[Closed] Has anyone given up on using social media?

STW is social media, TBF.

Just tweak your FB settings to eliminate the nonsense? Mine is mostly hobby groups, plus a few friends who don’t post shite I.e just what they’re up to or photos, the odd funny meme etc. Anything you don’t like can be blocked so you don’t see it again. 99% nonsense free.

Deleted Instagram. Liked putting up photos, but got sucked into the search/suggested feed too much.

Only use FB on the laptop, not my phone.
Use three browser extensions: FB Purity and Adblock essentially get rid of all ads suggested posts etc.

However, found another one called Unfollow Everything which manually goes through all friends and pages you liked and unfollows them.
End result is no news feed.

You can post, be tagged, receive notifications, interact with groups, respond to event invites, use marketplace but there is no news feed. Absolutely brilliant.

Never had a twitter account.

Only other social media is here and barebones backpacking forum

Yep. About 3 years ago now.
I only use Facebook now for my running club because that’s where training sessions and runs are posted.
I Deleted all friends off it. Just Cant bear the shite on there.
Got rid of Twitter and Instagram at the same time.
Not missed it for a second.

Been Facebook free since 2008.

Not stopped using it as such
But do find myself blocking more folks or no longer following groups..
Though I’ve never been a big poster I’m always careful not to post anything that could possibly be seen as controversial ( fingers crossed 🤞 )

Only use this place and never had a Twitter or Instagram account. Had Facebook for a few months due to the gym I frequent using it. Got rid a couple of years back as only used it for that one purpose. None of them hold any appeal for me personally

Despite knowing it is 100% dross I find myself sucked into flicking through the tiktok esque shorts features on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube as well. This has resulted in me disabling/snoozing my Facebook, deleting the Instagram app off my phone and now only left with YouTube and lurking here.

Spend far too much time on my phone, trying to read more books instead.

No.
But I do make sure I am very careful in curating my feeds.
Facebook I use to organise parkrun, following the running club and keep up with a few people. The mute button is used heavily, as is the block button.
Twitter is similar, I follow a few interesting people and mute a good few words and phrases. I also block and hide people.
Insta is my weakness but I’m working on it…
Social media can be a good place, you just have to be strict in who and what you follow and interact with.

I've never used Facebook. The only social media I use is Instagram, but that's just pictures of my friends and other people riding bikes.

I cleared out my FB "friends" a year or two back, which helped, only about 20 real friends on there plus cycle groups I'm involved with. That helped.

I use FB for the messenger bit plus my riding and running club groups and a couple of other groups about bike racing.
I use this forum and strava, although I only have about 20 friends on strava.
I think if you are selective about what you do with it it's fine

Facebook I use it a lot less as I know what babies a burger a pint and dogs and cats look like.
Twitter tried it just didn't really get the point so quickly binned it.
Youtube use it loads but generally the algorithm works well for me.
Instagram use it loads, I have sponsorship deals so it's par for the course.

I've deleted instabanging.

I only use twotter for work.

I'm close to closing faceache.

My FB feed is only for keeping up with friends and a news aggregator. However I still keep flicking through it looking for something to entertain me. I think this is because I really need something to entertain me lately, what with permanent home working.

As above, on a PC using FBP or Social Fixer, along with uBlock Origin and only adding people you know and like to your 'friends list', makes Facebook quite a useful tool. I have created accounts on other platforms like Insta, Twitter etc. but I rarely visit them.

Nothing by Zuckerberg bothers my life nowadays and the only thing from Twitter that I use is Slack for the family. It's a poisonous cess-pit and getting worse as the algorithms are tweaked to promote conflict to drive the clicks.
I have to monitor Facebook and Twitter for work but that's it.

Yes

I'm hoping to wean myself off Facebook in the new year.
It's turned into a cesspit of bullshit and adverts, and constant bickering between so called friends over anything and everything.
Will keep it live but probably take it off my phone and just use messenger.

Yep, years ago, came to the conclusion that it was making me feel bad about myself and this outweighed the benefit (there's not really any benefit)

Spend far too much time on my phone, trying to read more books instead.

