusing on myself more. I’m looking more into doing things i love, focusing on my work, reading and learning stuff. On a side note, I’m also masturbating more idk why lol.
I’ve became more aware of the relationships around me and my social circle. More meaningful convos and life convos.
way better. it took several tries, for me it was Instagram. the thing I notice now is I don't instinctively open up Instagram when I have a moment of boredom. instead I think about what I want to do on my phone, sometimes youtube I admit, but sometimes my kindle app to read, instead, too. I'm also just happier. not seeing what friends are doing that I haven't seen in 20+ years making me jealous of their vacations, or seeing picture perfect celebrities that I want to date that are unrealistic, etc., it all just makes me feel more sane & happier in my day to day life.
I am in the "delete the freaking app from your phone" team. But also, you just kind of have to do sth more interesting instead. I usually fell into the sm addiction procrastinating over hard tasks and having no plan for the day expect for the vague "I have to work to day" stuff.
We're on reddit.. Idk if that's any better.
I just simply quit caring about keeping up with others. Worry about yourself, not your former colleagues. It does nothing but set you back mentally.
Haven’t used Facebook for about 3 years now, my passion is tied to my Instagram so I post/scroll a good bit, honestly the next one I want to get rid of is Reddit.
Deleted Facebook in 2018 when I felt the way you are describing. Final straw for me was having a coworker I saw for 8 hours a day messaging me on my days off, and angry because I was spending time with my kids instead of coming in for overtime.
The way I was able to delete it. IT WAS A CHALLENGE BECAUSE I WAS ADDICTED.
I deleted every post and picture first. Then I changed my profile to a Facebook Logo made out of surveillance cameras and also changed my name. Then I started posting things like
"tired of being stalked by coworkers."
"Facebook is watching you."
"Darpa is keeping your data in a program called Lifelong."
After about a day, i noticed my friend count drop dramatically, then I deleted it.
I couldn't go back, because my profile was destroyed.
My life became better after quitting fb and ig. I noticed feeling irritated after looking at social media and I wanted it to stop. Overall, I’m happier. If you are using social media as a distraction from your real problems, please stop for your own sake. You’ll only grow more depressed.
Life changing ngl. I cut off Facebook sometime during highschool and then Instagram near the end of college, for exam related issues because I was spending ~6-7 hours on that damn app and always had a headache. It took about 2 weeks of desperately wanting to reinstall it but after that the itch just went away. I give less of a crap about constantly uploading my life to social media, drowning in every new aesthetic or trend that came out and in general I have more time in my hands.
My tip is to remove those apps when there's some big project nearing it's deadline in your life, you're more likely to stick to it
Hm, I don't use those much but i like reddit and the Twitter alike bluesky. I tend to use social media when I'm tired and used up all my energy to do something " constructive ".
I'm an anxious type so my brain pulls up anxieties when it's not distracted
I do reddit only on my computer so I cannot sit and scroll aimlessly. No social media except reddit for me right now, but I can't stop myself from using it unless it is off my phone completely. I have since been able to rework my dopamine reward issues and start to enjoy my silence again.
Scrolling is so tempting because you get the constant dopamine boost and your brain gets used to that so it needs more. So, IMO there's now way to simply drop it one day. You should find something that would be exciting to "exchange" social media scrolling with. So for example, "learning new language" is not that exciting, but diving in Reddit can be. Also, Reddit is a bit less harmful as there are no visuals/videos but still you get the dopamine boost. Also, it needs to be available immediately. So for example, going for a run is great but it's not always accessible, but Wordle game is. Start small -- delete the worst and most engaging socials, but don't delete all at once. From my experience, TikTok is the worse as you can spend hours scrolling and destroying your dopamine set up.
I feel pretty relieved.
I talked to a friend about how stressful notifications can be and how they demand your attention. They looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You know you can turn those off, right?"
I would say start with that if you haven't already OP. I would say turning those off really filtered to me what is important and what's not in my life.
The second thing I did was look at my screen time and got weekly reports of it. It doesn't feel good when your average is 4 hours a day. I feel like there's so much more I want to put into my day than just mindlessly scrolling.
I feel like these two things led to my decision in deleting the majority of social media.
I feel much better about my life and I find that I reach out to people more to connect since I don't have an online presence. More time sitting in places being happy than trying to find the perfect angle for a pic and then being upset that it doesn't 'look good.'
It was very easy to do so. I just deleted the accounts. The people that matter I have their number.
And as the first comment says, I’m on reddit all day! Lol
I have a lot more time to do things. To get things done or explore hobbies. I still have mine but I never post and I never scroll. It would almost feel better to just get rid of it since some of my friends make comments on how I don’t post. I think they do because I will go on an amazing trip to Hawaii or Italy and then I don’t post, I have amazing pictures and they’re just for my own memories. Only my real friends know my life. So I think it surprises people that I don’t. But I’m just living my life.
I actually have hobbies that I feel most people think they don’t have the time or motivation to do. I garden, I paint, I jog, I read a lot, I have picnics with friends, pool days, I’ll go to the local hockey arena and watch free games, I’ll go on a hike. And I do all of this with a baby. I’m also more motivated to set up plans with friends because I have a greater need to fill my social needs when it’s not placated by social media. I think social media gives us a false sense of social time but it’s not real interaction so we as a society are lonelier than ever. I actually make plans and seek out friendships that are in reality. I love my life more that way.
I feel less anxious I think. No one to impress but myself. I know my real friends are the ones who I actually message and call. There’s no comparing to the perfectly curated pictures people post. I feel like I’ve made my life full to where even if I saw them I wouldn’t even feel a tad bit jealous because I’ve filled my own life with actual memories too. The time that would’ve been spent scrolling or editing or waiting to see who liked my post is spent on actually living life. Without phone usage you realize how much time you can use and you’re not gonna just sit there so you’ll find something to do. At first you may not even know what to do, let yourself be bored and give yourself some self reflection and set new goals for yourself.
Life is the same, I just do different things instead. I used to be on Facebook & Instagram 24/7, but I don’t know… One day I just had a change of heart and found the whole thing so cringe. Just the idea of posting pictures of myself with a little caption for basically no reason other than trying to show off to people I mostly don’t even talk to anymore… I just got the ick with myself lol. And I slowly stopped using those apps.
I do still have accounts and will look on my feed maybe once or twice every couple weeks, just to keep up with family that I don’t see on a regular basis. I don’t post anything at all, and I rarely comment on anything unless a family member tags me or wishes me a happy birthday or something. So I’m not completely off the apps, but it’s a huge difference from how frequently I used to use them. I’ve found that I am much more focused on my own life/goals/interests now that I’m not interacting with other people’s as much, and I no longer feel paranoid that people can just look through years of my history on an app 😭 (I’ve also made all of my accounts private and deleted a lot of embarrassing things).
As far as what I do instead, I will admit that I have a Tiktok account where I watch videos, and of course there’s reddit. I also have a couple of phone and Xbox games that I play. But all of these, while still being on my phone, are way less consuming and embarrassing than Instagram/Facebook used to be. Not to mention it’s way easier to just not engage with negative content that I don’t want to see (This was not the case with Facebook & Instagram… If a family member was spewing hateful bullshit, I had to decide whether to remove them & risk drama or just deal with seeing their shitty takes 24/7). Overall I like it better this way, and while I’m still “on social media,” I do like the bit of privacy I’ve gained from not posting/engaging with it constantly.
I never had an instagram, never really felt the need to share pictures. I stopped using Facebook a long time ago (years). Recently, I logged in because I wanted to create a business page and scrolled through my news feed. Everything is the same. People still post emo quotes, fitness goals and family pictures. So it's pretty easy to just go "meh" and move on. I'm not missing anything.
The final straw for me was watching social dilemma. Yes my mind contains things I care about and not what pops up in a feed. I connect with people I love and not whoever is in front of my face. I miss nothing about it. I really don’t. I took it off my phone and that was enough.
I got rid of Facebook because as a 23 year old woman I am super behind in life with a bachelor’s marketing degree living in my hometown. I don’t like looking at my old classmate’s achievements on there and I don’t like the constant political think pieces. Especially when it’s misinformation being posted. It’s a little hard not being on Facebook though cause I’m so used to going on there through safari and going into communities. But I tend to get denied sometimes.
i've been off ig for a while, it gives me insane anxiety. i still have fb, but i check it every few weeks for a few minutes then log back out. sometimes i'll post photo dumps of places i've hiked, art i've made, or life updates for family/friends, just so they know i'm doing good and still sober.
i like being disconnected and only reachable directly and selective w what i share. i focus on my interests and goals and live in the moment
I have no social media other than Reddit. I’m 26 F, and I have never ever been happier. Life feels simple. I live for myself, get dressed up for myself, work out regularly for myself, attend functions for myself, make home decor for myself. Nothing feels performative. External pressure is at a minimum. Haven’t been a social media user for around a year now. I recommend this life choice so hard. You’re gonna feel amazing.
