I deactivated my Facebook for a while to see how my life would change anyone try this

I have been off Facebook for 5 months. Best decision I ever made. Once I realized that 95% of the stuff I see posted there is all crap, I finally gave it up. I wasted too much of my time and energy scrolling through all the nonsense.

i havent used social media since 2010 so generally dont know what im missing but a few observations i have are:

i miss tons of events. people used to email or mass text parties, gatherings, art shows, etc but that stopped a long time ago, and i end up having no idea things are happening. it is honestly the most frustrating part.

everyone seems to assume that if they or someone else posted something, that then everyone knows. ive noticed a lot less comes up in casual conversation. you have to pry a bit and then the person will say- oh, you didnt know they had a baby?

not having social media is the "I dont even OWN a TV" of the 2020's

you think you're smug and superior but actually you are less informed than others on daily events.

Or we can just watch the news and get the quick highlights? How much do you actually need to know? I’m fine not observing my aunt getting into conspiracy theories on Tuesday at 3pm.

Well my fb was hacked and it is really disappointing that there is no Meta support team, Many accounts are compromised daily and Zuckerberg doesn't care at all, but luckily i was able to get in touch with one of their meta ic3 staff working directly with the Meta recovery department @Rothstein_code on Instagram/ fb and also on Gmail at (rothsteincode@ gmail.com ) and he was able to fix my account. all thanks to him regardless
meta needs to do more about their security service.

Did similar a few years ago. Facebook first, then Twitter and YouTube. Liberating tbh. Apps for those social media platforms deliberately addictive.

Little aside: worried that default YouTube page pushes very right wing views as a default mode. Wouldn't identify with Trump, never got related anti immigrant content on my YouTube page when I was logged in. Yet get flood of videos on this theme any time I check YouTube for race highlight videos for example. It's like Pro Trumper, right wing movement sponsoring pushing of their videos on the platform.

Yup, I have an account but haven't opened it in 5 yrs, 6 yrs? Gotta look closely at links so you don't get on the Facebook by mistake

Very true

Say whaaaaaattttt???

Took a few days off and it's great. I think the key is avoiding the news feed so you don't get sucked into the comparison trap. Use it just as a way to contact people, a utility, and you'll be fine.

deleted almost all the social media in my life back in 2016 and haven't looked back. Best thing I could have done.

The dopamine thing is real, as is being controlled by the algorithm. I knew that for a long time I was seeing less and less old friends and more and more focussed right-wing nazi garbage and "you're life isn't as good as this persons!" posts.

And I realized, no, this has no value in my life. It is actively harming it in fact, so left. I don't need to "update" anyone with what I'm doing. I don't need to curate my life for anyone. I don't need to constantly take pictures at just the right angle so that people can see I had a really tiramisu for dessert last night. There is no value in this.

Exactly. I’m occasionally on Insta to look at cat pix and then LinkedIn when I’m looking for a job. LI has basically become FB, BTW, what a dumpster fire. Congrats on being promoted to senior assistant manager — no one cares and you don’t have to thank your peers for assisting you on your journey to mediocrity.

Someone on our staff recently got in trouble for the stuff they got posted on their public FB page. In 2024.

I stay off of LI unless I need to search for a job. It's a circlejerk otherwise.

LinkedIn sucks. I'm ready to delete it. And you are right, it's become a humble brag Facebook with a business flair. Gross. If anything, it shows me which one of my former co-workers I'd never recommend for another position.

I know a guy who on there who gets new professional headshots done every year - each one more corny than the next. Why? You look exactly the same as you did 3-4 years ago.

6 years ago. It was a great call. My mind feels calmer.

I stopped using FB about 2 years ago. I used to post regularly about activities going on in my life. I got tired of the sick feeling of wanting to check for likes, and found that reading about the “fabulous” lives of some acquaintances was also not good for my mental health. Better not to be constantly comparing oneself with others!

I am still forced to use FB from time to time, because there are many small businesses without real websites and FB is the only way to get info about them.

I do still look at Instagram a little but mostly for the diversion of seeing funny videos. I rarely post anything myself.

When I stopped, I found it interesting that out of my hundreds of “friends,” only 2 of them actually tried to check in with me to see if something was wrong.

One somewhat annoying thing is I have to tell people I haven’t seen in awhile that since I am not using FB, they can’t assume I know what is going on in their lives. So they have to catch me up.

Recently I have considered “returning” to FB, but after this much time it feels a little weird. Maybe if I do, I will start by unfriending all the people whose posts seem to trigger me. They won’t notice, and it will be better for me.

I noticed during slow times at work I would just scroll mindlessly. I noticed many days I just had this pervasive negative feeling at the end of the day. I'll admit I'm younger and probably more hooked on social media than some, but I made a rule of no social media at all on weekends. That turned into only allowing myself to look at it a couple times of week. Now I haven't been on there at all for weeks. I realized I'm missing nothing except for political vitriol and all the weird things people are into these days. Life's better without it.

The comparison thing is real, esp. for runners. I see it on the various local run clubs' pages and it makes me realize I am very slow. I don't need that. So I took a break and that helped.

I'm sure I'm more informed by most who are on facebook. I scan/read websites including AP, Reuters, my local newspaper, several websites for my state news, NPR, daily read a dozen+ car news articles, running news, tech news, have curated newsfeed on a Yahoo start page, etc. Never had a facebook account.

I never saw why I should sign up for facebook. They started out only open for universities, so I saw it as a college thing at first. When they opened membership to anyone, my reaction was to stay away.

The only thing attractive is marketplace, but only because they have taken up so much of the traffic from craigslist. As a nonmember, I can see listings but I assume I can't contact sellers. But not being able to buy old bikes, cars, etc. from them hasn't really hurt me in any way.