[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 😉