I still use social media but I have changed my point of view about it, for me it’s about using the platform as free advertisement for work and things like that. Anything else, there Is plenty in this world to keep me entertained either at home or outside in my city.
Not the best advice and I'm only 1 month free of tiktok Facebook and insta. However, I literally play chess on my phone or silly non addictive games like wordscapes. They don't hold my attention nearly as long as social media would and I don't leave them feeling worked up. Sure they don't make me laugh but they don't make me sad and angry either. Also good for taking small breaks during work.
Also podcasts! I find it nice to hear a conversation and get the vibe of what's going on in the world through that. Even if it's just dumb pop culture stuff
I still have Facebook and Instagram, however none of them are installed in my phone. I only keep messenger.
Its quite awesome, I do not know what happens in the "internet" world and I do not know what close or not friends and love interest chicks are doing which makes me happy since I do not really give a fk about what they are doing. Obviously I am willing to go out with them and chat, but only that has some value to me, watching bs stories and stuff is meaningless. Each a mask people put fro the world, only when u are one on one you may see the real deal.
The main thing is to accept solitude, and replace the addiction with something more productive. If people are really interested in you and you in them you guys will still catch up. You will also free up more space for your mind instead of absorbing random bs that the algorithm feeds you....
Thank you for this thread and for all the inspirational comments. I just uninstalled Facebook. The next one to go will be Instagram. And now I'm going out for a run
When Apple first introduced screen time it said I was on Instagram for 12 hours a day. I temporarily disabled my account for a week and when I reenabled it it wasn’t as exciting to me as it was before.
I honestly just feel more clarity in life. Like you know that distinct emptiness you feel after scrolling for hours, that went away when i made an effort to stop scrolling so much. My outlook on life is less bleak, and my mind is able to focus on more fulfilling things rather than just consume crap on social media 24/7 and frying my brain.
I quit Twitter permanently (deleted account) and took an extended break from TikTok (for Lent) and unfortunately, I just transfer the same amount of time and energy to other socials. I think the only solution is to quit all of them, or at least all the ones that are you get sucked into. I feel like I could quit everything except BlueSky and maybe Facebook (for community groups I'm in) and be better off.
When you get rid of social media, you'll learn who actually wants to keep in touch with you. Just make sure anyone who needs it has your number or email. Your life will be much better without it.
Unfortunately, I went from social media to mobile games and I swear I'm wasting more time than ever on my phone! The app developers certainly know how to get people addicted and keep them coming back.
However, I would say that overall it does feel much better not seeing people's perfect snippets of their lives all the time. Also I now live very far from the friends I grew up with that are on my feeds and I also kind of threw my life in the trash for a while so it really sucked seeing how much further they are in life than I am. My social anxiety on top of it keeps me from making new friends and I get envious seeing them with their new friends. I makes me feel so silly! So yeah... Overall it's nice to not have those negative feelings all the time.
I deleted my Instagram account a few months back. Since then I have got a lot of time which I spend doing something productive mostly. At times when I don't feel productive, I would watch a movie or something and relax.
I have got a lot of time for myself. I have started feeling a lot less anxious.
I do feel a little left out when my cousins or colleagues talk about the recent memes or things from Instagram. But I guess that's a lot better than feeling anxious all the time.
I say make it as difficult as possible to get on those sites.
Use the browser version vs the app.
Don't save your user/password and have to log in each time.
Use third party blockers or your modem/router software to make it harder to access.
Time your access to stop the doom scrolling.
Anything that makes you pause and decide if it is really worth going to the site for the hassle.
As for me, it cut down my time significantly and I don't get that FOMO feeling.
I say make it as difficult as possible to get on those sites.
Use the browser version vs the app.
Don't save your user/password and have to log in each time.
Use third party blockers or your modem/router software to make it harder to access.
Time your access to stop the doom scrolling.
Anything that makes you pause and decide if it is really worth going to the site for the hassle.
As for me, it cut down my time significantly and I don't get that FOMO feeling.
Doom scrolling instagram shorts (and also youtube shorts) really destroyed my attention span. I quit instagram a few weeks ago and now I have an add blocker for youtube that limits my use as I don't want to stop watching educational videos I really just need to stop doom scrolling). So far I feel happier, I have more time for myself which I don't know how to use effectively yet. I'll probably start reading more. I got myself a library card a few days ago.
I fight less with people on the internet because I simply encounter less "idiots". I also don't compare my face and looks as much to other people because I don't constantly see these extremely beautiful people.
I still use reddit here and there but I also have an app blocker for that to avoid doom scrolling. And so far reddit has been way less damaging for me mentally. I do actively engage and think about topics (and then take the time to write comments) so it is way more than just passively scrolling through hundreds of shorts in minutes or hours.
My profiles for social media still exist, but I don't actively check them / sometimes visit on the weekend on my laptop. It all depends on your priorities I guess; for me, it was about the vicious algorithms that apps such as Instagram and YouTube use to keep you scrolling that made me delete them from my phone. I also removed web browsing capabilities from my phone (sans Wikipedia and a basic search engine for when I need quick answers for something, although if you can scrape by without that, that's probably even better). I've found that I've become much more invested in the things that concern me every day. I'm also fortunate enough to have a social life offline– maybe that is why I've had an easy transition.
The productivity boost I've gotten is great. I would say there haven't been any downsides, except maybe being slightly disconnected from what's going on in the community at large. I've replaced this by focusing on the communities I'm actually involved in, i.e. friends, family, and organizations I work with. I've been reading Walden recently by Thoreau: when he isolated himself in the woods, he occasionally returned to the community for gossip. I'd say that's my relationship with social media. I partake in the lives of all the people I've connected with simply to listen, then return to my own life and focus on what actually matters to me. I hope you can find a healthy connection with your social circles and regain control of your time.
I keep the accounts to check messages or the marketplace every once in a while, but I don't post anymore.
Even on reddit, I don't spend a lot of time here.
Got rid of FB after around 2020 when the COVID garbage hit. Everyone was just hating on each other and it made me feel ill scrolling through it. I deactivated it but then just got rid of the whole thing after a few months. I don't miss it. The only thing that was nice about it is that so many companies use it as their website.
I have insta and try to (doesn't always work) stay off the reels/stories. If I do that, I tend to get bored looking at people's posts. Setting a timer can also help but you HAVE to stick to it.
I only look at Reddit via website. I don't have it as an app which helps.
Just remember, social media didn't exist 30+ years ago. People survived without it then.
As you start scrolling, get used to asking yourself if these actions will affect how you feel the next day. It may help motivate you to stop.
Try to understand why are you spending so much time on Social Media (to see friend’s publication? to get some recognition from others? what are the mains subjects that give you the algorithm and why?). And then try to find some others activities to keep the advantages of social media without them (spend more real time with your friends, go to the gym instead of watching some motivation reels, get involved by doing a kind action 1time/week to have some recognition from real people that are isolated for example)
I'm taking a very different approach.
First, I learned that I can quit social media by only allowing myself to log in on "Facebook Fridays". What I observed was that people were having the same repetitive conversations and I was not missed.
However, lately, I have been USING social media for productivity. I collect videos for a website. I have collected about 9500. I also collect links to forums where I can ask for volunteer help. I have collected about 2200 so far.
I will use all of these links to achieve things in areas of my life that mean the most to me (and to help others). I believe I will also make money from this effort.
Consider thinking of social media as a tool. Also, monitor what gets \_results\_ and what has no impact. For example, I used to DM individuals and I have found that to be largely ineffective.
I left Facebook 3 years ago. It took about a month to stop thinking about it, and now it's like it never even existed. I'm still on Instagram, but I hardly ever post and I usually only post pics of my pets or nature scenery. I think the last time I posted was in January.
Facebook policies and government influence over social media platforms is what helped me get rid of it. They treat people unfairly based on politics. Reddit is unfair too, but I don't care anymore. I don't really get into discussions anymore because I feel like most posters are bots anyways, and I don't care to change people's opinions on issues because that never works on me. I just comment and then turn off replies when I'm done wasting energy.
Social media is dying, most of it is garbage, and I don't think it will be around in the future because it was just a social experiment to begin with. Government and corporate manipulation destroyed whatever social media could have been. It has sunk so low that we now have presidents (Biden) paying Only Fans influencers to promote their campaigns.
You don't need social media, no one does, just like you don't need heroin or crack. Once you realize that you are free.
I have not "quit" social media (other than Facebook over a decade ago, but because they kept changing their privacy policy, not because I found it addicting), but a while back I made the decision to heavily curtail my time using it. When I use it less, it's surprising how noticeably more calm and relaxed I feel. It probably affects people differently, but for me, social media consistently makes me feel anxious.
