If you’ve noticed fewer posts from your actual friends in your social media feeds lately, you’re not imagining things. According to reporting by theWall Street Journal, fewer and fewer people are posting about their lives online.
For me, this all adds up to a feeling that social media isn’t as fun as it used to be. Recently, Iaskedmembers of theBuzzFeed Communitywho have quit using social media (or significantly cut back on their use) to share their reasons and what changed for them when they logged off. Here’s what they had to say:
2.“I have scaled back social media use because I got tired of the constant advertising posts. I would search for an item on a shopping app for a second and then be bombarded with Facebook ads for said item! It was also creeping me out that I could have a 10-second conversation with my husband about something and then open social media to see ads stupidly similar, if not matching exactly what we’d just talked about.”
" I used to go onto societal media because there was a balance of updates from friends and family and genuine tidings and current events in the man . When Facebook got rid of the news section , I quickly lose pursuit and scale back my manipulation of their app . I mostly see random post from community groups rather than from human friends . I now register a spheric news app when I relish my morn coffee , rather than social media . "
— cindy_schneider16
3.“I deleted Snapchat because I absolutely hated what it was doing to my mental health. Never been happier. I sort of miss the days before I had it when I didn’t think about those kinds of things. Constantly, every day, I would read people’s posts and get jealous and say I should be meeting those expectations; I should be doing that to be popular. It was really toxic as well because this boy in my grade kept harassing me, and I was just done. It will change your life, and you will feel so much happier, I pinky promise!”
— famoustrash57
5.“Some people have said I’m not a real person since I don’t have Facebook or Instagram, or I’ve been in relationships and have been told that they don’t know what to say to their friends because they can’t show my profile. However, I am real. I’m right in front of you. In this moment. I feel free experiencing moments fully present. My camera roll is full of memories, just for me.”
— freshmule674
6.“I permanently deleted all of my social media accounts over a year ago because I didn’t like how I used social media or how it made me feel after I used it. I got rid of all the accounts at once. I am way more content now. I’m better at reaching out to people in my life and having fulfilling social interactions. I don’t suffer FOMO because I don’t know what people are doing without me. And I don’t purchase as much because I don’t see all the stuff other people have on social media.”
" I feel like I ’ve become a better wife , mom , friend , sister , and daughter since I left social media . I love really being there for others and being engage and present . I also gained a unexampled hobby as I made it my deputation to learn how to bake — now I have something I can share with people in my life that I make for them to savour .
" I also now have a dumb phone . I can pretty much only use my phone as a tool to call and text . I care the ' friction ' of not having access code to anything / everything on my phone . "
— user924
7.“I used to be, for lack of a better term, a social media addict. I had Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, and whatnot. My nights coming home after work were more often than not filled with endless hours of scrolling and reposting and tagging and liking. I was a prisoner of the various algorithms.”
8.“I was never one to post much or even lurk, but after escaping a seriously effed-up marriage, I deleted all accounts so that he wasn’t able to stalk or find me. I don’t miss any of it. I have friends who I think would literally implode if they got rid of their accounts and were not able to see what their ex (relationships and friends) or that cousin they had a falling out with years ago is up to.”
— Brenda , 43
9.“I used to share a lot about my life. Maybe more than the average person did — and not just life updates, either, but personal issues. Tough situations that maybe I shouldn’t have opened the doors to for everyone. I was open about my divorce, drug use, alcohol abuse, and other things in a way that, while it was always posted about in a way looking for advice or support, let a lot of people into a dark side of my life.”
" It was n’t a witting decision to rive back . More so , it just started to fall out , and soon I went from post day by day ( not just about my issues , but Wiley Post in general ) to now barely using societal media at all . I think I realize that while support from people is always welcome , sometimes you have to be measured about who you allow support from . Because not everyone is kick the bucket to have your best interests , and calculate back , I realize that sometimes there may have been more damage done than skilful . “I’ve now acquire to believe my own advice and instincts and have a select few people with whom I fuck I can openly share stuff , and they will give me the advice and support that I need . "
— Waderick , 34
10.“I just couldn’t take all of the purposeful misinformation and hate anymore, so in October 2019, I deactivated everything. Just in time, as all of that has gotten much worse since COVID-19. I kinda see the good stuff, as I still scroll Reddit and BuzzFeed. I can honestly say that I have had MUCH better mental health in the intervening years. You really aren’t missing anything when you log off, since enough news media cover all the important stuff, so you don’t have to subject yourself to the poison of social media directly.”
11.“I worked in social media management for four years, and it absolutely wrecked my mental health. Upon switching industries, I deactivated my accounts, and I’ve never felt better. I compare myself less with others, and I’ve found I have stronger relationships with my friends because I am spending time with them to learn about what’s going on in their lives rather than relying on social media to keep me updated. I get to enjoy everything in real time instead of having the urge to record it for content. Zero regrets.”
— M , 29
12.“When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, I scaled back my posts on social media because I didn’t want others to know too much about my health condition, for personal privacy reasons. Later, I became so sick and had so little energy that whatever energy I had, I dedicated to things that were meaningful to me, such as spending time with family. Suddenly, social media didn’t seem as important.”
