see, social media just drains you. it's the dopamine thief that keeps on getting. Have you seen how latest trends now have two different things happening on the screen? If you're A.D.D. like me, then you know...

I did this, but also tried something else as well. Instead of completely dropping off the online grid, I did a purge. It was tedious, but I unfollowed EVERYTHING and everyone that contributed stress to my life, and was very conscious about the type of media I consumed. So no more news, no more following friends that posted news of negative memes, no more drama posts, it was amazing. I followed only pages and people that posted uplifting things and it had a very similar effect on me in restoring my mental health balance. A lot of folks don't realize how much the content we consume on a day to day basis really affects us. If you learn to recognize the things that cause stress, you can shift it without having to totally cut yourself off. Not the cutting yourself off is a bad thing either. I admit, it would probably do us all a lot of good if we went outside, touched grass, and disconnect from technology for awhile.

good for you :>)  our brain needs a break every so often from the web ... 

for instants I use to be on every single day ... and it really dragged my mind

down the tubes ... an your right you get more done lol unless you work on here of course ...

I figure I will be on more during the late fall winter mnths ... when i don't have work out side ... being cold and all :>)  an i get your point :>) it is a nice change :>) altho hard to not see fam and friends but i believe they understand :>) tc ...

Haha! This isn’t a cliche at all! I did something similar last month and it has improved my mindset and mood A LOT!!!

I totally get it. I feel like I only need instagram so I can text my friends and my boyfriend 

Not cliché at all! I don’t have instagram anymore, but I do use facebook and snapchat for my closest friends. Twitter is eh, i’m not on it much anymore. I do have my notifications turned off for all socials so it doesn’t overwhelm me, except snap. I find myself not on social media much these days. 

i also deleted all my sns :) only kept whatsapp to talk to my family and bf, everything else is out. it feels kinda lonely n isolating sometimes tbh but i feel wayyyy less anxious and especially my self esteem has improved a lot!!

I wanna do this so bad but i just cant stay committed to it:(

I wanna give this a try, but I feel a little bit of FOMO whenever I spend a week with my Twitter deactivated, because I feel I'm gonna miss out on whatever is happening that might interest me, so yeah, I'm asking for some tips to just disconnect from social media but trying to keep some things to get news on what might interest me (videogame news, anime news, etc...)

I've had an awful relationship with these platforms for years now, I think it all started when I got my first smartphone... I've always been a huge internet user and it was totally fine, but my attention span and focus completely went off a cliff the instant I got my phone and social media.

I didn't even get a phone until I was a fully grown adult too, I can't even imagine what it's like for a younger person who may not even have a memory of a time beforehand! I think mainstream social media is just bad news all around... They incentivize you to get addicted to them because the longer you're on the platforms, the more advertisements and influence they can sell. So they have predatory practices like infinite scroll, frictionless design, engagement algorithms, encouraged toxicity and polarization bc it drives engagement and further activity, apps that ping you and buzz all the time... People think of social media as the town square, but it's more like a shopping mall or even a casino.

It's even worse too because most people now carry phones with them at all times except maybe when they're in the shower, so there's no time to unwind and let your brain relax. You eventually get used to this state of complete overstimulation and it creates a lack of joy in all the hobbies you used to enjoy and get excited about. Mindless scrolling becomes an ingrained habit that's almost impossible to break.

People will even whip out their phones when watching TV, an activity which used to be THE mindless brainrot activity. Now it alone isn't brainrot enough, you need to make it more brainrotting.

A lot of people will whip out their phones when they're faced with any level of idle time or feeling of boredom or loneliness. I don't blame the people either, these platforms have teams of behavioral psychologists and engineers designing for this exact result. They're designed in the same way a casino is. Willpower alone was not enough for me, I had to delete my accounts entirely.

Sites like this with the old mentality are so much calmer. I can log in, check my updates, and then gtfo.

I just pretend like it's somewhere in the years 2007-2012 and tech hasn't progressed past that point. I feel like we had a good balance then.

As for what this has done positively for me... I now have so many extra hours freed up everyday. My life feels so much calmer. I have more creativity, my attention and focus is back. I now have time for all the things I said I didn't. I have time and focus for my loved ones and friends, my apartment is clean, the dishes are done, I take care of myself, my sleep is so much better...

It's lonelier, but then when I'm lonely I seek out actual social interaction instead of something mindless which merely pacifies the feeling without addressing it.

Social media may promote negative experiences such as inadequacy about your life or appearance, etc. Especially Instagram and TikTok. I haven't use Facebook or any other social media much since last year.

It's amazing. Don't let social media shrink your brain. But it's all about individual perspective; people are different, and the effects will be different.