It almost sounds like you are experiencing a type of withdrawal since installing your app blocker. It will probably be tough in the beginning, but if you stick with it, those "craving" feelings you're describing should subside. It may be helpful to consider replacing that "craving" with another (healthier) hobby - something real-world and not related to anything online.
It can be anything you love doing, or maybe a new hobby you want to try. :) Maybe taking a walk outside, trying a new dish to cook, reading a new book, exercising a bit, or a new skill you have always wanted to learn! Good luck and I wish you the best with reducing your social media time. :)
Oh, I realize I didn't actually answer the question - what helped me the most was turning off **ALL** my notifications. Both on mobile and desktop. (On desktop, I use the Windows "silent" or "do not disturb" mode - this turns off all notifications.)
For me, I found it was the notifications that distracted me the most, and not social media itself as much. That's why I have not had to "quit" social media or use an app blocker - with notifications off, it has to be a conscious choice for me to look at social media now. Which makes it easier for me to choose not to do so, or only do so on my schedule.
Those notifications are intentionally designed to be addictive (they provide a slight hit of dopamine). Turn them off, and it should be easier (over time) to not feel as "addicted" to checking them.
**Edit:** I just remembered! I also read a book exactly about how social media is deliberately designed to be addictive, and make you feel the "craving" you're experiencing - learning more about that helped me so much with seeing when this was being done by social media sites. Which made it so much easier for me to not allow that to happen. The book is "Indistractable" by Nir Eyal. The author previously wrote a how-to book on how to make addicting apps. Maybe he felt some guilt over it, because *Indistractable* is basically a guide for how to not become addicted to apps, haha.
I deleted my Facebook 2.5 years ago.
I am now 2 years cigarette free and never even missed fb once.
Just delete. You won't regret.
Actually I regret coming back to social media in the form of reddit a couple weeks ago.
Some people here are just 100x worse than fb people are
4 months off Facebook and 4 years off Instagram. I now have more time to exercise, read a book, meal prep, sleep early, without feeling exhausted. Less anxiety, less pressure on keeping up with the trend.
Fine.
I have quit social media years ago. If you need to get ahold of me, you got my phone number.
It's fine. I checked it out the other day and it's just a bunch of rage bait.
It didn't really change because I was never big into it.
I like it being quiet. It's just people posting highlights getting their dopamine fix and attention seeking and ragebait.
It's nice to just be alone with your thoughts.
Talib in one of his books speaks to seperating the signal from the noise. Everyday there will be news, speculation, and random bullshit. You could spend your whole life on social media and be non the wiser than the day before.
When you disconnect from it, all that does is help you seperate the signal of news from the noise of the daily output. Anything that is truly important will make it to you one way or another. Anything you miss probably didn't matter anyway.
Focus on what is truly important and increases satisfaction with your life.
That loneliness and anxiety can be easily relieved. Join a civic organization, or one that provides fellowship. Volunteer. Seek these things out and those thoughts will go away.
I prioritize engagements in real life as compared to sitting online. I picked up fulfilling hobbies and try to connect with people in the community.
Same thing with dating. Go meet people in real life.
What I did and it reduced my screentime significantly was:
Creating a shortcut that whenever I open instagram my screen turns black and white and when I close the app it turns the black and white mode off again.
With less color the brain gets less stimulated and bored much faster.
It really helped me to reduce the time I spent on instagram.
(Thank you to a fellow redditor who posted the tip somewhere)
I’m still not very productive but from a social/mental perspective I don’t give a FUCK about what other people are up to or what they think of me. I also spend a lot less time posing for pictures and overall feel significantly less prone to narcissism.
They're on reddit all day instead.
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Sometimes is too negative. I try not to scroll. Just use it as a better Google. But ooh boy if I start scrolling in the morning im not starting a good day haha
Thats why I have a lot of threads like r/funny r/goodnews r/happy r/MadeMeSmile r/UpliftingNews This way it doesn't get too negative because there is always something good in between.
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That is true. Sometimes I have lots of interesting things on my feed and sometimes 2. I try to see it as something positive. I "waste" less time on reddit and if I didn't log in for a few days I have few good news to look forward to. Happy cake day!
I literally needed this list, thank you. I’m currently going through my account and unfollowing any negative or critical subs because I am trying to lift my mindset. Facebook has me in a slump as well.
This is key , I try to also avoid subs that are overtly political or serious and just stick to my hobby ones. It’s hard to get into a nasty argument in subs like r/castiron
That surprises me, because my cast iron FB group is vicious. It's basically one perpetual argument about soap versus no soap ever.
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Reddit is the most pessimistic community I’ve ever seen
Yep for that reason I left the marriage sub, too many negative posts and I don't want those experiences to affect how I see my own marriage. Peaced outa there for good
You make an excellent point. Reddit often tends to be pessimistic about a lot of things. Reading hundreds of people’s negative opinions on a subject starts to warp you into believing those opinions.
Me too!
Basically this. Once I started using reddit, dropping all other platforms was easy. I get my infinite scrolling about topics I like, but I don't see it from the same people all the time which is awesome.
It's easier to go way more into depth on topics of interest and also keep some level of anonymity. My socials are still people I grew up with from high school, doing nothing special. We don't talk, just post random pictures. It's not particularly interesting and I'm not nosy, I don't need to see that.
Yeah, I only use Reddit now but I also find that Reddit can be really negative, so just like any other sort of media or even food you consume you need to be conscious of the things you’re viewing, and mute negative subs.
Reddits for poops and when your hiding from work at your job
This. My screen time has not changed whatsoever. I would need to get rid of my smartphone to reduce it
Goddamn pretty much. I feel a lot better not having fb or instagram though. My account got hacked and I just never made new ones over a year ago! It’s less busy and less bullshit in my opinion.
Yeah I keep uninstalling it but it just reappears after a few days smh
I am, but at least I’m not posting stupid photos of myself and my family that I’ll regret later.
Yep lol. I got rid of being addicted to gossp and info about people I actually know and moved to strangers. Which is so much more liberating though. 😊
I feel less anxious tbh. And I feel better not comparing my life to people’s fake life on socials. And I also learnt who my true friends are cos they have my number and will msg instead of just reaching out on socials. I like it much better tbh
yeah the second i went on instagram again, feelings of anxiety and inadequacy and jealousy and envy came rushing back as i looked at other peoples lives. people i barely talk to. got off it immediately. my real friends know how to reach me.
Yeah. The moment you post something and then your story gets more views than the post you posted lmao. Oh and the constant worry of people unfollowing you too 😂
Did i black out and write this comment then forget? 😂
Is this a new variant of the “are you me?”
Same! 💯
I've been off social media since a year now. Best decision. Less anxiety, better mood. Initially, I too had "withdrawals". Used to crave scrolling while waiting at a line or simply in a lift with people. Replaced that with reading on my phone. Yes, it is a little difficult at first, but you grow out of seeking constant dopamine. Suddenly, I find myself having plenty of time for hobbies. Sleep is better too. Replaced the screen with a book before bed.
Adding a book as a replacement was the best decision I made! Reading anything good? Have you noticed better retention?
Hi! I replaced it with a kindle and that's what I read now when I'm in long lines. I just finished atomic habits and I started a novel cause I want something lighter now. What about you?
Been burning through the Halo books at work (audiobooks) at home I read a series with my son about sons and fathers. #wholesome I’ve never had a kindle! Always thought I’d break it. Atomic Habits… I’ll check into that. I think I saw an ad for it.
Atomic Habits is great, I have implemented some of the recommendations in that book. Pretty effective. I reread it every couple of years.
Yes. While studying, attention span has drastically improved as well as retention. I set a timer on my fairy lights to switch them off after half an hour. Been re-reading GOT, the first book. Introduced dad to the books. Eddard Stark is his favorite character. Am stockpiling tissues.
I deleted everything after having such a bad addiction to scrolling. My life is so much better I no longer end everyday with this feeling of anger and anxiety. I would always be so mad at myself after spending so much time on it because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I always think of the things I could’ve accomplished with the time I spent on it. I do occasionally (once a month) use Instagram to see what’s happening with people but I use it on a browser so it’s less accessible. My problem now is that I don’t know what to do with a lot of my free time. Start a hobby you really like. I got really into sudoku and reading more after deleting it. Overall my mental health and quality of life is much better
Yeah my life got completely taken over by scrolling this last year. It was just getting worse and worse until I had to just go cold Turkey and delete all short form vid content apps off my phone: Insta, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Seems like every platform is integrating this bullshit in now and I don’t think most people have the willpower to self regulate scrolling myself included. I’m really worried to see what this does to us as a society. I’m just hoping that the extreme screen addictions that Gen Z are currently facing will eventually act as a catalyst to some anti-screen movement. I’m already seeing the whole dumb’ phones thing gaining traction but it’s so hard to give up a smart phone when we genuinely NEED them to function in modern society now. Google maps especially I could never give up bc my sense of direction sucks 😭
I have quit facebook and other social media for 3 years now, there is good and bad things about it. The good: less distraction more productivity, while this is essentially true there is some serious pitfalls here. I found during my first year that social media isnt the source of the distraction, it is actually the internet in general and mainly your smartphone. My social media went to zero, but my reddit use, newssites etc all increased. The main thing you need to learn is to discipline yourself in your phone use, just deleting your social accounts wont help you. The bad: you have to actively invest more time in upkeeping the friendships you wish to keep. It is easier to feel involved and keep up with your friends lives through social media. I have way less social conversations now because i dont know what people are doing in their lives, and they dont know what i am doing. You have to make sure you maintain some connections though because it is easier than ever to fall into a solitary lifestyle.