I'm feeling the first and wanting the second.

All these platforms seem to start with good intentions, and then from the consumer side, get over-run with people repping themselves or some company, or people trying to push their agendas down your throat.
So to that end I've deleted pretty all the influencers that I followed (I currently make an exception for Yoann Barelli as he seems like a genuinely good guy), and unfollowed or banned toxic groups or people. I've also stopped as many notifications as I can. Feels a little more like the 'old days', but still way too much in the way of suggested content.

My experience with Facebook is that it mainly sorts itself out. Folk/groups I interact with are prioritised in my feed so I really don't see much crap and what I do is easily scrolled past. Maybe it actually helps to have lots of friends/groups because then the filter has to cut in? I'm also admin on a handful of interest based Groups.

Twitter is handy mostly for snippits of current affairs, even if they can sometimes be a bit skewed. I tend not to watch/read any MSM so this fills a gap.

Instagram? I do post photos occasionally and browse to see what friends have posted. It's way down my priority list though and probably the one that winds me up most due to the rampant hashtagging.

Never used Facebook and while I use YouTube a lot I wouldn't count my use as Social Media, i.e. I don't ever read or post comments, like/dislike etc,. and use it purely to watch content that I am subscribed to so pretty much like watching TV but with more things I am actually interested in.

Whatsapp for communicating with real people, STW for bickering/keeping up to date with Covid, Brexit, who's died, the Tories, guitar pedals, conspiracy theories, making progress, Molgrip's Merc and Passat, entitled travellers neighbours anti-maskers shoppers, dog owners... .

Oh and I post stuff on Youtube so I have a channel. It usually either has an audience of one because I work on songs to perform with a mate via Youtubes or about 20 STWers.

I now only use mine to accept friends requests from east European hookers

I gave up on Facebook after the Brexit vote. Never used Instagram or Twitter. I'm almost tempted to sack off LinkedIn as that just appears to be a Facebook wannabe most of the time and looks like hard work to filter the dross out. But it could be useful so it stays for now.

Don't really feel I'm missing out, but do wonder if I'm making myself a little isolated socially. Not a problem now as I quite enjoy being a bit of a loner, but maybe that's not healthy long term.

Social media is not social.

Meeting people for real is social.

My experience with Facebook is that it mainly sorts itself out

I'd imagine everyone regardless of how utterly insane or perfectly normal their FB feed looks to anyone else, they think that they're fine. It's partly why the algorithm and marketing works so well.

tempted to sack off LinkedIn

LinkedIn is how they'll decide who gets to board the Ark Fleet Ship B

I deleted Facebook a few months ago when I got tired of all the adds. Found less and less on there of any interest.

Facebook only to follow a couple of sporting groups as that's where the news is. Once the addiction is broken it's easy to ignore the rest.

No twitter, instagram. LinkedIn is deleted, that really is the work of Satan. Absolutely no use in a professional sense either, unless I want some 20 year old telling me the route to a great career is seizing all chances and working 20hours per weekend for free

I quite like fb for its news on bands, sports, coooking etc. I have a simple rule for friends tho, if I haven't seen them for 12 months and they post rubbish I bin them. There's some angry people out there who s only outlet is social media.

The rest, Insta, tick tock, Twitter, absolutely no idea I 've never looked or intend starting.

Must be loads of peer pressure for kids to conform, sorry I have no advice here.

I now only use mine to accept friends requests from east European hookers

Oh, maybe I was too hasty deleting my account 14 years ago.

Deleted my fb, twitter, insta and linkedin profiles ages ago; haven't missed any in the slightest.
Use WhatsApp for video calls to my children and their families.
On here.
That's it.

There was a Facebook customer survey that popped up on my feed the other day. I was bored enough to click it, the question were along the line of do you enjoy..., is... Interesting, do you see too much...

The entity of the answers were negative, so I deleted the app. Not sure that was entirely the point of the survey. 😁 Didn't delete my account though, maybe if I've not been tempted back in the new year I will. Will make bike club news tricky though.