For me personally, it's negative for my mindset. So I keep myself busy with other things, like making/playing music, self-improvement, or work.

i took a break off of tt and i honestly felt lighter

idk how to explain it its just all that drama jk???

the large social media sites are mostly poison, and unless you have friends on it or things to share, it's a waste of time that shortens your attention span

I f33l pr3tty good actually, mor3 calming and i r33st mor3 too!٩(•̮̮̃-̃)۶

break will be very hard for me even if i try cuz my job based on social medias. but as i can judge, the reason of such drastic changes is in your specific way to use social medias. If you scrolling your feed for hours with no goal, argue with strangers, carrying about likes and views (if it's not part of ur job) it can be very bad for your mental health and ability to focus your attention. it will be okay if you come back to ur social medias but in a different perspective. Use Facebook to chat with friends, not for arguing with users. Use Twitter to express your thoughts and check out thoughts of people you love and follow, not random ones. Use Instagram to publish memorable moments of your life, not for likes and views on ur photos. Thats it! <3

i guess this is my sign to actually leave social media now. i tried a month back but it only lasted 2 weeks

My social media experience in simple points

Snapchat: addicted to checking notifications despite them being zero 

Instagram: Getting pissed off at trash posts and people

Facebook: only use it when I need help with my old car

Twitter: Upon making account some sell out girl sent me vag pics ;-;  didnt need that

spacehey: not super active here but good people and yea :)

Tiktok: total brain rotting app

im a pretty young person but all the people who are my age use tiktok and instagram for body pics and ive deleted tiktok and twitter and reddit and for the past 4 months ive stopped using the offical youtube app bc its so mind numbing scrolling on shorts. everyone is very hateful and the whole world is all about click click click, consume consume consume, buy buy buy and i hate it.

I use this website a lot and tumblr and youtube but only in small doses nowadays, and i only use intsagram for art. i hate this world, its scary.

reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImdtZKSdPuc 

In my case I need to turn off devices if not I am contantly thinking if someone texted me or things like that

Also I´m so happy for you! I think that breaks are important.

(sorry for my bad english im just learning)

eww i saw a penis on instagram the other day and i threw up in mouth a little. i mean, even on there now!!?? TF

I have tried it for a few months before but I just switched to something else to get addicted to and distract myself. I still believe that taking a break from social media will have a great outcome but only if I replaced it with something that will truly benefit me. Like reading my school textbooks, learning how to handle my finance, etc. 

I have tried it for a few months before but I just switched to something else to get addicted to and distract myself. I still believe that taking a break from social media will have a great outcome but only if I replaced it with something that will truly benefit me. Like reading my school textbooks, learning how to handle my finance, etc. 

I deleted all my normal social media about 2 years ago but couldn't break myself from it until i got rid of the internet completely for 4 months. I only reconnected because of how inconvenient it is to do anything without the internet.

Everything is awful. The majority of social media is bots. The few people left on regular social media are so toxic there's no point in putting up with the sheer amount of bots.

My husband won't even touch the internet anymore because it keeps pushing more and more depraved sex and the idea he should have an affair.

I used to take social media breaks all the time, sometimes for months at a time, but I've noticed recently that it has gotten increasingly harder and harder for me to stay off.. I'm trying to shift my focus to staying off of them permanently, or at least for my benefit like making money online. a lot of people I value I communicate with through META apps so I don't know where to go from there :-/ 

On a different note, I noticed a creativity spike when I abstained from internet use a few months ago, I felt more tranquil. Social media is so full of fear-mongering and as a person with a panic disorder its not the best thing to be indulged with everyday

im not actually active on any social media, especially instagram, i honestly hate it. my job as musician depends a lot of that, and the city i live doesn’t help, cuz every musician use it for diffusion, marketing and etc makes me very overwhelmed. is very healthy to leave it but the sense of loosing “something” is annoying. when i discover spacehey it reminded me the times when everything was more simple. i would love to stay here and share my music gradually. idk how to describe the feeling but i felt more safe when i was customizing my profile like old days. i dont have the specific word to describe the modern social media but i think “intrusive” is a good word for now.

I feel like social media has definitely rotted my brain some. My attention span has gone total kaput but it can be hard to quit, especially when it keeps drawing you back in with it's promises of serotonin and tries it's hardest to never let you go.

nah its not cliche ur totally right. im mostly chronically online during the winter (seasonal depression, not much to do outside, gets dark at 3pm) but once spring hits, im outside and barely online. the sun + physical activity helps me use the internet less, and ofc the less internet i use, the less i want to be on it, and the better i feel.

im also shopping around for an oldschool phone (not a smartphone) to further disconnect myself.

it helps so much!

me too! i talk to people more, i'm happier, i was once an insomniac and now i sleep for 15hours, total mood change

I honestly think you are completely right. Social media now totally burns your time and even your mental health. I used to stay online, checking every app during the whole day. Now I barely touch Instagram anymore (thanks to the algorithm tho) and I only log in on twitter to post my stuff (I also check it in the morning when I wake up, kinda like watching the news) and now I feel I have way more time for myself. 

I Signed in this website today and I've spent quite time in it tho, but at least this one is a fun one (most of the time I've spent was to custom the profile haha)

I love social media, But honestly Reddit is so TOXIC AF, It's the most Toxic website I've been on besides VampireFreaks, I took a breat from Reddit a few months ago and felt refreshed and amazing Honestly TBH :')

Whitout social media?