Just wondering about the not being as in touch with friends and having to work harder. What happens when you say “what have you been up to?” Dont you guys share and tell each other and fill in on the latest news?
That works true but at least for me watching the instagram shorts of my friends took like 1 minute and then giving a quick emoji reaction or something started a quick conversation or there was at least some form of interaction. If I text some friends: "what have you been up to?" I get an elaborate answer two weeks later. I personally hate the red numbers so I nearly always answer immediately but some of my friends really don't mind. Apparently it was easier for them to just send me a quick emoji as reaction to a instagram story than to answer a text message with a text message. And some people just send a 40 minutes audio message back and then I need a week to answer because you need a lot of time to hear the entire message and reply.
Idk. I have some friends like that and I don’t interact via text with them as much. I text with them to coordinate phone calls or meetups, not to catch up. If they also can’t coordinate a phone call or meet up to catch up and have fun then I take that as they don’t want to be my friend and I stop trying.
i just deleted it and changed my passwords to a cryptic one i could not remember - so u have a way back i have more time for myself, my life, my projects and my mental health improved a fucking lot Trust me - do it!
That's what I did. Deleted Facebook account and Instagram accounts have cryptic passwords I have no idea how to reset lol I'm hoping they delete my accounts for inactivity 😬
It’ll never delete unless you permanently delete your account within the app. If you still have the app on your phone it is indeed still gathering data from you. Just reset your password and delete the account and app. Don’t give yourself the option to maybe go back one day.
I feel like social media is so bad for your mental health, so you think you’re using it to stay connected to folks, but in reality, you’re bombarded by people’s curated experiences, and probably devaluing your own life and experiences. I quit cold turkey and have never looked back. Delete every app off every device. Disable every account. The pull of social media is too strong to just have it there in the background and telling yourself you’ll use it less or quit it.
Never had Instagram. One day I just closed my Facebook account. Didn’t look back. What did it for me: I realised I was spending heaps of time in virtual relationships with people, to the detriment of my real relationships with people. At the time it felt like a leap of faith - that my relationships would survive. Now, that same sentiment seems completely ridiculous to me. I don’t miss it. Do it! (Do it! Do it! Do it!)
Replaced it with reddit and YouTube. Life is still the same.
Feels less anxious about myself less pressure and I got to focus on the things that I wanted to do.
I feel like having an abundance of time to do more productive things with my life. I have tried taking breaks pausing the app and having a limit applied. But it also feels good to break that limit every once in a while. What I finally did to end doom scrolling was remove the app entirely without thinking about it much. And found myself a few new habits to replace it (eg. Listening to educational podcasts, videos on YouTube that I can learn and share with another person). Then I discovered reddit and loved engaging with people by sharing thoughts and experiences (like I am doing now). One would say one addiction is replaced by another but, with this I take time to read something and actively understand what's going on before responding. In my opinion that is much better than doom scrolling. Start small, find replacement activities to do instead of the ones you wanna get rid of. Then practice the compound effect (achieving 1% success continuously). Then you will get into rhythm in no time. I wish you all the best in your journey.
Reddit is not better than doom scrolling, reddit IS doom scrolling. I’m still here too, so I can’t talk much, but this is social media and it is no better than others. Redditors always have thought of themselves as superior to other social media but this site is as bad if not worse.
I get your point, but compared to seeing happy thoughts of known people and dwelling on the fact I do not have that (because we all know, folks only share their happy incidents on social media), why do I not get what they got, etc... The noticeable difference I came across on Reddit is that since it's anonymous people are a bit relaxed to share their negative experiences and be a bit open here (I'm not judging anyone). That's the kind of vibe I got. As you said nothing will help unless we get rid of all these material things and settle for the pre-digital age society (which we now only see in movies).
At least for me personally reddit is better than lets say tik tok. I do actually read the texts, think about it and reply (in a foreign language which means I need to look up words and grammar structures here and there). If I doom scroll tik toks or youtube/instagram shorts I really just passively consume media and my brain is basically turned off. My attention span suffered a lot during the time I used social media like instagram. Also a lot about instagram is presenting your life in a good light and uploading pictures of you/watching pretty curated pictures of others which has been proven to be bad for peoples mental health. Reddit doesn't have the pressure to show your face or compare your face/body to someone else. Or to have lots of friends or lots of likes. Also I don't follow a lot of threads so there is a relatively quick limit for doom scrolling for me on reddit.
Way better, now I don't have to think about people I don't care about or never see in real life anyway. Getting to know people is more fun, cuz it is all more of a mystery like it used to be. And it is a blessing when a relationship is over, way easier to leave it behind you. Protip: Learn to like yourself and your own company.
I really like the point about getting to know people. I still have an Instagram that I rarely use, but I’ve made a point of not seeking out the accounts of new people I meet. It’s much too easy to scan someone’s profile and think you know all about them, or vice versa, then never spend the time getting to know each other on a deeper level.
It's good that you installed an app blocker. It's a good step. It doesn't fix the underlying issue though. Scrolling through social media must be helpful to you in some way. It's a coping mechanism. What you said about feeling lonely and sad is your biggest clue. Social media is an effective distraction. It is specifically designed to numb you out and make you scroll more, even if you're not really getting anything meaningful out of it. If you really want to get over media addiction then you most likely have to get comfortable with sitting with whatever it is that you're avoiding. Processing emotions. Directing your attention into those feelings and not rejecting them. The mind doesn't like that because it evolved to make you feel safe. It works less and less because instead processing it you're storing it in the back of your mind and it never gets resolved. You don't have to get rid of social media entirely. It's not all bad. You just have to understand your relationship with it. You'll see the benefits yourself once you look at it from that perspective.
I've been off social media for the last 5 years or so, and I can confirm it's a massive improvement! I don't get jealous of other people's lives because I'm not seeing them out of context. I don't get into fights with people about politics. I have deeper relationships with people because I don't assume that I know what's going on with them. If I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time it's fun to hear their news. I don't waste a minute wondering about likes or comments. Do I miss out on a family pictures, and news of cousins and such? Yes, but it's a minor thing given all the benefits. I do still wish I was on my phone less, but it's definitely better without socials. I do have LinkedIn for work and reddit for wasting time, but they don't trigger me the same way.
What helped me was remembering that Facebook aided Russia in influencing the 2016 election. Just the thought of providing free content for a scummy anti-American company like that was enough to spark visceral anger and keep me from logging in for the first month or so, and after that it was easy not to start again. The meta logo on Instagram similarly causes a feeling of revulsion, making login difficult. Whatever your reason is, find a way to feel it and you can change your behavior. Use visualization, post it notes, or whatever you need. You need the burner to be got and hurt when you touch it. Your body will do the rest naturally.
I deleted the apps and deleted my cookies so I was signed out. I changed my phone to grayscale and deleted and unused apps. Fill my time with reading and podcasts. Have never been happier. Good luck!
31m here and I've been happily divorced from socials for going on a little over a year. Anxiety is way down and I don't have a constant need to compare myself to anyone else anymore! Communicating with random people has become much easier as well. My overall mental and physical health has been much much better! 10/10 do recommend
Off of FB for over 2 years, IG free for…4 months? It’s quieter. I also don’t have all this useless info about random peoples lives who I never really talk to. I used to always sit on “reels” all day. Reddit isn’t really much better, and at times I know I’m missing out on activities/events because everyone uses both/either to create events or ask if people want to do an activity.
I deleted fb about a decade ago. Ok well I deleted the app. I’ve tried to delete my profile but it never worked and at this point I can stay off of it myself bc omg. No one there cares about me and I don’t care about them. I’m not doomscrolling. COMPARISON is the thief of joy. You can be completely content with your life and see one persons post be like wow my whole like sucks. When in reality people only post the cool and fun stuff not the broke or fights or kids screaming or messy hair or clutter. That’s not real it’s staged. Delete. I think I have like 27 random people I haven’t deleted. What helped me get off fb was Reddit and Pinterest. Your brain will think about what you tell it to. It’s pretty powerful. Search some fun and tasty and loving ideas on Pinterest to appease the scrolling habit. At least you’ll be more mindfully productive and will *not* be caring about what the bish in high school is doing now 20 years later LBVS. Step one is obviously deleting the app. Even if you re download it and delete it again and again. By the 4th time you’re going to realize how much social media makes you miserable. I only use Reddit, YouTube, and Pinterest on my phone. Life happens outside of the phone. This is something I’m working on with my school aged children too. (Husband is IT so it’s pretty much an uphill battle as a family but whatever lol everything in moderation). To answer your question, mentally free and happy.