FB is fine if you take the time to make it work the way you want it to.

Social media is not social.

Meeting people for real is social.

While I ultimately agree with that, it's a little different for the introverts amongst us. I use IG largely for posting pictures of my trail work. It's a way of showing that I do something helpful to the community (and myself....it's not entirely selfless 😉 ) The likes of IG can also be a real life conversation point for the likes of people who aren't into blathering on at a million words a minute. After spending a day being talked over by morons, it can be refreshing posting something up to show that actions can speak louder than words heh heh.

FB for the cycling club, all members plus a committee page as well plus a few niche interest groups. All friends are real friends but mostly actually blocked as I don't care about their Strava or family crap.
Never done anything else and no need. Anyone who wants me rings me on the land line and if |I'm not at home the answer phone does its job.
Utterly despise the "look at me" idea of social media. Who cares a s*** what you are doing/have done?

FB is fine if you take the time to make it work the way you want it to.

Isn't that mostly the problem? FB letting "anybody" making their feed look exactly how they want it to look regardless of how mad it is, or how made up their news is?

Isn’t that mostly the problem? FB letting “anybody” making their feed look exactly how they want it to look regardless of how mad it is, or how made up their news is?

Isn't it just reflecting real life? Afterall, IRL 'anybody' is allowed to choose their own friends and hobbies etc. If you're a racist nut job and most of your friends / interests are racist, so will your FB feed. If you're a mountain biker, most of your feed will be MTB related etc.

I use it as a news aggregator mainly. Very few of my FB friends seem to post anything anymore, it's definitely become more read only in the last few years.

 IRL ‘anybody’ is allowed to choose their own friends and hobbies etc.

This is what happens if you give folk freedom of choice. In nickc's world, someone (him?) will decide what folk are allowed to read and hear.

Isn’t it just reflecting real life?

Well, that's the issue isn't it, it's partly why Breitbart is still a "trusted news source" If (as FB does) you allow folks to curate their feed to the point that it doesn't actually reflect reality as the rest of us share it; because money. Then you've created a problem for everyone, no?

In nickc’s world, someone (him?) will decide what folk are allowed to read and hear.

The reason the Americans have had a moron who thinks that an election was stolen from him and partly the reason that we've ****ed ourselves economically for a generation is that folks have the ability to avoid a shared truth. If you ask me if I think the "news" sources like Breitbart should be allowed to be adjudged the same veracity as say The Times or the Washington Post,  because of financial expediency then yeah, I would make judgements. The fact that some folks can't is why we have to live with this shit now.

I deactivated my FB account around a year or so ago....never been back and i have more time and read a lot more. In no rush to return either.

In terms of communicating with mates WhatsApp group seem to work well enough!

Utterly despise the “look at me” idea of social media. Who cares a s*** what you are doing/have done?

Isn't that what you have just done 😉

Deactivated my Facebook account tonight.

Haven’t had it installed on any devices for years but it remains a constant nigglesome default distraction so a prolonged break is long overdue.

Deactivated Twitter years ago, Snapchat shortly after.

Insta’s the final one remaining and that’s not been installed for ages either.

Looking forward to some regained free time from it all tbh,

Isn’t that what you have just done

+1

Yes deleted Facebook & Insta & Twitter accounts few years again - don’t bother deactivating them just get rid of them

Yup. Don't love the "me me me" way these things seem to go.

Use this place obviously and a few hobby forums for specifically hobby stuff. All of these have an anti face ache feel about them.

Don’t use WhatsApp, I think I used Instagram a couple of times when it first came out, never bothered since, I check out a few people on Twitter every now and then, and I haven’t use Fb for a few years now. I use the Messenger app, but only because some of my friends do, and it’s our way of keeping in touch.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to use social media other than this forum, I just don’t care enough.

I like the look of that unfollow everything, just need to work out how to use it! 😅

Missus deleted FB years ago, says its one of the best things shes done. Reduced mine hidden/deleted a fair few pages & people (especially the ones who've fallen down the conspiracy rabbit holes, CBA reading their shite) Mostly just bike and car stuff now. Whatsapp/Discord for sorting rides. Here/PH for forum cars and bike stuff.

