Why I left social media.

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I was never really very immersed in social media. I left facebook about 10 years ago, have had a twitter account for the last decade or so, and have used snapchat as well as discord. However, they have all bored me to tears. Throughout the years, twitter is the only one I consistently used and I restricted it to posting very particular messages regarding my special interest which is in the social sciences.

I have never found any of the social media websites or apps "social" or good for making friends so I am perennially baffled when I encounter people who say it has been beneficial. Then I remind myself that people's definitions of friends might be precarious. I have decided to delete twitter simply because that too is not really that interesting but also because, again, I have made no social connections on there. Even if I did, I would imagine that the nature of such connections would be very noncommittal and thus meaningless due to the ephemeral and narcissistic nature of such apps and websites.

For instance, the reason I left facebook many years ago was due to the show and tell nature of the whole website. As for Discord, it is basically a giant chatroom in which nothing seems to happen, even if I joined a server with so-called like-minded interests or identities that purported to reflect myself. That got boring and hollow very quickly. As for snapchat, that is a very uneventful and tedious venture.

I think some of this boils down to finding it actually difficult to communicate on these apps and sites in the context of making friends. However, it is also based on the pathetic way they are designed purely ot maximise engagement of a very superficial and narcissistic kind.

Overwall,

I share your dislike of most major social media platforms, especially Facebook.

I still post on Twitter now and then, but, in my opinion, old-fashioned message boards like Wrong Planet are much better for the purpose of having actual meaningful discussion.

Social media is the new cigarette anyways. Both are highly addictive and can be harmful to your health.

I do use a few social media platforms (mostly YouTube and SpaceHey), but am absolutely repulsed by the garbage platforms that most of my peers use such as stupid Instagram and TikTok. :disgust:

I prefer internet forums such as this one.

I left social media a very long time ago, because it became too toxic for me. I experience enough toxicity in real life and see it plenty.

I really do prefer forums over the larger corporate social media sites. Much more homey.

This is a social media platform

I left FB in 2015, tried briefly in 2017, both times the actual leaving was caused by FB itself before I took action on the sensory overload and general stress I had realized it was causing.

Was in and really enjoyed several health support groups for those of us who have incurable illnesses, but the rest of FB was too much.

Have never been on Twitter, Instagram, the others.

As you've seen from posts elsewhere on here I do use YouTube.
Since TV is instant sensory overload, I can find slower and calmer things on YT.

I agree. I suppose at first I was intrigued by social media as it was such a new thing.

The mistake I made on Facebook was to make friends (or so I thought) with people I met online. Instead of restricting my friend list to people I'd actually met in person. At least I think that was the mistake I made. But I got bored of all the bltchiness on Facebook and deleted it some years ago.

I was lucky on Twitter that I found a lovely group of friends using one hashtag and had a good Twitter experience. Well, that was my 4th account, the previous 3 were full of trolls and bots and abuse. Then the muskrat took over and I couldn't stay there with the way he runs it. And again, I got bored of it.

I never joined Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or whatever else there is.

The one I really like now is Mastodon, it's not run by a huge company, it's all little communities run by individuals. So far, and I emphasise SO FAR, people are polite and friendly and normal. No abuse, no whataboutery, no pile-ons. Just conversations.

I always liked forums before the big social media came along, probably because they are moderated and more civilised, and the big sites are free-for-alls with anything goes.

Anyway, that wasn't particularly relevant but it was my experience

I never have had a facebook account. One of my ex's was really into that place and from my perspective, it looked like the place where adults go to behave like petulant children. I never did understand the appeal of it. My social media is limited to this place and a subreddit I go to for a game I play so I can trade in game stuff. I'm really boring like that but find my life lacks a lot of the drama that others have from being on certain sites.

I was reading somewhere that those sites are so addicting because they hit on your brain. If you get flooded with things you like you get that happy rush and if you get flooded with things that drive you insane your driven to respond and engage anyway, even perhaps more so than if you saw happy stuff. Seems nuts to me, but brains are powerful and wild things. I guess it makes sense people get sucked into it all. I just don't care for that kind of vibe. I like my stuff to be mellow.

I use Facebook mainly because many of my family members are on it. I know that my mum is ok because I see her posting there. I rarely post statuses, mainly I share things that I find funny or interesting. I've bought items through the ads I've seen.

My housemate has encouraged me to start a Twitter account but I know it will be very difficult for me to gain followers because I simply will not post much. I'm on Reddit but there is a lot there and I'll get stuck reading. I like it here, there's enough to read and has interesting threads and posts.

I kinda like twitter sometimes. I've used it for years for work purposes to promote myself and that's fine but I also use it kinda like WP to just have a bit of fun. I get suspended sometimes mind you.

I've had an on/off relationship with Facebook for years. Currently trying to cut back on my use of Facebook groups - I'd got a bit addicted to scanning through them, yet at the same time I was usually disappointed by what I found there. Neverending flamewars, and groupthink that gets further and further from reality in not particularly fun ways.