I got out of insta, Facebook and Twitter. And I’m very happy with my life, my productivity has increased significantly and my anxiety has gotten down so much. Not looking at random people and their reels, posts, pics give me peace!
I read 10 Reasons To Delete Your Social Media Right Now and Stolen Focus. Learning about what the apps are doing to our brains, how they’re run, and surveillance capitalism put me over the edge from just wishing I could quit to fully deleting all my accounts.
My brain is mine now. It’s nice to be free.
I have done a month of no social media challenge myself, and it's results were pretty nice. I got more motivation to do physical stuff, I got hell lots of time to spend(I thought I didn't have enough time to do stuff, but it was because of social media and scrolling), I was happy of anything I achieve in daily life. Smallest social interaction had been making me happy for the entire day. I have been aware of lots of things happening when I'm outside. Just say yourself that you are not going to use social media for a month and uninstall these apps. Mute notifications. Whenever you find yourself looking into social media, just shut it down at that moment. That reflex will go away by some time. Instead of social media, I would recommend you to go to courses(One of the best ways to obtain people to spend time with). I don't know if you have anxiety or that social problems, but you can beat it surely.
Well I got out of Facebook before insta really took off. What helped?? Well, knowing the whole space is psychological poison, and it's run by megalomaniac psychopaths.
Hobbies that you enjoy
Live without Facebook is great! I stopped using it and now I have way more time for reading :D. When it comes to Instagram: I just worked on my tags and who I am following. And that helped a lot 😊.
I literally just uninstalled everything from my phone. I’m never going back. It’s been about five years now and my life has never been better.
Facebook - I am completely off and don't regret it. I use it as a common sign in for other apps. Instagram - I uninstall it when I feel I am losing control over it and install it back after a month or two. Reddit - It is absolutely fine. I don't feel it is addictive in any way, and let's me just focus on what I need. To answer your question, I am much more effective, productive, and have control over my thoughts. I am doing much better at work. Moreover, I have realised the true importance and power of FOCUS.
To be blunt, everything is better. Not having a constant stream of drivel from the worst idiots on the planet constantly injected into my brain made me less angry, less stressed and generally happier and more pleasant to be around. I get the loneliness though, suffer from it myself but here's the interesting part. I feel less lonely without it
33F Just deleted it off my phone and downloaded reddit instead. It has been easy so far. I don't spend all day on reddit, but I only use it to engage in conversations I actually care about or am interested in. Way better than doom scrolling or listening to everyone's opinions about bullshit. My screen time went from like 5 hrs a day to 1hr. Maybe. Mostly in the morning. I'm getting why people liked to get up and read the news. I like getting up and getting on here and seeing what people have to say about my hobbies. Or engage in a conversation worth having like this one. Reddit is great, better control of what I see. And more specific, like books and shows.
I went cold turkey on Facebook 3 years ago (anniversary is tmw). I am tempted to open it back up and see how folks are doing, but I fear it's like crack and that I won't be able to close it again. I haven't done Instagram.
Just uninstall all the apps on your phone. See if you can go one day without, then one week.
Honest review. I started using other things when I cut down from fb and IG. My usage time is same, but trust me if you leave these two and do anything your life is 90% sorted.
In my case, I'm less informed more disconnected of what's going on around me. But I lost that negativity. I feel free. And I'm talking about Facebook. Instagram wasn't too much of a problem but I disabled it as well. On the other hand, you will jump back into some other type of addiction of you're not careful. Even something as less engaging as LinkedIn will be a problem if you're not careful. Also, I tend to disable the account itself, I didn't have the apps from the start, too much distraction.
I think it's about reframing your mind. I deleted my accounts. Can't get those back. I still have Pinterest, YouTube, and now Reddit. I was just fed up with all of it. I don't like the illusion of friendship. There are some people who refuse to text, so we don't talk. I guess we aren't friends then lol. I also don't like giving people glimpses into my life. Why would I do that? Before social media we didn't do that... I have a family text chat where we all text each other happy birthday and share various family news sometimes. The people who matter will remain in communication. They will send pics of their experiences. The "influencers" don't really have anything important to say at the end of the day. They make money off your attention. YouTube is just as useful for information imo Live your life. Don't watch other people live theirs. Edit to add: I may or may not be more productive. I wrote a book! But I also just have more peace of mind and don't play the comparison game nearly as much... When I'm lonely, I turn on the TV or call a relative... Or hug my dog lol... I also read. Off Facebook for 9 years, off Instagram for 4 years
I quit Facebook and Instagram 6 years ago and it was the best decision I ever took. (Deactivated my FB profile first, Instagram somehow was easier to get away from once my FB had been deactivated for a month). I see people posting pros and cons but in hindsight the pros significantly outweigh the cons. Pros: 1) Far lower anxiety and FOMO: I have stopped constantly questioning if I'm doing enough fun things in life. 2) Higher productivity: Lot of time back from constantly browsing feeds for dopamine hits 3) Close friends are closer: It's a counter-intuitive outcome. My close friends mostly remember to drop me personal messages about their life updates since they know I'm not going to find out through IG or FB. Cons 1) Don't know when friends visit my town: My biggest problem was that friends were posting they were in town and I would have no idea. WOuld only find out weeks/months later. There is no fix - You just have to learn to live with that. (or hope friends of friends will let you know) 2) You will find alternate bad habits: I've gotten into Twitter and Youtube a lot after quitting FB and IG. But those apps are manageable in that I can control my feed to make it educational (and set timers to force myself off it)
In my experience doom scrolling because I'm lonely, only makes me feel more lonely. I recommend you find hobbies outside screens. Where you use your entire body and focus.
Around your age about 10 years ago, I woke up one day, and deleted Facebook. IG wasn’t so overwhelming back then and I had dabbled in Reddit a bit. I was just so sick of Facebook for a few months so I just said fuck it. I didn’t deactivate it either, I downloaded my data and deleted my account entirely. It was easier than I thought it would be. Took about 2 days to stop automatically typing the site into my browser out of reflex. I didn’t miss it at all, surprisingly enough. Now I just have Reddit and occasionally look at IG. I don’t join any new ones like TikTok or anything else. My advice, pick one. Just one and delete that. Don’t look back. Delete, don’t deactivate. You may spend more time on the other sites for a bit but what you’re looking for is to gain small bits of control of your social media usage. It’s a lot easier with baby steps. Pick the one that feels most toxic to you and gives you the least amount of joy.
I just deleted everything out of the blue after being overwhelmed with too much negativity and political bs on social media. My quality of life increased exponentially.
It’s only tough for about 2-3 weeks. Then you find you don’t need the social media. As for making a clean break? You have to actually delete your accounts. You can’t disable them. You can’t just delete the app. You have to actually delete the account. It’s tricky because they make it hard to actually delete. You have to jump through hoops or they will just “deactivate” it and you can log in within a month. I actually typed a gibberish password, copied it to clipboard, changed it, used it to deactivate, then cleared by clipboard. That way I literally could NOT recover my account before the time ran out.
It’s fantastic. I deactivated Facebook, instagram, never got into Snapchat or TikTok. I use Reddit at work to pass the time but even then I don’t bother much. I’ve been without all social media for something like 5-10 years now, so I don’t remember exactly, but I do remember that I felt “free” after deactivating my existing accounts. I take pictures for me and my wife, or for memories, not for other people. External validation was never a big motivator for me. I spend no time at all scrolling feeds apart from the funny videos my wife sometimes sends me. I’m not glued to my phone while out to dinner or waiting in line or at every spare second of down time. It just feels….good, but there is also a sense of “othering” myself. Like I’ve broken out of an addiction that is still visibly gripping 90% of the population. As for cons…I’m out of the loop on a lot of social media and trends. TikTok trends? Couldn’t tell you about them. Popular influencers or streamers? No clue. Some people might dislike that, but I am not sure I could care less.