In Aug 2018 I was away on hols for 3 weeks and used the time to cut loose and switch off from all social media. I remember getting home from the trip and switching FB back on… 30 mins later, lost in a world of mindless shite. And that was it, realised there and then how much of a time thief FB, Insta and Twitter were. Not regretted a single day since.

Deleted my FB account a few years back. It is like it never existed. Same for Instagram.

I keep twitter as it seems the only medium you can get a response from many companies on. DMs responded in a few minutes to a twitter query. Several weeks on their ‘contact us’ form has produced…nothing. All phone notifications for twitter are disabled and I have no idea where the app is. Probably in the ‘app library’.

And I keep LinkedIn. Nice to see that despite MS’s attempts that remains fairly moribund in terms of social media interaction.

My only social media is 3-4 forums, whether they count or not i don't know.

I don't have an FB/Insta/whatever account.

No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, just the occasional STW. TBH, I prefer to be left alone, so why would I really want to see what narcissists are up to on a daily basis?

fix what’s causing of mould not the effect

It still endlessly suggests groups to join, doesn't deal with scammers yet warns or kicks me out of groups for reporting them, any public group is a bear pit of arguments and odd views, and I'm really starting to resent the data they keep on me for little return.

The issue I face is that all my family use WhatsApp.

WhatsApp started as just a communication tool for me, then the dreaded creep started. Had to leave some family groups in the end, I got some stick for a couple of days then they forgot about it and carried on with the cat photos without me.

Deactivated FB at the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly did it around the referendum, but held off. Main reason was that those friends and associates, family and others I follow, I followed them knowing that I view them for what I know them for. When they start sharing opinions that don't match the mental image I have of them, it taints things. So rather than try to disagree, or change their opinion to mine (!?!) I'd rather not know.

I have insta to post pics and look at stuff, and keep in touch with folk. find that once you get past the 'everyone else's life looks better than mine' thing, it works well. You can keep tabs what folk have been doing without the random opinions you never wanted to hear. It's a bit more arms length.

I have FB as my running club and a gravel group I'm in runs through it. I blocked all but my closest friends from it now so my news feed is pretty barren. I do get drawn into facebook watch I've got to give that up.

I deleted nearly everybody from Twitter except a few bands or events like such as festivals that I like so that I don't miss gigs or new releases. And Keeper of the peak of course

stopped FB a few years ago. Zero regrets.

Still use Instagram, but on the verge of sending that packing too.

I know social media does some good, but overall i see it has a negative impact on society. Many people faking happiness for likes, willy waving and general vein activities.

I only have FB and Twitter on my ipad, so that I don't check it regularly and it has made a huge difference (started this in lockdown 1 for my mental health as I was doom scrolling too much). FB I am v close to deleting, but there are a few biking groups on there that are useful. Twitter is a work only thing and I am fine with that.

Instagram i really enjoy, but I am very careful with who I follow - I know it is all rose tinted glasses but that is what I like - it shows me people on adventures away from the dross of covid/politics etc and has been an huge inspiration for doing more woman-led activities.

Still spend too much time on it - but am trying to read more books! Ironically via the Adventure Ink book club, that I discovered in Instagram!

Find it a Catch 22, i really don't like what FB has become, one long advert almost, but on flip side, easy way to communicate with family elsewhere in UK and abroad, many of the events and bikepacking routes i have found via FB and i belong to very good groups for specific interests such as diabetes forums for my daughter, modding Technics turntables etc, and i have met some great people via rides organised in groups on there etc, plus in doing up my house, some great groups to ask plumbing, heating, electrical questions to.

Key for me is to say to myself, i will check it once a day for 15 mins and that is it, no scrolling for the sake of it. Instagram is just pretty pics without much info, gives me a few good ideas for woodworking and carpentry, and i find Twitter good for actual news away from mainstream media if you follow right people, but very easy to just follow people with same views as you and it becomes an echo chamber..

