Social media is both a blessing and a curse – it can help us feel more connected to others, especially if they live far away, or you know, there’s a pandemic that forces us all to stay in our homes for months on end, but it can also be a time suck, cause anxiety, and lead us to realize that maybe it’s better to not know your friends and family all that well in the first place.
These 13 people decided the bad outweighed the good and pulled the plug – but what happened next?
Well, you’re about to find out!
13. They don’t feel the need to show off.
Well, I am actually very happy that I left both Instagram and Facebook long ago. Although I still use Twitter as it provides latest info and some key instincts on various topics. Instagram and Facebook are kind of a show off place, and it makes you want unnecessary things just for the sake of likes and followers.
So I would not recommend using both the sites as it affects your mental health so f*cking bad that you’ll end up feeling left out or depressed. Although Twitter also has lots of negativity but if you are able to keep yourself away from the political debates then Twitter is very informative.
12. Like most things, it’s only hard at first.
It was hard at first, but now I honestly don’t even miss it. The constant urge to check for notifications has faded away too.
11. They only answer to themselves.
I no longer seek validation from anybody and it’s very liberating !
10. If it’s just not for you.
My partner is very, very into social media. She’s on Instagram… a lot. I don’t have any problem with it, but she said it was very important to her and wanted me to be involved so I gave it a solid effort.
Long story short, I hated how fake it was and the personalities we try to cultivate online. She’s still active online, and I’m not. I’ve been very happy since deleting it.
I’ll probably give it another shot somewhere down the line but it’ll be about things I love doing and not about trying to make my life out to be something it’s not.
9. They can read more books (I like the sound of that).
Only had FB. Deleted (well deactivated) it about 3 weeks ago now.
Honestly I feel better. I’m not a compulsive person. I’m not someone who pays much attention to adverts, fads, fashion trends or the like, but it’s alarming just how much FB can get under your skin.
You post a comment and check it for likes because even if only a little, you want it to be well received by you peers, just like you would in a conversation. Same for comments on others posts. If your phone pings, you feel compelled to answer it as soon as you can to keep up with the conversation.
All this and you have to mind how you might be interpreted. I’m not an argumentative guy. I can be flippant and have a very dry sense of humour and I always seem to put my foot in it and cause people to get the wrong vibe from what I’m saying. It got to the stage that I was so concerned with what I was saying that I would review it so much that I likely made it even worse.
Things came to a head and it was a ‘last straw’ moment when me commenting about a passion of mine was taken as me being selfish and shitty (even though I’d said I wasn’t trying to be shitty). I was just tired of it.
It was odd at first not checking it, but I realised just how much time I wasted on there and how I really didn’t miss it. I mean FB is mostly just shared internet links now, rather than mostly original comments by mates (As it used to be).
I feel happier and a little more mentally free. I also like that when I do chat to a friend I can we can catch up on what we’ve been up to, rather than sort of know what we’ve been up to by looking at FB.
I recommend it to everyone.
I would add that to make it EVEN BETTER, you need to realise just what a waste of time it is. When you leave you need to repurpose that time and not just shift the way you are wasting it. Have a list of 10-15 min jobs you want to get done and if you find yourself thinking of going on FB, do one of those jobs. Or just pick up one of those many books you bought but never read because ‘you don’t have time’.
8. Maybe that’s reason enough to do it.
Honestly one of the best decisions I made. People even tend to be shocked I (20F) don’t have social media.
7. No big changes.
The only changes is that I don’t have notifications like in 30 seconds and I say no when people ask me for that.
6. They just forget it’s a thing.
It’s extremely liberating (especially at first) and now I just honestly forget that social media exists until somebody tells me they saw something on Facebook.
The main benefit of not having socials is you no longer have that “fear of missing out” and don’t spend unnecessary time lurking profiles of people you barely know and don’t care at all about. In hindsight, that’s the biggest drawback/time waster of social media; it’s one thing to follow friends and people you care about, or even celebrities/influencers who motivate and inspire you.
But all those “hundreds” of friends you accumulate over the years who you met once and maybe have a couple of friends in common are just useless noise.
If you’ve had Facebook for awhile and are thinking of deleting it, I highly recommend spending some time going through old photos and downloading/saving the ones you like. I did that and am so glad I did!
5. No more distractions.
They were all just distractions at best. I don’t miss any of them.
I simply found more productive things to pass the time.
Hell, I often consider getting off of reddit too, but I can at least learn things from here and occasionally have interesting conversations or help others.
4. Just never got into it to begin with.
I personally never signed up for anything of it except this.
I think I had a Twitter to signed up for a This Old House raffle or something like 5 years ago.
Never went back to it.
Seems people get to wound up into that stuff.
3. Ummmm. No comment?
I stopped lusting over hot girls.
No I don’t miss it.
2. Because it will make you miserable.
I don’t miss it. In fact, I feel like a haze has been lifted from my eyes. I spend more time outside and doing things with my kids. I read more. Watch more things that I enjoy. I’ve picked up a couple more hobbies.
I’m also less stressed and less depressed. Whether you think you do or not, you compare your life against those around you, and when you’re constantly assaulted by shit on social media…. well, it will make you miserable.
1. They can focus more on life as it happens.
I deleted all my social media besides reddit. I was originally spending waayyy too much time on my phone and wanted to bring it down and actually experience life around me. I deleted Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
I’m a huge advocate now for deleting social media and I honestly didn’t realize how much it consumed my life. Instagram was especially bad for me. I used to follow people who just looked so gorgeous in their photos and get hundreds of likes, but when I posted (which was like once a year b/c I didn’t get many likes) I’d get like 50. Always seeing these people with the beautiful smiles and perfect hair and bodies, living what appear to be living lavish and incredible lives made me hate mine. I deleted Instagram and never once looked back. I’m no longer concerned with getting likes or seeing other people’s fake perfect lives. I support the demise of Instagram 110%.
Facebook and Twitter I didn’t have much of an issue with in terms of comparing my life with others, it was just a black hole that sucked up all my time.
I feel like I live in the moment now. I don’t take pictures for other people to see and like, but I take them for me to look back on and reminisce about the times I had for myself, and no one else. Not shoving my life down everyone’s throat is humbling, and not having everyone’s life thrown down mine is even better. I also feel like I am actually in the moment that I’m in and not sucked in my phone. For example, the other day, my boyfriend and I went wine tasting. While at this one winery, we saw this group of girls all sitting around a table, and every single one was just staring at their phone. Eventually the other 3 did put theirs down, but there was one girl who DID NOT PUT HER PHONE DOWN for the entire time we were there (over an hour). Literally. Meanwhile, both of our phones weren’t even in sight. Why get all dressed up, make the drive to a winery, be sitting in a beautiful and peaceful spot on an absolutely lovely day with your friends, and not get off your phone the whole time? You might as well stay home in your back yard and scroll.
Overall, my mental health has gotten better because I’m not constantly comparing myself to others. And, I actually experience the moment I’m in and not on my phone. Old people may be annoying and out of touch, but they really are right with the younger generations being engrossed by their phones. It’s amazing how much you realize this when you’re no longer doing it.
I’m not at all surprised and I wish I could find a way to cut back myself.
If you’ve ever cut it out, even for a while, what was your experience?
Tell us about it in the comments!
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