Deactivating social media..

[NowIsGood]

I deleted my Facebook in 2016 after a personal breakdown (had been on it since 2007). It was one of the small things that really got me to a better place mentally. Shedding all those old ghosts was LIBERATING! Privacy is such a valuable thing to have it feels crazy to me that people will give it away for the sake of a stranger's validation.
I do have an Instagram for my business, but don't share anything personal and rarely post on it, my only weakness now is Instagram reels, they are stupidly addictive

 

[mummyofmonkeys]

Hi lovely,

I am exactly the same, coming up 30 and feel old before my time with the thoughts that putting EVERYTHING on SM is just ridiculous. The past Christmas I flicked through a few accounts that just uploaded every single thing and you think like really that’s your priority right now I deleted everything off my IG when my little one was around 3 as I know it’s set to private but you’ve really no idea what goes on without you knowing.
I am hoping to stay off it altogether, I know it’s really someone’s highlight reel but that doesn’t help when you’ve had a crappy day mentally and feel burn out from parenting. I’m hoping if I can start reading again it’ll help or I usually just browse here, look at holidays or read blogs for upcoming holiday plans. Plus I’m a student nurse so you’d really think I have no time to doom scroll IG
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Oh gosh yes never mix the two!
I have no actual reason as I never post anything on there anymore, if I want to share something like a memory or anything I have everyone’s number I’d possibly want to send too (if that’s makes sense) and they do the same.. I think you just get into the habit like first thing in the morning, last thing at night etc.. I need to start a new habit like maybe reading a book, using the 30 mins of scrolling to watch an episode of something I enjoy) or just being up before everyone else to have a hot coffee and set myself up for the day.. x

Haha we must be living the same life as I’m nearing 30 and a nurse too and also decided to stop posting my little ones when my eldest was around 3! It is wild to me I used to post every single detail of my life on social media as a teenager and even in my early 20s when my eldest was born! I value privacy now so much, especially with the kids and now to be honest I’m just not interested in what other people are up to and especially how it effects my mental health when I’m knee deep in parenting, financially ok but still can’t afford a fancy day out every day of the week/brand new clothes/nice things for the kids 24/7 and everyone seems to be doing this that and the other and seemingly giving their kids every second of their time when I’m struggling to split myself in 100 different ways and living off 5p some days! Honestly in the long term you’ll feel a huge weight gone xx

 

[StillLucilleBluth]

I’ve de activated both my Facebook and Instagram over the weekend. I can’t bring myself to ever fully delete them as there’s so many photos that I’d lose.

Not sure if this helps but you can download your entire profile - posts, messages, photos - when you fully delete your profile. I deleted by FB years ago and still have all the pics. Same on IG. It just goes into a folder on your hard drive.
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Bringing this thread back to life, has anyone been successful in deleting their social media.
My doom scrolling is at an all time high & Christmas has been rough in terms of comparison. I am drained.

I have!

I did Facebook a while ago although if I’m honest I barely used it anyway. I was sick of seeing engagements and babies as I was going through a horrible breakup.

Then I kind of replaced instagram with TikTok (unintentionally) for a year or so. Now IG just seems clunky and boring

To get rid of TT I used an app called Freedom which blocks it. Didn’t take long to stop wanting to go on it.

Now the idea of being back on IG or TT fills me with horror. I wasted so much of my time on them. They now seem quite lame to me which is a gift, actually!

I do have Facebook again now but only for local info and cat pictures and so far it’s working well, I’m on it once a day for a few minutes.

Getting off them all has drastically improved my life

 

[OhDearFords]

Hello. I want to delete my instagram, or at the very least delete the app from my phone. I've done it a few times but only ever lasted a day or two. How can I prevent myself from reinstalling? Has anyone got any willpower tips - or maybe any other strategies?! I'd be all ears. I sometimes waste HOURS scrolling on insta and it's just such a horrendous waste of time and I don't want to do it any more. But I'm finding it very difficult to stop

Quoting myself here because after the fab advice on Tuesday afternoon I deleted the app that day and still have not reinstalled. It’s the longest I’ve gone in a while and feeling less and less like looking. I have put my current book next to my phone so if I’m tempted during the day to pick it up mindlessly, I pick up my book instead. Working for now

