I made a huge, life-altering decision this month! OK, let’s be honest. This decision was not huge or life-altering, but it felt that way.
I decided to delete my Facebook and Instagram accounts.
I have deleted them before, and then gone back, hanging my head in shame. But this time, it’s over. The fact that it felt huge and life-altering is one of the main reasons I knew it was time to go.
Goodbye Facebook!
I’m done with that cesspool of misinformation, scamming, ranting, and advertising. (Uh, am I ranting here myself?) It was always bad, but recent changes have made it seem even worse. Every time I’d look at Facebook, I’d feel like I was having a panic attack.
I won’t lie—I’ve almost gone back because I’m curious to know what’s going on in one of the private groups or who needs a birthday wish. I’m holding strong, and it’s been nice. I’ve been sleeping better since quitting, which is proof that I needed to go.
Goodbye Instagram!
I enjoyed Instagram when it was a photo-sharing app. However, with the addition of reels, I became increasingly disenchanted with it. The final straw was when they changed from square to rectangular format. I know it’s petty, but that’s the truth. It’s not fun for me anymore, so that makes it easy to leave.
Goodbye Threads!
I tried Threads for a few months but didn’t find it interesting. It was easy to delete.
Goodbye Bluesky!
I tried Bluesky for a few weeks, quickly got bored with it, and deleted it. It was just more of the same old thing: everyone yelling into the void.
I guess my takeaway is that I don’t enjoy social media!
I do enjoy blogging and reading blogs – so that’s where I’m going to focus my attention from now on. It’s a relief to be free of social media and simply enjoy my little corner of the internet. Thank you, dear readers, for making blogging such a fun pastime!
I’d love to hear about your experiences with social media and why you love blogs.
Ah Michelle. I loved seeing your face and comments on my Instagram posts but I support your decision. So many times I wish I could delete the app. I can’t. It is my work. And so I am on there more than I like but for now I am. Sigh. I envied you somewhat.
But I am also enjoying the company I have there and all my art friends.
Hope this will be a wonderful transition for you and you have lots of fun diving deeper into blogging and blog reading.
Hi Tobia, of course you have to stay there when it’s required for your job. It’s an important marketing tool. Plus, if you enjoy it for your personal life, then that’s wonderful! I have a few friends on Instagram that I miss, and maybe I can get in touch with them other ways.
Hi Michelle,
congratulations! I deleted FB in 2018, Instagram in 2021. Never had twitter or whatever it’s called now.. I am protecting my mental health.
My three close friends have a group chat on What’s App, and that’s pretty much it.
I love blogs since they are more genuine, and you know there is an actual person who is writing them. It also takes time and patience to create a blog post so I appreciate that.
As for my blog, I just like the physical activity of writing something down and getting my thoughts out there.
Hi Daria! Yes to protecting our mental health! Good for you for being wise enough to delete all social media. I’m glad you’re a blogger – it’s a lovely community!
I found your post!!! Hurray!
I understand your decision to leave social media behind. I never got into FB so deleted my account there 10 years ago. I’m still making a go of Threads and Bluesky— attempting to bring a lighthearted [maybe snarky too] vibe to my accounts. I understand about the looking into the void aspect of them, and the incessant political commentary, but like Michelle Obama said: “when they go low, we go high.”
Yay Ally, I’m glad you found it! 🤣 You’ve always been so supportive and patient here and on social media, and I really appreciate it. You definitely offer a lighthearted vibe, and people need that.