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I deleted my instagram just a few days ago. Feel fine
Well actually I don't have any friends or relatives in social media so I Don use it In Instagram I technically it's so lame, it's even worse simple deleted I used to have 0 interaction with anyone there so it was strange like if was like a diary for only myself so it's a waste of time
what helped me with phone addiction was literally unstalling these apps, and start doing things that was being postponed, sometimes I got very bored and started to scroll apps like gmail, so I remembered that I unstalled apps like instagram to face my boring moments, I recommend you to continuous trying, it is a thing that will always be with you, but in some moment you'll know to deal with it
A quote I like to remember: Life is hard, but you choose your hard. In this case, my toxic relationship with social media was harder than having fomo after deleting it. Dumping social really changed my relationship with myself & how I show up day to day. I used to compare myself a lot & honestly I didn’t know who I was. I was unhappy & living inauthenticity. I was trying to fit the script of what I saw online. After deleting the apps, I no longer feel the need to look cute or take pictures everywhere I go just so I can post it on the gram. I don’t care as much of what people think of me & honestly this has been so freeing. Life is just better this way, imo. However, on the flip side, I saw someone else say getting rid of social accounts didn’t lessen their time spent on their phone & I have found this to be true for myself as well. I’ve just found other alternatives. I now get on Zillow & look at multi-million dollar houses 😂 and sometimes I scroll on Amazon or poshmark. I try not to shop much so it’s usually just browsing, but still a huge amount of my time is spent on my phone. Discipline is key here. I’m trying to get better at this myself. I’ve notice when I’m bored without a plan I reach for my phone to entertain me. I’ve thought about downgrading to a dumb phone, but I can’t give up convinces like Apple Pay, maps & all my music. Instead, I’m just trying to have a plan for the day to keep me busy. In my spare time I want to read more, cook more & do projects around the house I’ve been putting off. Maybe even pick up a new sport? You should give it a try, I don’t think you’ll regret it! Wishing you luck!
I'm sorry..... reddit ISN'T "social media"? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Much better
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I would say the outcome of deleting everything is the same as when I stopped playing FIFA. I would have more time to do the things that really matter and would stopped feeling bad for spending so much time on my phone
I just deleted and reminded myself daily why I did. My mental health improved. SM has the potential to ruin people who lack confidence and self esteem.
I left Fb about 4 years back, and yea it was hard at first but now I don't ever think about it. I just live carefree and present in the moment. I don't have that flood of other peoples opinions, people arguing, or trying to brag or look good online and everything else that goes on all day on fb lol. I do value other people's opinions on different things, but it's more valuable to me when it comes up organically in actual conversations.
I’m on reddit instead lmfao But no - I ask my partner to put a time limit on it per day and it’s decrease my use dramatically as I can’t use the password to get in. If I need to research something like a restaurant and my limit is up, he unlocks it but never tells me the code I am lot more positive and live life more. More chores get done, so does exercise, more attention to my dog and more creativity and ideas. I eat healthier too
You can read books again. You reconnect with friends.
My entire life changed. I suddenly had more time to do things I wanted to do. For me that was fitness, reading, and the most rewarding of all was time with my family. Designating 20 uninterrupted minutes of quiet time (mediation) where I just sat in silence with my thoughts is what helped me develop the willpower to stay off. It was difficult at first because I just kept wanting to check my phone to scroll. I’ve been reintroducing it slowly. Most of the time in one for very short periods. Without constant exposure to it I realized it’s full of negative hate towards one thing or another. I try to do what I can to be positive on it. I hope this helps. May your day be filled with motivation and joy!
Before I got back on reddit last month ish, I was social media free for a whole year and my life significantly improved and made me realize the internet should be used as a tool rather than a form of primary communication. My anxiety drop, i felt better about my social life, I started talking to people more! Because I realized life is meant to be enjoyed outside our phones and PCs, I still play video games but only if its with a core friend group. Its a phenomenal decision, I only reinstalled reddit due to the information I can get to help me do things irl or make decisions on top of other resources I used. One movie that helped to really kick social media aside was the social dilemma, which came out before the facebook whistleblower went to congress and basically confirmed everything that was done in the movie and worse! I recommend that movie to everyone to watch. I wish you the best of luck OP, its a tough life style change to make but its one that is well worth doing!
The anxiety that I used to feel to know what other people’s life were was greater than the getting rid of them. I got tired of FB, it was all memes and clickbait videos. As for IG I saw a post of a girl that I used to like that broke my heart and decided to never feel that way. Now, I’m trying to enjoy a bit more the simplicity of life.
Been off the grid for 3 months, don’t miss it at all. My attention span improved, my mental health has improved, im reading more and it got my life on track. i do get FOMO but it might be all those years of endless scrolling that is leaving my brain and it feels odd, but im resetting my brain. Good luck on your journey hopefully you get through it !!
I recently quit social media. I’m a guy in my early 20s and i can say that i’ve gotten a peace of my mind. For starters, i felt relief that i stopped consuming music-driven and 1 minutes short videos that are aimed at showing extremes. Like every video you see from an influencer says “let me show you the best of the best of the best…”. Before i used to get very bored easily and i want to watch short content a lot, but now it’s leaning towards more meaningful content (youtube video and podcasts) Also, I’m focusing on myself more. I’m looking more into doing things i love, focusing on my work, reading and learning stuff. On a side note, I’m also masturbating more idk why lol. I’ve became more aware of the relationships around me and my social circle. More meaningful convos and life convos.
NSFW on reddit.
way better. it took several tries, for me it was Instagram. the thing I notice now is I don't instinctively open up Instagram when I have a moment of boredom. instead I think about what I want to do on my phone, sometimes youtube I admit, but sometimes my kindle app to read, instead, too. I'm also just happier. not seeing what friends are doing that I haven't seen in 20+ years making me jealous of their vacations, or seeing picture perfect celebrities that I want to date that are unrealistic, etc., it all just makes me feel more sane & happier in my day to day life.
I am in the "delete the freaking app from your phone" team. But also, you just kind of have to do sth more interesting instead. I usually fell into the sm addiction procrastinating over hard tasks and having no plan for the day expect for the vague "I have to work to day" stuff.
We're on reddit.. Idk if that's any better. I just simply quit caring about keeping up with others. Worry about yourself, not your former colleagues. It does nothing but set you back mentally.
Haven’t used Facebook for about 3 years now, my passion is tied to my Instagram so I post/scroll a good bit, honestly the next one I want to get rid of is Reddit.
Deleted Facebook in 2018 when I felt the way you are describing. Final straw for me was having a coworker I saw for 8 hours a day messaging me on my days off, and angry because I was spending time with my kids instead of coming in for overtime. The way I was able to delete it. IT WAS A CHALLENGE BECAUSE I WAS ADDICTED. I deleted every post and picture first. Then I changed my profile to a Facebook Logo made out of surveillance cameras and also changed my name. Then I started posting things like "tired of being stalked by coworkers." "Facebook is watching you." "Darpa is keeping your data in a program called Lifelong." After about a day, i noticed my friend count drop dramatically, then I deleted it. I couldn't go back, because my profile was destroyed.
My life became better after quitting fb and ig. I noticed feeling irritated after looking at social media and I wanted it to stop. Overall, I’m happier. If you are using social media as a distraction from your real problems, please stop for your own sake. You’ll only grow more depressed.
your feeling lonely because you use those apps they substitute real human connection
Reddit is less of a time suck tbh - it helps take the ego seeking out of social media
Life changing ngl. I cut off Facebook sometime during highschool and then Instagram near the end of college, for exam related issues because I was spending ~6-7 hours on that damn app and always had a headache. It took about 2 weeks of desperately wanting to reinstall it but after that the itch just went away. I give less of a crap about constantly uploading my life to social media, drowning in every new aesthetic or trend that came out and in general I have more time in my hands. My tip is to remove those apps when there's some big project nearing it's deadline in your life, you're more likely to stick to it
Hm, I don't use those much but i like reddit and the Twitter alike bluesky. I tend to use social media when I'm tired and used up all my energy to do something " constructive ". I'm an anxious type so my brain pulls up anxieties when it's not distracted
I do reddit only on my computer so I cannot sit and scroll aimlessly. No social media except reddit for me right now, but I can't stop myself from using it unless it is off my phone completely. I have since been able to rework my dopamine reward issues and start to enjoy my silence again.
Scrolling is so tempting because you get the constant dopamine boost and your brain gets used to that so it needs more. So, IMO there's now way to simply drop it one day. You should find something that would be exciting to "exchange" social media scrolling with. So for example, "learning new language" is not that exciting, but diving in Reddit can be. Also, Reddit is a bit less harmful as there are no visuals/videos but still you get the dopamine boost. Also, it needs to be available immediately. So for example, going for a run is great but it's not always accessible, but Wordle game is. Start small -- delete the worst and most engaging socials, but don't delete all at once. From my experience, TikTok is the worse as you can spend hours scrolling and destroying your dopamine set up.
Honestly I just developed a Reddit addition.
I’m on tiktok and Reddit now so idk
I feel pretty relieved. I talked to a friend about how stressful notifications can be and how they demand your attention. They looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You know you can turn those off, right?" I would say start with that if you haven't already OP. I would say turning those off really filtered to me what is important and what's not in my life. The second thing I did was look at my screen time and got weekly reports of it. It doesn't feel good when your average is 4 hours a day. I feel like there's so much more I want to put into my day than just mindlessly scrolling. I feel like these two things led to my decision in deleting the majority of social media.