 

[mummyofmonkeys]

I deactivated Facebook and instagram from the new year just for January and it’s done absolute wonders for my mental health, I don’t even feel the need to get either of them back and will continue to be off social media for the foreseeable. I use TikTok now just for a bit of entertainment in the evenings if I’m bored but honestly it’s been great. Feel far more present in life and like I’m doing things for me rather than for social media (sounds ridiculous but have grown up in the putting everything on Facebook turned insta age and it’s wild how much it affects the brain)

I deleted twitter or X in the last general election and have never gone back so I’m hoping it’ll be the same for fb and insta xx

 

[AlwaysSummer]

I deleted by FB account somewhere 2016 and never looked back. I’d been in it since the early days 2008ish. For me the turning point was when my boss tried to befriend me on it. I like to keep work and private life separate and there was nothing of the coolness left in FB but that point. The likes mindfuck was doing my head in.

Instagram was in a way easier to delete- I was on/off it 2021 till last autumn. Like you say the endless scrolling and ads became a chore. I did go through a few stages for taking 2-3 week breaks from it by deleting the app off my phone. Eventually I just deleted my account altogether.

I would suggest to think of your ‘why’ and figure out what that is which makes moving on my easier. Think of what you gain out of SM and what the downsides are and whether one outweighs the other. Take care x

 

[Silverback]

Over the course of the last few months I’ve deleted Insta and Reddit. I haven’t had Twitter in years and I can’t be dealing with FB.

It’s incredible the effect that social media had on your mind and wellbeing. When I had insta I had the urge to spend constantly and had this feeling of dissatisfaction about my clothes and home etc. I Miss following my football club on there but it’s just far too easy to lose hours scrolling looking at pretty people and pretty homes!

I enjoy Reddit but aside from the cute animal videos it’s a cesspool of bad news and misery. Especially now that trump is wreaking havoc, there are endless posts feeling upset or angry about it all, and while I sympathise and feel the same way I am thousands of miles away and can’t do anything about it.

 

[Blowup80]

I came off all social media for 5 years. I was going through a bad time with my mental health and just deactivated it all. After so long I just didn't care about it anymore. I only came back on it all last year when I became single and could be in contact with more people. I think it did me so good at the time and never expected it to be for as long as it was. It also amazes me how many people don't bother with you if you not friends with them on a social media platform! I never got invited to things like I did but it shows you your real friends have your phone number so does it really matter

 

[Fledgling Psycho]

I deleted FB years ago and Instagram about two months ago. I would find myself watching reel after reel and hours would pass. Yes there was some sweet animal stuff but the majority of it was stuff I really didn't need to know about.
I also felt so annoyed by idiot families dancing, people exploiting their little kids and all the make up and products obsessives, flogging crap. Ugh. I used to feel tainted and down after these addictive sessions. I don't miss any of it!

 

[Spectacles]

Deleted my insta last year but then made a new one but don't really post on it. Became more of a habit to check nothing on there so I deleted it last night. Fingers crossed I let it go this time
Also having another break from tiktok for the next few weeks. I had a break in the summer for about a month and felt less brain foggy. It was too distracting and I spent hours just scrolling through because I was bored. Felt like I had more control over it since until over Christmas when boredom set in again. Definitely feel better when I don't use social media as much

 

[50degreesnorth]

Thankfully I never got into Instagram - too old to appreciate photos of myself.

I was an early adopter of FB and back in the day you could order your feed by “most recent post” and see everything anyone had posted. These days it’s just junk and it’s a fucking mausoleum- “it’s so and so’s birthday” and I’m thinking: it’s really not, she died In 2012. What’s the etiquette for unfriending dead people?

In a nutshell, I have no apps on my phone and I bookmark a few FB groups on my laptop.

It does mean that people get inordinately annoyed that you didn’t see their post 3 weeks ago last Tuesday about the school play practice date changing or that a woman you knew 20 years ago is in a wheelchair… but having processed the guilt I figure if it’s genuinely important they’ll call me.

I do find tattle quite addictive though.