Dear Michelle, you go girl!!! I am 100 per cent in agreement with your choices! I have an old facebook account… it was so I could keep track of my son who was in the army (stationed in Afghanistan many years ago) and I could see if he had posted recently… and he was able to do that often! So it was a huge relief. But I stopped using it myself, and never really got into it… (I’m just not very social in a general way!). I refused to go to Instagram because it lacked all the things I liked so much about blogging! Detail, descriptions, information that was inspiring and educational… to name a few! Twitter would have driven me right around the bend (I hate that sort of incessant “look at me!” stuff…. no thank you! So here I am, still determined to be the last blogger standing…. just because it is where I have accumulated a whole life of creativity and been inspired by other bloggers in more ways than I ever could have imagined! The miniatures world does not easily lend itself to “meeting up ” with like minded people…. we don’t tend to brag about playing with dolls in general company! :):) But it is what we do and are passionate about… these mini worlds we create and inhabit! As for the trash that has become incessant on some of those platforms, I am having a hard enough time just dealing with the angst generated by the newspaper articles! (Praying constantly for some sanity to return to our world!) Thank you for sharing your “brave” changes and speaking out about this. I am glad you are sleeping better as a result! And yes. please keep sharing your beautiful heart-felt inspiring artwork! We need that! :):):):)
Hi Betsy! Facebook must have been so useful to keep in touch with your son, and that’s the best, most awesome use for it that I’ve ever heard. I’m like you in that I’m not very social in my real life, but it’s so nice to meet people on blogs. Especially people who love dolls and will admit it! Thank you for your lovely comment. It brightened my day!
I’m with you. I dislike so much about FB – which is the only one I technically use. I rarely look at it, but I use it to post photos and videos of our daycare adventures for the parents I sit for. I’m also part of a FB group where people post when they are looking for daycare providers, and that has been an excellent way for me to find families in need of daycare. I don’t tend to scroll, don’t click on stuff, and don’t friend people, etc. I think when I retire from babysitting, I’ll probably retire from FB. I wish we’d limited what socials our kids got involved back when we handed them their phones. Live and learn.
Hi Ernie! Finding childcare is a great use of Facebook! That’s the thing – the private groups have a lot of nice aspects and can be really helpful.
Oh, and I meant to say – I have no idea what threads or bluesky are, so I’m out of the loop which in terms of social media is exactly where I want to// be. 🙂
That’s wonderful, Ernie! I want to be out of the loop now too!
I stay on FB only for my community’s group page so that I know what is going on around here! I don’t scroll the main feed anymore – too many ads and weird reels. I hate the logarithm – when a recipe caught my attention and I looked at it then I’d get inundated by recipe posts. Once I looked at a reel of a baby eating in a high chair and my feed was then full of babies in high chairs smearing food all over themselves. It was actually kind of hilarious – but also annoying! I don’t have a blog because I’m not a good writer, but I do enjoy reading blogs, and am starting to comment more on them.
Hi Dulcie! It’s true that community pages are useful. That’s one reason I hesitated to quit. But in the end, the bad things outweighed the good for me. That’s hilarious about the food-smearing babies flooding your feed! I love that you’re commenting on blogs! Thank you so much – I appreciate it! ❤️
Good for you! I left Facebook in 2020 and haven’t missed it once. When my dad was dying, he asked me to post updates on his account, which I was more than happy to do. But just spending a few minutes on Facebook gave me enough anxiety to confirm I made the right decision to leave.
I’ve been debating leaving Instagram for a long time, but I don’t want to lose all the pictures I have of my kids—that’s my one regret about leaving Facebook. So, I might just remove the app from my phone at some point. At this point, I’m only using Instagram to message friends for lunch plans and send funny memes. 🤣
Hi Kari! You were so smart to leave Facebook in 2020. It is anxiety-inducing. You were so kind to help your dad with his updates. I can see why you’d want to keep your Instagram photos of your kids. Maybe there’s a way to download them?
I don’t have any social media and I. LOVE. IT.
I had Facebook when I was in university and had a lot of connections (odd for an introvert). My now-husband and I started dating and he was adamantly opposed to Facebook (there was no Instagram, etc back in the olden days) and purposefully never had an account (he is very tech savvy, so maybe he saw some of the writing on the wall of what was to come). He asked if I would get rid of my account. I did for a while, then missed it so much and went back on FB, but then he reiterated he thought it was a net-negative in my life. At the time I didn’t really agree but I thought why not just go off it for a while and see what happens.