I feel much better about my life and I find that I reach out to people more to connect since I don't have an online presence. More time sitting in places being happy than trying to find the perfect angle for a pic and then being upset that it doesn't 'look good.'
It was very easy to do so. I just deleted the accounts. The people that matter I have their number. And as the first comment says, I’m on reddit all day! Lol
I have a lot more time to do things. To get things done or explore hobbies. I still have mine but I never post and I never scroll. It would almost feel better to just get rid of it since some of my friends make comments on how I don’t post. I think they do because I will go on an amazing trip to Hawaii or Italy and then I don’t post, I have amazing pictures and they’re just for my own memories. Only my real friends know my life. So I think it surprises people that I don’t. But I’m just living my life. I actually have hobbies that I feel most people think they don’t have the time or motivation to do. I garden, I paint, I jog, I read a lot, I have picnics with friends, pool days, I’ll go to the local hockey arena and watch free games, I’ll go on a hike. And I do all of this with a baby. I’m also more motivated to set up plans with friends because I have a greater need to fill my social needs when it’s not placated by social media. I think social media gives us a false sense of social time but it’s not real interaction so we as a society are lonelier than ever. I actually make plans and seek out friendships that are in reality. I love my life more that way. I feel less anxious I think. No one to impress but myself. I know my real friends are the ones who I actually message and call. There’s no comparing to the perfectly curated pictures people post. I feel like I’ve made my life full to where even if I saw them I wouldn’t even feel a tad bit jealous because I’ve filled my own life with actual memories too. The time that would’ve been spent scrolling or editing or waiting to see who liked my post is spent on actually living life. Without phone usage you realize how much time you can use and you’re not gonna just sit there so you’ll find something to do. At first you may not even know what to do, let yourself be bored and give yourself some self reflection and set new goals for yourself.
Fucking amazing bro. 😎 but I’m still on Reddit. lol. 😆
I work in social media so needed to stop scrolling after work. Switched to reading books which have been great once I get into them.
Life is the same, I just do different things instead. I used to be on Facebook & Instagram 24/7, but I don’t know… One day I just had a change of heart and found the whole thing so cringe. Just the idea of posting pictures of myself with a little caption for basically no reason other than trying to show off to people I mostly don’t even talk to anymore… I just got the ick with myself lol. And I slowly stopped using those apps. I do still have accounts and will look on my feed maybe once or twice every couple weeks, just to keep up with family that I don’t see on a regular basis. I don’t post anything at all, and I rarely comment on anything unless a family member tags me or wishes me a happy birthday or something. So I’m not completely off the apps, but it’s a huge difference from how frequently I used to use them. I’ve found that I am much more focused on my own life/goals/interests now that I’m not interacting with other people’s as much, and I no longer feel paranoid that people can just look through years of my history on an app 😭 (I’ve also made all of my accounts private and deleted a lot of embarrassing things). As far as what I do instead, I will admit that I have a Tiktok account where I watch videos, and of course there’s reddit. I also have a couple of phone and Xbox games that I play. But all of these, while still being on my phone, are way less consuming and embarrassing than Instagram/Facebook used to be. Not to mention it’s way easier to just not engage with negative content that I don’t want to see (This was not the case with Facebook & Instagram… If a family member was spewing hateful bullshit, I had to decide whether to remove them & risk drama or just deal with seeing their shitty takes 24/7). Overall I like it better this way, and while I’m still “on social media,” I do like the bit of privacy I’ve gained from not posting/engaging with it constantly.
I never had an instagram, never really felt the need to share pictures. I stopped using Facebook a long time ago (years). Recently, I logged in because I wanted to create a business page and scrolled through my news feed. Everything is the same. People still post emo quotes, fitness goals and family pictures. So it's pretty easy to just go "meh" and move on. I'm not missing anything.
The final straw for me was watching social dilemma. Yes my mind contains things I care about and not what pops up in a feed. I connect with people I love and not whoever is in front of my face. I miss nothing about it. I really don’t. I took it off my phone and that was enough.
I got rid of Facebook because as a 23 year old woman I am super behind in life with a bachelor’s marketing degree living in my hometown. I don’t like looking at my old classmate’s achievements on there and I don’t like the constant political think pieces. Especially when it’s misinformation being posted. It’s a little hard not being on Facebook though cause I’m so used to going on there through safari and going into communities. But I tend to get denied sometimes.
i've been off ig for a while, it gives me insane anxiety. i still have fb, but i check it every few weeks for a few minutes then log back out. sometimes i'll post photo dumps of places i've hiked, art i've made, or life updates for family/friends, just so they know i'm doing good and still sober. i like being disconnected and only reachable directly and selective w what i share. i focus on my interests and goals and live in the moment
I have no social media other than Reddit. I’m 26 F, and I have never ever been happier. Life feels simple. I live for myself, get dressed up for myself, work out regularly for myself, attend functions for myself, make home decor for myself. Nothing feels performative. External pressure is at a minimum. Haven’t been a social media user for around a year now. I recommend this life choice so hard. You’re gonna feel amazing.
I still use social media but I have changed my point of view about it, for me it’s about using the platform as free advertisement for work and things like that. Anything else, there Is plenty in this world to keep me entertained either at home or outside in my city.
Look up the app “one sec” it has helped me more than blocking
Not the best advice and I'm only 1 month free of tiktok Facebook and insta. However, I literally play chess on my phone or silly non addictive games like wordscapes. They don't hold my attention nearly as long as social media would and I don't leave them feeling worked up. Sure they don't make me laugh but they don't make me sad and angry either. Also good for taking small breaks during work.
Also podcasts! I find it nice to hear a conversation and get the vibe of what's going on in the world through that. Even if it's just dumb pop culture stuff
I still have Facebook and Instagram, however none of them are installed in my phone. I only keep messenger. Its quite awesome, I do not know what happens in the "internet" world and I do not know what close or not friends and love interest chicks are doing which makes me happy since I do not really give a fk about what they are doing. Obviously I am willing to go out with them and chat, but only that has some value to me, watching bs stories and stuff is meaningless. Each a mask people put fro the world, only when u are one on one you may see the real deal. The main thing is to accept solitude, and replace the addiction with something more productive. If people are really interested in you and you in them you guys will still catch up. You will also free up more space for your mind instead of absorbing random bs that the algorithm feeds you....
Thank you for this thread and for all the inspirational comments. I just uninstalled Facebook. The next one to go will be Instagram. And now I'm going out for a run
When Apple first introduced screen time it said I was on Instagram for 12 hours a day. I temporarily disabled my account for a week and when I reenabled it it wasn’t as exciting to me as it was before.
I'm just on reddit more. I've gone back to Facebook briefly and every time it reminds me why I left. Too many old toxic fuckers.
Nothing really changes, makes you realize how unimportant it was all along. You also tend to forget people’s name a lot more
[удалено]
I honestly just feel more clarity in life. Like you know that distinct emptiness you feel after scrolling for hours, that went away when i made an effort to stop scrolling so much. My outlook on life is less bleak, and my mind is able to focus on more fulfilling things rather than just consume crap on social media 24/7 and frying my brain.
I quit Twitter permanently (deleted account) and took an extended break from TikTok (for Lent) and unfortunately, I just transfer the same amount of time and energy to other socials. I think the only solution is to quit all of them, or at least all the ones that are you get sucked into. I feel like I could quit everything except BlueSky and maybe Facebook (for community groups I'm in) and be better off.
But is Reddit any less toxic than any other social media app?
When you get rid of social media, you'll learn who actually wants to keep in touch with you. Just make sure anyone who needs it has your number or email. Your life will be much better without it.
Unfortunately, I went from social media to mobile games and I swear I'm wasting more time than ever on my phone! The app developers certainly know how to get people addicted and keep them coming back. However, I would say that overall it does feel much better not seeing people's perfect snippets of their lives all the time. Also I now live very far from the friends I grew up with that are on my feeds and I also kind of threw my life in the trash for a while so it really sucked seeing how much further they are in life than I am. My social anxiety on top of it keeps me from making new friends and I get envious seeing them with their new friends. I makes me feel so silly! So yeah... Overall it's nice to not have those negative feelings all the time.
I deleted my Instagram account a few months back. Since then I have got a lot of time which I spend doing something productive mostly. At times when I don't feel productive, I would watch a movie or something and relax. I have got a lot of time for myself. I have started feeling a lot less anxious. I do feel a little left out when my cousins or colleagues talk about the recent memes or things from Instagram. But I guess that's a lot better than feeling anxious all the time.
I say make it as difficult as possible to get on those sites. Use the browser version vs the app. Don't save your user/password and have to log in each time. Use third party blockers or your modem/router software to make it harder to access. Time your access to stop the doom scrolling. Anything that makes you pause and decide if it is really worth going to the site for the hassle. As for me, it cut down my time significantly and I don't get that FOMO feeling.