Binned FB in 2019. Haven't missed it one bit. MrsCD still has it and moans constantly about the crap on it. If it brings no pleasure to your life then get rid.

BBC2 tonight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012kf0

It's coming close. It hasn't been interesting or rewarding for me for years.

I don't know the cause, but a few years ago FB was for seeing pics of old school friends and that they're up to now, or look, Dave's got a new Cat, but now it's just filtered selfies and bragging.

Insta was good for a bit, I figured that if you took the time to take a picture of something then at least you've got something to share, but 90% of it these days is more selfies and bragging. #Blassed bullshit.

I still enjoy twitter, it's simplicity means you can keep it better tailored to what you actually want and, people tend to be more real on that platform. I met with a couple of guys I know via twitter for a bit of a pre-xmas ride yesterday, it was a great day out.

@nobeerinthefridge

You install the browser extension.
Go to facebook.com, click run in the extension, go for a cup of tea and while you're away it moves the mouse pointer around on the screen for you, unfollowing everything.

That David Baddiel documentary was fascinating. Even as someone who can take or leave Facebook and Twitter (I have accounts, but only check them once or twice a week max), there was some really interesting stuff. Worth catching on iPlayer if social media causes you any stress.

You install the browser extension.
Go to <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">facebook.com</span>, click run in the extension, go for a cup of tea and while you’re away it moves the mouse pointer around on the screen for you, unfollowing everything.

Yeah. Nah.

can’t be that hard to do manually without the massive security risk…

No-one posting here can say that they have.

I've pretty much given up on FB though.

Ignore it like the plague - unless you count Strava I suppose. I've posted on FB maybe twice in the past 2 or 3 years, I use it to flog stuff I don't need and as to follow a couple of local bike groups I ride with...even then I've blocked half the members with their 'I smashed it' garbage. Bore off...no one cares. I concluded long ago its unhealthy narcissistic sh1te and not at all healthy.
Instagram fine for following some pro mtbers and roadies.

No-one posting here can say that they have

There are big differences between the main social media sites/apps and this one - for example - this isn't a popularity contest (for likes, friends, groups etc) and isn't owned by a big corporation prepared to sell the data. There's social media and there are chat forums.
But I'm sure you knew that.

but now it’s just filtered selfies and bragging.

Ah. Fake fun.

The rise of the "influencer".

Celebrity "culture".

Causation or correlation, or possibly both.

Don't mention "cancel culture".

Quite a toxic mix.

but now it’s just filtered selfies and bragging.

Can't say I see any of that.

This morning I discovered a FB group for old Photos of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale so spent 20 mins in bed wandering round that. Our family has holidayed there since the 50s and we've had a cottage in Muker since the 80s. MIL was brought up in Arkengarthdale, hence really enjoyed seeing all the old photos, which I've now shared with various family members who aren't on FB.

For me personally, the great thing about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc is that they make it so much easier to let other people know how much I don't use social media.

When I was younger you had to write a strongly worded letter to the newspaper if you wanted to let the world know you'd supposedly stopped writing letters to the newspaper.

I’m really starting to resent the data they keep on me for little return.

I do find that odd. Why do people give websites genuine info?
On most websites that I have to log in to my first name is Andy, my surname is H, my date of birth is 01/01/00, my address is my old student house from twenty years just because I can remember the postcode, if they don't need the info they aren't getting it.
.
My car insurers for example can have my real date of birth because they need that but they don't need my phone number, they can have 01234 567890, same as everyone else.
If people want to hack of any of these sites good luck to them, most of what's out there about me is gibberish.

There’s social media and there are chat forums.
But I’m sure you knew that.

You keep telling yourself that.

Social media is a tool, if you're seeing stuff you don't like then you're using it wrong.

Lot's of people using it for powers of good.

That FBPurity extension that was mentioned earlier is great,thanks for that.  It's made fb in a browser much nicer.  I was a little bit worried about blocking stuff that I had kept to prevent myself being in a bubble, but as long as I remember to look at that stuff elsewhere I can clean up fb and only see my pals and the groups I'm in.  It's ok