I missed FB for about a week and then never missed it again and I cannot tell you how happy I am to not have any social media accounts. I guess I DO have a blog, but that feels different. It was definitely a net-negative in my life and I know it would be a HUGE net-negative for me if I had stayed on social media.
Congrats on making a choice that feels right for you. And I love that you’re already noticing improvements in your sleep.
Elisabeth, your husband is a wise man! It was a net-negative in my life as well, and now I’m feeling a bit sad that I didn’t do it sooner. I regret all the ways I could’ve used that misguided energy. How about your kids – do they want to be on social media? I’m so glad it wasn’t around when I was a kid. It would’ve been really tough on me.
Neither of our kids has their own device yet, but I know that will have to happen eventually.
I’m not sure what the allure level will be by the time they are making those decisions? I feel like a lot of the shine has worn off social media and now that it’s been functioning for a while, we have more longitudinal studies about the impacts (especially for teen girls – so sad!) and so schools and doctors and parents are starting to make more informed decisions to support mental health.
While we’re able, we will NOT give our kids permission to use social media of any form, but obviously at some point they will have to/get to make those decisions on their own. That’s part of growing up I suppose 🙁
I know Belle has heard of some not-so-good stuff on friends’ social media accounts (one of her friends WAS FED A BEHEADING VIDEO, I’m not even kidding – how do these things get by controls…though I guess there are no real controls *head exploding*) that I think she wants to stay far away. It’s mind boggling and so sad what things kids have to learn about so graphically so early in modern society. Belle does complain about being the only student in her entire grade that doesn’t have a cell phone, but I hope when she’s an adult she’ll wear it as a badge of honour? For now, as a parent, I will gladly take her complaints and continue to be VERY assured that not giving her a cell phone yet is the right decision for our family.
Phew…long comment 😉
This is a great comment, Elisabeth. I can’t even imagine what kids have to deal with these days, but wouldn’t it be awesome if they would all decide that social media is boring, useless, and uncool! Like you say, maybe the shine has worn off. It sure has for me!
I went off of Facebook and Instagram in December 2021. I can remember that vividly because right after my younger son turned one and I decided it just was not net positive for my mental health. It’s a comparison trap for me and then add in all the election-related misinformation that is shared and knowing things about how my family members and friends feel that I wouldn’t otherwise know if it wasn’t for social media pushed me to leave those platforms. I felt like it also fostered a false sense of connection. So I spent 2022 focusing on more meaningful connections with family and friends. It’s a lot of work, of course , but it’s worthwhile. My family has a private Facebook group, and my mom often shares crucial updates about the health of family members there, but luckily my husband is still in that group so he will fill me in on things that I need to know. I’ve tried to get my mom to just text me or call me but she’s a little bit pissy about the fact that I’m off social media… it’s helpful for my husband to still be on because he’s part of our neighborhood Facebook group too, so he can fill me in on things happening in the neighborhood. He has zero attachment to social media so easy for him to stay on those platforms. But if you ever went off, it wouldn’t be a big deal overall I don’t think.
All that said, congrats for getting off those platforms! I understand why some people will stay on them, but we all have to make a choice for what’s best for us, our mental health, and our values!
Hi Lisa! Oh, it would’ve been so much more difficult if my family had a FB group! Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Good for you for staying true to yourself! You’re an inspiration! I wish I could be more like your husband, being able to look at social media with zero attachment!
Hi Michelle, I completely do understand everything you said about social media, because me too: I am away from all this stuff, it’s negative and does no good/hurt to people. Since years I still have an account on Facebook, where I posted after everyone went away from blogs to Facebook. Now I’ve left it for years and after having so much health issues during the Corona period, I decided to stop with Facebook and in september last year I went back to only blogging. There are still just a few ‘old’ bloggers/friends (because blogging isn’t “cool”) but this community is so lovely as a warm bath, it feels like “I am at home again”. So, I do understand you very well, and welcome into blogland <3
And yes, unfortunately there are a lot of spammers on blogs, but I just remove them once in awhile and then they will stop because it's no fun anymore ;).