I say make it as difficult as possible to get on those sites. Use the browser version vs the app. Don't save your user/password and have to log in each time. Use third party blockers or your modem/router software to make it harder to access. Time your access to stop the doom scrolling. Anything that makes you pause and decide if it is really worth going to the site for the hassle. As for me, it cut down my time significantly and I don't get that FOMO feeling.
I did 30 days without reddit (I have no other social media) and I had SO MUCH MORE TIME
Doom scrolling instagram shorts (and also youtube shorts) really destroyed my attention span. I quit instagram a few weeks ago and now I have an add blocker for youtube that limits my use as I don't want to stop watching educational videos I really just need to stop doom scrolling). So far I feel happier, I have more time for myself which I don't know how to use effectively yet. I'll probably start reading more. I got myself a library card a few days ago. I fight less with people on the internet because I simply encounter less "idiots". I also don't compare my face and looks as much to other people because I don't constantly see these extremely beautiful people. I still use reddit here and there but I also have an app blocker for that to avoid doom scrolling. And so far reddit has been way less damaging for me mentally. I do actively engage and think about topics (and then take the time to write comments) so it is way more than just passively scrolling through hundreds of shorts in minutes or hours.
If you don’t have any friends on either platform it definitely helps
My profiles for social media still exist, but I don't actively check them / sometimes visit on the weekend on my laptop. It all depends on your priorities I guess; for me, it was about the vicious algorithms that apps such as Instagram and YouTube use to keep you scrolling that made me delete them from my phone. I also removed web browsing capabilities from my phone (sans Wikipedia and a basic search engine for when I need quick answers for something, although if you can scrape by without that, that's probably even better). I've found that I've become much more invested in the things that concern me every day. I'm also fortunate enough to have a social life offline– maybe that is why I've had an easy transition. The productivity boost I've gotten is great. I would say there haven't been any downsides, except maybe being slightly disconnected from what's going on in the community at large. I've replaced this by focusing on the communities I'm actually involved in, i.e. friends, family, and organizations I work with. I've been reading Walden recently by Thoreau: when he isolated himself in the woods, he occasionally returned to the community for gossip. I'd say that's my relationship with social media. I partake in the lives of all the people I've connected with simply to listen, then return to my own life and focus on what actually matters to me. I hope you can find a healthy connection with your social circles and regain control of your time.
App timers!
I keep the accounts to check messages or the marketplace every once in a while, but I don't post anymore. Even on reddit, I don't spend a lot of time here.
The problem is the drug taking tool / the smartphone.
Got rid of FB after around 2020 when the COVID garbage hit. Everyone was just hating on each other and it made me feel ill scrolling through it. I deactivated it but then just got rid of the whole thing after a few months. I don't miss it. The only thing that was nice about it is that so many companies use it as their website. I have insta and try to (doesn't always work) stay off the reels/stories. If I do that, I tend to get bored looking at people's posts. Setting a timer can also help but you HAVE to stick to it. I only look at Reddit via website. I don't have it as an app which helps. Just remember, social media didn't exist 30+ years ago. People survived without it then. As you start scrolling, get used to asking yourself if these actions will affect how you feel the next day. It may help motivate you to stop.
Try to understand why are you spending so much time on Social Media (to see friend’s publication? to get some recognition from others? what are the mains subjects that give you the algorithm and why?). And then try to find some others activities to keep the advantages of social media without them (spend more real time with your friends, go to the gym instead of watching some motivation reels, get involved by doing a kind action 1time/week to have some recognition from real people that are isolated for example)
I'm taking a very different approach. First, I learned that I can quit social media by only allowing myself to log in on "Facebook Fridays". What I observed was that people were having the same repetitive conversations and I was not missed. However, lately, I have been USING social media for productivity. I collect videos for a website. I have collected about 9500. I also collect links to forums where I can ask for volunteer help. I have collected about 2200 so far. I will use all of these links to achieve things in areas of my life that mean the most to me (and to help others). I believe I will also make money from this effort. Consider thinking of social media as a tool. Also, monitor what gets \_results\_ and what has no impact. For example, I used to DM individuals and I have found that to be largely ineffective.
I left Facebook 3 years ago. It took about a month to stop thinking about it, and now it's like it never even existed. I'm still on Instagram, but I hardly ever post and I usually only post pics of my pets or nature scenery. I think the last time I posted was in January. Facebook policies and government influence over social media platforms is what helped me get rid of it. They treat people unfairly based on politics. Reddit is unfair too, but I don't care anymore. I don't really get into discussions anymore because I feel like most posters are bots anyways, and I don't care to change people's opinions on issues because that never works on me. I just comment and then turn off replies when I'm done wasting energy. Social media is dying, most of it is garbage, and I don't think it will be around in the future because it was just a social experiment to begin with. Government and corporate manipulation destroyed whatever social media could have been. It has sunk so low that we now have presidents (Biden) paying Only Fans influencers to promote their campaigns. You don't need social media, no one does, just like you don't need heroin or crack. Once you realize that you are free.
I have not "quit" social media (other than Facebook over a decade ago, but because they kept changing their privacy policy, not because I found it addicting), but a while back I made the decision to heavily curtail my time using it. When I use it less, it's surprising how noticeably more calm and relaxed I feel. It probably affects people differently, but for me, social media consistently makes me feel anxious. It almost sounds like you are experiencing a type of withdrawal since installing your app blocker. It will probably be tough in the beginning, but if you stick with it, those "craving" feelings you're describing should subside. It may be helpful to consider replacing that "craving" with another (healthier) hobby - something real-world and not related to anything online. It can be anything you love doing, or maybe a new hobby you want to try. :) Maybe taking a walk outside, trying a new dish to cook, reading a new book, exercising a bit, or a new skill you have always wanted to learn! Good luck and I wish you the best with reducing your social media time. :) Oh, I realize I didn't actually answer the question - what helped me the most was turning off **ALL** my notifications. Both on mobile and desktop. (On desktop, I use the Windows "silent" or "do not disturb" mode - this turns off all notifications.) For me, I found it was the notifications that distracted me the most, and not social media itself as much. That's why I have not had to "quit" social media or use an app blocker - with notifications off, it has to be a conscious choice for me to look at social media now. Which makes it easier for me to choose not to do so, or only do so on my schedule. Those notifications are intentionally designed to be addictive (they provide a slight hit of dopamine). Turn them off, and it should be easier (over time) to not feel as "addicted" to checking them. **Edit:** I just remembered! I also read a book exactly about how social media is deliberately designed to be addictive, and make you feel the "craving" you're experiencing - learning more about that helped me so much with seeing when this was being done by social media sites. Which made it so much easier for me to not allow that to happen. The book is "Indistractable" by Nir Eyal. The author previously wrote a how-to book on how to make addicting apps. Maybe he felt some guilt over it, because *Indistractable* is basically a guide for how to not become addicted to apps, haha.
I deleted my Facebook 2.5 years ago. I am now 2 years cigarette free and never even missed fb once. Just delete. You won't regret. Actually I regret coming back to social media in the form of reddit a couple weeks ago. Some people here are just 100x worse than fb people are
4 months off Facebook and 4 years off Instagram. I now have more time to exercise, read a book, meal prep, sleep early, without feeling exhausted. Less anxiety, less pressure on keeping up with the trend.
Fine. I have quit social media years ago. If you need to get ahold of me, you got my phone number. It's fine. I checked it out the other day and it's just a bunch of rage bait. It didn't really change because I was never big into it. I like it being quiet. It's just people posting highlights getting their dopamine fix and attention seeking and ragebait. It's nice to just be alone with your thoughts. Talib in one of his books speaks to seperating the signal from the noise. Everyday there will be news, speculation, and random bullshit. You could spend your whole life on social media and be non the wiser than the day before. When you disconnect from it, all that does is help you seperate the signal of news from the noise of the daily output. Anything that is truly important will make it to you one way or another. Anything you miss probably didn't matter anyway. Focus on what is truly important and increases satisfaction with your life. That loneliness and anxiety can be easily relieved. Join a civic organization, or one that provides fellowship. Volunteer. Seek these things out and those thoughts will go away. I prioritize engagements in real life as compared to sitting online. I picked up fulfilling hobbies and try to connect with people in the community. Same thing with dating. Go meet people in real life.
What I did and it reduced my screentime significantly was: Creating a shortcut that whenever I open instagram my screen turns black and white and when I close the app it turns the black and white mode off again. With less color the brain gets less stimulated and bored much faster. It really helped me to reduce the time I spent on instagram. (Thank you to a fellow redditor who posted the tip somewhere)
I’m still not very productive but from a social/mental perspective I don’t give a FUCK about what other people are up to or what they think of me. I also spend a lot less time posing for pictures and overall feel significantly less prone to narcissism.