 

[D2them]

Bringing this thread back to life, has anyone been successful in deleting their social media.
My doom scrolling is at an all time high & Christmas has been rough in terms of comparison. I am drained.

I've just deactivated my instagram account and deleted the app from my phone. I need a break and was going to delete it tomorrow but just did it now. I spend far too much time doom scrolling and it's not good for my MH. I successfully deleted Facebook a few years ago so I'm hoping this will be just as easy for me.

 

[Jasminexx02]

I deleted social media about 4 years ago but would still occasionally redownload. About a year and a half ago I deactivated all of my accounts apart from Facebook which I just use a little so I don't fall totally out of touch with the world lol, but I don't ever post on it. Best decision ever. My partner did the same too as social media early on in our relationship caused a handful of arguments. So much happier without it all, I don't miss it in the slightest anymore. There comes a point where you're just not bothered about seeing what people you went to school with and haven't seen since are doing with their lives.

 

[Summer2011]

Bringing this thread back to life, has anyone been successful in deleting their social media.
My doom scrolling is at an all time high & Christmas has been rough in terms of comparison. I am drained.

 

[Peeltheavocado]

I regularly take social media breaks but last year after my dad died I deactivated instagram and removed the app from my phone. About 3 months later I reactivated it and it made me feel horrible. So I gave it around 3 weeks. That was back in March. Haven’t looked back. I have a Quick Look on TT but it’s mostly dire, fb is the same.
although I’m disabled and could be spending hours and hours on end on sm. I can’t like others have said it really affects my mental health. As someone who’s had mental illness since I was a teenager and learned to manage it, not just what these influencers think mental illness is. Social media is a drain. I think for me it’s had its time.
I enjoy having a read on a couple of threads in here. And I use discord for gaming.

 

[Rosie glow]

I deleted all social media about a year ago and haven't looked back since best thing I could of done tbh
it was really dragging me down, I initially deleted it all when yet another relative/friend had a baby and i couldn't torture myself seeing all the photos anymore so I hit delete I can't explain how much of a difference it has made to me

 

[Snippysnips]

I deleted most of all mine a while back, I had twitter, mastodon, blue sky, FB, threads an insta, an I found myself constantly thinking of what to post an also was wasting way too much screen time on them

I've kept my FB because my work is on there but I've really limited who I have on it now, it's literally only a handful of friends an ones that don't bring my mental health down, I've also really limited who I follow on insta an have managed to get the algorithm to only show me craft things so am not seeing rubbish

It's made such a difference I feel to my own mental health not having them all (apart from the two) the absolute garbage I'd see on them was a real downer for me an I also feel it's stopped my screen time, I've been doing a weekend once a month as well where I have 0 screen time so no phone/TV/gaming an its made such a difference as well, for one weekend I can just ignore everything

 

[BradLad96]

I trimmed my social media down a LOT. I've got a Facebook with about 30 "friends" it is all family. Set to private and rarely share anything. It is mostly used to organise family events via messenger and the occasional birthday post. The rest I don't use. It does wonders for my mental health. I'm not following pointless drama or getting emotionally invested in the latest trend etc.

 

[carriebooboo]

I'm trying to keep off mumsnet. It is all doom , gloom, problems and complaints. My life will be better I'd I'm not exposed to stuff like that. It logged me out and although I can still see everything, I've removed it from my suggested searches so I don't end up mindlessly scrolling.

People are so MEAN there. To complete strangers! The moderators don't seem to care (or are purposely allowing it to drive clicks). I stopped visiting a while ago and don't miss it.

I've given up everything except Tattle and Reddit. I like Reddit for news about one of my hobbies, but I'm definitely getting sucked into wasting time on other topics, so might need to take a break from there, too.

 

[BuffaloSoldier]

Quoting myself here because after the fab advice on Tuesday afternoon I deleted the app that day and still have not reinstalled. It’s the longest I’ve gone in a while and feeling less and less like looking. I have put my current book next to my phone so if I’m tempted during the day to pick it up mindlessly, I pick up my book instead. Working for now

Fabulous news! It certainly gets easier and before you know it you wonder how you ever found the time to scroll for hours