Nonsensical ramble:
It has been over a year since Iāve last had social media on my phone (not counting apps used solely for messaging, ie, discord, messenger, etc), and I can feel the difference. the only time i use social media is when Iām on my laptop and its usually no longer than 30 minutes a day as an unwind (even then, itās only Pi.fyi because i refuse to go on social media that allows for doom scrolling).
I feel the difference. My mind feels so much more clear, my memory has sharpened, and, oddly enough, Iām not as quick to get angry and iām less irritable.
Iāve never realised that it was an addiction. In the few times i have found myself in a trap of doomscrolling on instagram on the occasions that I needed to message someone on that platform and actively needed to sign into my account, i feel horrible after. like my focus had weened and i get grumpy and agitated more easily. It genuinely feels like a relapse.
I promise you, cold turkey it and it will be for the better. I am not saying get rid of it, but you will find time in your days again.
Iām more creative, Iām reading more, Iām absorbing more information that what I did while i was an avid social media user, and i have time for new hobbies.
Iām not being dramatic, iām being 100% serious.
8h ago
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Iām going through the same thought process right now. My twitter/x has been long gone, Iāve gotten rid of meta, and frankly if tik tok comes back purchased/changed/etc. I will no longer be using it either. So for me Iāve done a few things: Iāve made new social media on healthier apps (which sounds counterintuitive to less social media but hear me out). I made a Pixelfed and itās like the old old instagram. No ads, no distractions taking you to new links, no memes unless someone happens to post one on their personal account. Itās literally just people organically posting pictures of things they like from their breakfast to the view of their nature walk. Because itās so simple again, I donāt really think thereās room for doomscrolling. This is me if you want to see what I mean!
Next: I use Bluesky partially to see some goings-on in the world to keep up to date, I went to the library of congress website and specifically subscribed to their email newsletters on bills being introduced and news in congress to stay up to date, and Iām vetting some news sources looking for something more objective and reliable to start reading from.
Also: a while back I got some digital cameras like I had when I was a kid for nostalgia reasons but now theyāre coming in handy. Iām transitioning to using a flip phone! You donāt have to go this extreme but honestly Iām excited for it. Iāll have a flip phone so not everything will be so convenient and at the touch of my fingers, so I hope that my internet usage will become much more intentional. Iāll be leaving only a few apps on my smart phone, music, reading, this app and pixelfed for periodic social interaction lol, and thatās all I can think of right now. Iāll essentially be taking the SIM card out and using my smart phone as a wifi connected ipod lol.
My goal is to get back into my hobbies! Reading, sewing clothing, knitting, painting, being outdoors, gardening. Iāll communicate more intentionally with family and friends and not just through sending memes. I wonāt doomscroll for hours and then feel bad that I wasted the day away. A lot of the sinister stuff going on between social media monopolies and the government recently is making the transition even easier. Itāll be hard at first because youāll be so used to reaching for something to do for some instant gratification or stimulation, etc. but itāll be so overall rewarding in the long run! Good luckā¤ļø
Jan 19, 2025
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about two weeks ago, i deleted all social media from my phone. tiktok, instagram & facebook. i truly think this was one of the best decisions i made. i find myself living my days a little less stressed and i find myself engaging in the world more.
my biggest fear before deleting the apps was that i would be completely out of touch with the world. i did feel like that for the first week, but after the 'detox' i felt better. i still stay in touch with news, i use Reuters and NPR to stay up to date as they are pretty unbiased compared to other news outlets. often i go to a site called allsides where i can see how the news is being reported across the spectrum.
every so often, i'll open instagram on my browser for a little bit and can really only stay on there for like 5 minutes. i no longer see the appeal and quite frankly it stresses me out to be on there. i am not ignorant to the things going on in the world, i have just found joy in finding out about things in a different way. i have linked the allsides website to this post, i think it's worth looking at because it is really interesting to see how different outlets report things.
Feb 2, 2025
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once i got realistic about what type of content i consumed on ig and twitter, i realized so quickly it was not expanding the way i think and in fact was keeping me stuck in the same (oftentimes negative/harmful) thought loopholes. social media is addictive in part because it algorithmically reproduces the way we already think. it keeps us comfortable.
start questioning: what can help expand your life? what other creative and consumptive outlets do you find fulfilling? is there a book you want to read? something you want to draw or write about? or, in general, consider how your older self would have wanted your time to be spent. you are so right that social media makes us feel Bad-- but we don't have to! it is an act of self-care and deep love to work on stepping away from things that hurt!
as far as practical tips, the best things that helped me were:
a) like some others mentioned, deleting ALL social media apps from my phone so i can only access them on my computer. this helps because the online interfaces are a lot clunkier so it reduces some of the quick gratification that keeps you addicted. also you have to be literally sitting at a desk to use it, so the portability aspect/mindless scrolling is largely removed.
b) keeping a journal because it's a much safer space to dump thoughts than a private story
c) prioritizing in-person connection rather than mediating relationships through tech-- meet a friend for coffee! cultivate intimacy rather than superficiality, and notice how irl vs. online connection feels different
d) nervous system regulation and grounding practices to counteract how scrolling can make you anxious/stressed/disembodied!
finally i did struggle a lot with fomo and being behind on trends at first but then i realized it doesn't really matter. trends are fleeting. even without chronic online-ness i am still funny and relatable and i find it much more interesting to hear about people's lives when i haven't been informed about them in an endless information stream online!!
Oct 31, 2024
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Feb 19, 2025
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tried reading dante alighieriās inferno. key emphasis on tried. i got bored and realised a story written in poem form is not my typa beat.
i tried because it seemed like what all the indie hipsters who are well versed would read, and that i would look cool and nicheābut it just cost me $25.
i prefer crazy detailed paragraphs rather than a line by line story.
anyways
Feb 17, 2025
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saying āiām sickā when youāre sick is boring.
instead, here are some more funky fresh and cool ways to disclose that your immune system has been highjacked (itās time to revive these sayings from the dead!):
āi am indisposedā
āi am taken illā
āi am feeling out of sortsā
āi am suffering from a bilious attackā
āi have been seized by an agueā
āi am afflicted with a malaiseā
āi have taken to my bedā
āthe vapours have overcome meā
āi have a touch of the influenzaā
āthe rheumatism plagues meā
āi am laid low with a feverā
āi am afflicted with a troublesome ailmentā
youāre welcome
Feb 18, 2025