I took a huge step back from Facebook, like anything, the first couple of days required some discipline but after that I just realised there’s not a lot to miss. I’ll now occasionally have a look at specific people or groups to see what they’re up to but don’t browse Facebook anymore. Well apart from a wee slip up last week when the election culminated. I’m now reading more, working my way through the Ken Burns WWII documentary on Netflix and interacting with my kids more, when I can get them off their phones.

And take up triathlonging

And tell people about it.

I gave up FB a few years ago and started doing triathlons this year. Just saying like!!

I still eat meat though and have a TV….

I don’t understand why people need to do complex things to stop themselves looking at Facebook, etc. Just don’t look at it, if you don’t want to look at it. Haven’t you got any willpower?

JP

A lot of you on your high horses here.

FB has made a hugely positive difference to my life over the past 5 years or so and I wouldn’t be without it. Brilliant for discussing and involvement in my main hobby and keeping in touch with friends abroad. It even resulted in my stolen car being found within 12 hours despite the police saying there was sweet FA chance they could do anything. They should’ve tried Facebook…

It also makes a big difference to people with disabilities or the elderly who can get involved with things and communicate with the outside world where they may be isolated otherwise.

A lot of you on your high horses here.

😂

You do know where you are, don’t you?

I deleted my account 2 years ago now. After a stroke and the breakdown of my marriage. I couldn’t stand other people’s vanity blogging.
I stepped right back from social media, evening deleted Strava.
I still have Instagram, however l muted most of my ‘friends’ accounts bar those who are close friends. Use it mostly for following interesting MTB riders around the world.

This suited me and helped at the time with what I was dealing with. I haven’t really missed it. I still speak to friends and family on the phone, WhatsApp or text.
I’ve got over the FOMO.

I deleted my FB account around two years ago now. Initially it’s getting out of the habit of checking it, but it soon gets forgotten.

Facebook exacerbates people’s mental health issues. As STW forum identifies there are lots depressed and personality disordered people in society, and one thing that research has identified as fuelling mental health problems is relative inequalities. The false nature of FB with edited photos and exaggerated portrayals of perfect lifestyles just causes vulnerable people added stress.

Ha ha, these things are designed to be addictive. Your only hope is to stop using a smartphone. If you dont have the interweb in your pocket you can avoid it.

Says more about you than it does about me. I just stopped using Fb a bit over two years ago, I haven’t deleted it, just moved the app away from the first page on my phone and pad, and basically just completely ignore its existence.
I still get email updates, I just delete them.

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time, other than tell everyone that you’re not on Facebook?

Well, it happens that the time I stopped using Fb coincided with getting back in touch with someone I knew from around 25 years ago, via Fb, and her moving in with me.
Also I just got fed up with so much of the bullshit and conspiracy crap gets posted up on there, I e just settled on a steady diet of Flipboard and STW to satisfy my social media and news cravings.
Never had much to do with Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp pretty much passed me by.
Perfectly happy with real life, plus at much the same time my work involved getting home pretty late, and I just couldn’t be arsed with Fb, more interesting things to occupy myself with, like music and books and having a life.

Twitter is a absolutely dreadful, full of raving egomaniacs.

Yeah, Twitter had the same treatment of locking my password. There a lot of nobheads people on there.

A lot of you on your high horses here.

That’s a summer thing surely? At this time of year it’s more about being holier than thou.

It does deserve all the criticism but a couple of days ago a shopkeeper posted a cctv shot of some R sole stealing a charity box off the counter. Anyway within a day he was recognised and named, ha!
I’m in groups focused on medieval history, Victorian painting, mtb etc etc and to that extent it has led me to some interesting online magazines and articles. So I shan’t ditch it but will try to avoid too much procrastination.

Ditched it off earlier this year – still have an active account (as I also have to use their developer tools and I can’t be arsed to switch all that over to a new account) but I just don’t bother logging in.

I think I logged in once just before the elections and was greeted with the usual dribble so pretty much instantly logged out.

What did it for me was people who live in the same house, probably sitting on the same sofa, needing to have whole conversations in a FB post. That, and people resharing the same old crap every day.

STW is my social media.

For all its negatives (there are FAR more positives for me though) its actually a place of sanctuary compared to the sad, depressing and dangerous (in various ways) crap on actual social media.

Why do you have to avoid/ditch Facebook? There’s useful info on there all the time related to interests you have. There’s also a million trillion terrabytes of useless bollocks all of which is very easily avoided.
As for passwords/email notifications/autologins – they’ve made all the settings simple enough for any typical Facebook user (think the lowest form of human life that can actually use a smartphone) to negotiate, so just set it how you need it.