Keep on blogging, Michelle, I'll be there too ;).
Hugs, Ilona
Hi Ilona! I’m so glad that you came back to blogging! You’re right about the blogging community being so kind and lovely as a warm bath! It’s true, there are spammers here too, but certainly fewer than on Facebook. I figure a little moderation will discourage them! Thank you for your lovely comment, Ilona!
Agree to agree! Blogs are where it’s at. My biggest beef is that the socials force you to see content that you never chose to follow, and they limit the content from sources that you follow. I don’t need someone else to dictate what I look at on the internet. Also, if we’re being real, a lot of the content is fake. In contrast, Feedly only shows the blogs that I follow in my feed. What I love about the blogs that I follow is that they’re written by real people doing real things . Sure back in the day sometimes a blog would make it big and turn into SEO clickbait, but now that “blogging is dead” that doesn’t happen very much anymore;-)
My best mental health tip for the socials is to turn off notifications. Otherwise they’re pinging you with mindless stuff a few times a day (at least that’s how it was 10 years ago when I turned it off, I can’t imagine that it’s gotten better). I find value in FB for groups, LinkedIn for keeping in touch with work folks and jobs, and I like the content on IG, so as long as I’m getting something from them I will stay on them, but if things change to the point where the value isn’t there then I would leave (or just stop visiting which is what I did with Twitter a long time ago).
Birchie, you have made so many excellent points here! Agree to agree is right! I feel fortunate to have the luxury of leaving social media because it’s not required for my job. The cows don’t care about Facebook! 🤣 Now I’m wishing I’d left a lot sooner!
I completely understand! I have not really be active on FB for many years, but once the pandemic hit, it really cemented the fact that it was not the place for me. I have kept it for Marketplace and messenger, but do not really go on the actual website. I think it is better that way! Good for you for making the change. Also I think that a lot of the “likes” are just mindless button pushes, whereas blogs you have to be more thoughtful, if that makes sense. I like the community aspect of blogging but the other social media often seems a bit superficial.
Hi Kyria! Yes, I agree that blogs require more thoughtfulness, which is wonderful, and much better for healing my attention span. It’s great that you can use FB’s tools and stay off the site. I hadn’t thought about that.
I have FB and Instagram accounts, and, in general, avoid most negative stuff and concentrate on various groups I belong to or family postings. I hardly ever comment unless it is a friend and feel comfortable doing so. I have eliminated any other accounts and keep it simple. I’m also on these two because I handle a volunteer position that posts to these accounts. The negativity and junk postings are certainly a turnoff and weigh your mind down if you get involved. I avoid involvement I guess. 🙂 See you on the blog highway.
Judy, it sounds like you’ve got the perfect system for using FB and IG to your advantage. I wish I were stronger and could’ve done that, but apparently they know just how to get me sucked down the rabbit hole of despair! Yes, I will enjoy seeing you on the blog highway!
Whoops, what did I do? My comment is in moderation! It’s early in the morning, I think I made a mistake. Sorry Michelle!
It wasn’t you, it was me! ❤️
Well I will miss seeing you on IG but I do understand (why DID they move from the square format???). The advertising is just over the top now. FB especially I find terrible. It’s like friend update, followed by six ads, followed by an update from a group, followed by eight ads. I’m still on there as I promote my blog there, have family on it, keep my photos organized, etc., but I understand.
I never tried Threads and Bluesky but after I deleted twitter four years ago I was so much happier. I had that exact same feeling when I deleted my account entirely, it was just pure happiness!
Hi Nicole! Yes, you described Facebook exactly! And yes, it is pure happiness to be done with it! BTW, I set my blog to moderate all comments because I wanted more control over things, because of spammers trying to trick me and I’m not having any of that! 🤣 They left a nice comment and got approved, then here came the spam.