Ok.

Whitout internet access?

Hell no.

Whitout social media?

Ok.

Whitout internet access?

Hell no.

innovation and its consequences

I've been wanting to do this for the longest time and have (somewhat) succeeded for the most part by deleting snapchat (deleted in 2020) and tiktok (deleted a few months back). there's 1-2 that i need to push myself to delete.

i mainly just spent time on youtube and forums like i did back in the day. definitely noticed a significantly less amount of stress compared to before. my next step is deactivating certain accounts indefinitely so i can truly feel free.

update: i deactivated my facebook account, got tumblr off my phone and hope to deactivate instagram soon!

never had social media other than snapchat for talking to friends. its bizarre to me and i dont think id know wtf to post. dont think anyone would follow either so i just never made one. when i would consider getting one, everything i could think to post just seemed cringe or vain.

idk where i heard this from, but someone was talking about their experience not using social media, and they described it as freeing, but extremely lonely. i think thats how i feel. i haven't used instagram since this time last year, and i just started using snapchat but honestly i don't really have an interest in keeping it. i definitely wish i could just not have to use my phone at all but alas, i have responsibilities : (

I, personally, am not a social media type of person but I use my phone a lot. It does impact my sleep pattern, and it's something I struggle to get off. Being in a bad mental state can amplify the attachment. 

I occasionally look at IG

It doesn't keep my interest. I cannot so FB even to keep up with family. They know this. I tried Snap and tiktok. The minute family started adding me without me even telling people I had the damn thing.  I was, nope.  I'm out 

i switched to a flip phone late last year and used up until it broke last week! it was so nice to use in public because the only notifications that came through were calls, texts, email, and once in a while, a weather warning. nothing to worry about at. all. i did all my social media through the computer (like right now) and it felt so nice... so so nice. it's all shattered though since i'm back on my iPhone 6 again... socials have enveloped me!!!1!

You never truly know how deep you are in the addiction until you try to stop for a day or so :/ The longest i quit was 1 week off everything and it was so good but then fomo catches up to you so you just go back and try to quit again 

I hope im not late to the party but yeah i've also noticed the benefits of disconnecting from social media.

I still like seeing the reels and shorts my GF sends me while we're working but other than that I am trying to eliminate it from my life.  I feel much more connected on places like this, its not about whats trending, "doomscrolling", or creating echo chambers in negative comments.

Reading Jason's response, I feel pretty similar.  I like to go on fb and ig for memes and occasionally connecting with a friend but try to distance myself as much as possible.  Also. this might sound like a conspiracy theory, but I think social media has seriously hurt how people generally get along, posts can be controversial and reactionary, or set unrealistic expectations but doesn't account for how different people can be.  On a positive note, its made me appreciate my friends and places like this even more.  I just feel like we used to be more patient with each other, idk how to explain it, does that make sense?

Logged off of everything recently, save for Spacehey and occasionally pinterest. Tbh if you're thinking about doing it, do. There's not many reasons not to. I've gotten my head back again, I feel like I can actually focus on the things I want to do. Even if you're worried you'll become disconnected or lose track of family and friends, I promise there is almost always an alternative. Text people! Call people!! Hell, I use discord to talk with my friends but I've set times for when to be online and when not to be. It sounds like crap, ik. But its genuinely helped my mental health a lot, so think about it. Even just taking a break for a few days can do a lot. Your wellbeing matters a lot more than people on the internet.

Hey nice job disconnecting!  Appreciate the advice too, and no it doesn't sound like crap I still prefer to call or text the people in my life when I can.  And I agree that when I turned off snapchat and stuff that it made things better including making my actual conversations with the people i'd snapchat more meaningful, catching up with someone since you haven't seen someone since the previous day was something I didn't realize I missed from my childhood but I definitely did!  It's also helped me be more comfortable setting boundaries at work when i'm available.  Also sick profile pic!! :L

oh yeah.the Internet is a priori a solid shit that is filled with more and more vile sources every year, and so on. I think you need to use this shit in moderation. Hahaha it's not about me

deleted tiktok in 2022, only use instagram on web on fridays and genuinely like i feel like its helped my attention span a bit but at the same time instagram dms were so convenient

I know exactly what you are talking about same thing with me but also i got out of homelessness and got out of depression and my mental health gotten so much better. Started becoming much more productive in my interests, i slowly started back on social media but i don't use it as much. 

well no shit

the best thing ive done for myself all year is delete tiktok tbh. it made me lose a sense of reality and i was almost living through what i scrolled through so didnt put any effort into improving myself or making my life better. short form content is horrible tbh, hours and hours spent scrolling that could have been used better. wow there is so much i wanna say abt social media and especially tiktok but i need to go to sleep  

idk,,, I feel like if I had more friends IRL I would be able to do it, but since I'm already kinda socially inactive bcuz of my anxiety n stuff, social media is kinda the only way I can connect ot other ppl,,, Though, I try to limit my time on youtube to watch shows I've been neglecting for the past few years xdxd