" After I polish off treatment , I was centre on my recovery , so I did n’t go on societal media as much . During that time period , I realized I was n’t missing out on much by not mail or delay my societal media forever . In gain , I stopped looking for establishment from others and realized that just because I did n’t post something does n’t stand for it did n’t happen or I was n’t special . When I stopped looking for such external validation , it ameliorate my genial wellness .
" To be fair , I still go on societal medium and office occasionally , but only if I experience like it . "
— xy8lu
13.“I got on Facebook to keep up with my niece in another state. I rarely posted, but I made a post about gun control after the movie theater shooting. My brother attacked me, threatened me, and said he would cut me off if I continued to make ‘political’ posts. Instead, I closed my account and haven’t spoken to him since. I loathe any social media and refuse to engage.”
14.“I removed Facebook during the first Trump election. It was far too toxic. I removed Instagram because I spent too much time just scrolling through. I removed LinkedIn because the toxicity was hidden but would appear at the most random times. I removed TikTok because I felt I was wasting too much time just scrolling through it. While social media seemed like a good idea, we as humans just have to fuck things up and turn a good idea into a nightmare. I’m happy to be the weirdo who has no social media presence. I don’t miss it, and it surely does not miss me.”
— wickedghost77
15.“I feel more connected with my own life. I have more moments when I sit with my thoughts instead of ramming scroll content in all of my quiet moments. I couldn’t delete the app — that felt too extreme — but I removed it from my home screen so that every time I opened my phone, it wasn’t the first thing my eyes ran to. And indeed, out of sight, out of mind.”
" I ascertain myself being more present throughout my day , and in no meter I realized I only scrolled that app twice , versus 15 times . It seemed as if I had to make more of an knowing pick to stab up the app , so it was n’t just muscle memory board to ' subject headphone equals open app . ' It ’s been three months , and I have n’t put it back on the home screen yet . Not certain I will . I do n’t want to be a scroll zombie craving mindless distraction . Time is , after all , our most valued gift . "
— Dani , 32
16.“I stopped in 2020. I just couldn’t deal with the negative garbage anymore. I also noticed that I was thinking about how I was going to post about my experiences all the time instead of just enjoying them. After I stopped posting, I realized how much better it was to just be in the moment. I have way less anxiety now that I’m not on social media anymore.”
17.“I was once a legitimate influencer in the autism community across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram. After one of my videos went viral (hitting over 2 million views) and propelled my subscriber base to near that magic 100,000 mark, I went from social media as a hobby to nearly quitting my day job because YouTube earnings were outpacing my own salary.”
" But while my popularity and royalties soar up , my stressors and obsessions were jeopardise my folk and my soulfulness . I nearly made a life - altering alternative that would have devastated both . longsighted story short , cut out all social media was part of a revitalising confession that has helped me and my family heal .
" While I ’m generally out of the loop now , I ’m no longer in bondage to equivalence , opinions of strangers , or performative highlights . I ’ve connect better with my kinsperson and my church , developed more material relationships with people I can confide , read tower of real books , honed my cheat and weightlifting skill , and pillow my head without a shred of anxiety anymore as I dwell my days in better alignment with my organized religion and my self . "
— Orion , 37
— tortillachips
19.“I deleted both my Facebook and LinkedIn after finding out that someone was using my pics (but a different name) on a dating website. It just really freaked me out, and I deleted everything and never went back.”
20.“My mother passed away. It was a long, drawn-out cancer battle that started during COVID. My parents were conservative Christians and heavily involved in their church, where there is little separation between doctrine, dogma, and politics. Being baby boomers, my parents and much of their church were heavy Facebook users. I started to scale back during COVID in general, as I couldn’t deal with all the conspiracies and politics and lack of common sense. But I stuck around because it was one way to help support my mom.”
" She was very distressing at this prison term . I have two young children who she was n’t able to drop much clip with because they could ’ve well gotten her sick during chemo . My mama would carry invariably , update her journey , to be meet with flush of support and love from all her people .
" When we came to the oddment and she was sent home for hospice , I drop weeks with her and my father , helping to still her last leg . The family line decided to make a C. W. Post asking for people to share their memories of my mamma , and the Post became overwhelming . When she passed , her memorial table service was so big that the church service could n’t accommodate everyone who attend . We had to turn masses out ; she was so beloved in her biotic community . “Now , every fourth dimension a post or memory board show up on FB , it just set off me and bring back everything emotionally related to COVID and politics and her exit . I just could n’t do it anymore , and every time I nose my school principal back into FB , everything floods back in . "
— Ryan , 42
21.“A few years ago, a close friend went through some serious anxiety and depression, exacerbated by comparing herself with people on social media — even when they were mutual friends and we both knew it didn’t reflect their real lives. When I saw the effect on her, I realized it was also affecting me, so I just stopped using it. Now I occasionally scroll Instagram to see cuteanimalvideos and keep up with what my friends are doing, but that’s all, and I don’t think I’m missing out.”
— kkat22
observe : Some responses have been edited for distance and/or clarity .
