I have all notifications off apart from direct messaging so my use of any platform is always intentional and often purposeful.
Facebook - I've had this since it started but this is now mostly used for marketplace and groups for information purposes. It takes effort to curate your feed on Facebook now with all the ads/links to the wider Meta offering - this is where Meta is clever as it's made it more work over the years to filter and sort the ads and non-personal content as opposed to originally only being personal/friend content.
Instagram - I have 4 accounts, they have different purposes and therefore have different feeds but I've always found staying off explore page and mostly away from reels is good. My feeds are curated by what I follow and choose to interact with which is also intentional. I've had Instagram since it's early days when it was a photography platform (way before meta bought it), everyone was there for a purpose and it was led by static content unlike today - I do miss the community and focused idea of the original. You would collaborate with people and it wasn't filled with 'influencers' or content for contents sake. But I have found I'm able to manage and keep my experience limited by being intentional with what I follow and what parts I use.
YouTube - intentional use for handful of channels, for some how to videos, and podcast videos. Very rare engagement or use of comments.
Tiktok - never downloaded it and refuse to. Only way I interact with tiktok content is if it's been reshared/repurposed on Instagram/Facebook reels but even then I prefer static content.
I cut social media out of my life a few years ago when I became sober. It was life altering in the best way possible. My friendships are genuine now and I am less affected by others. I do have YouTube but to minimize exposure to extra unwanted content I have turned off my browsing history and now I only see content from people I subscribe to. The only shorts I have access to are those same subscriptions. I spend less time on YouTube while still being able to enjoy content from my favies♥️
Happy you've found what works for you Val - I think I may end up with a similar arrangement to you after this experiment. I miss the channels on YouTube I genuinely find value in, just not the rest!
oooo Mediterranean cooking sounds yummy - lots of fish and veg right? - I've started getting into cooking recently too... well, maybe that's an overstatement! I don't love cooking itself but I've started to find satisfaction in preparing nice meals (never happened before!!).
I use YouTube in much the same way, and it's lovely to go to it as more of a library or weekly radio show instead of an endless time sink. Love hearing the other hobbies and interests that you've grown in the place of social media <3
I agree! It's much more enjoyable now that the extra 'noise' is gone. Tonight I'm making Greek salad for the 3rd time in a week lol. When you find something you love.... gotta keep on keeping on 😺
Great question- I’m loving reading thoughts on this. I’ve definitely struggled over the years to find what works for me - often getting in negative spirals from scrolling. I realised it was so linked to me comparing myself so I now have an incognito Insta where I mainly follow ND folk and therapy related content etc. I very rarely look at my other account and when I do, those feelings quickly creep in again so it’s the best way I’ve found to manage it so that I can still access all the content I love. I’ve also got a timer set on my phone for lots of my apps so that I am held accountable otherwise I can completely lose track of time.
Sensory wise, I prefer stills to videos on insta and if I watch videos they’re generally on mute with subtitles. My cousin once showed me her tik-tok and it was a sensory nightmare for me so I won’t be getting that!
I wouldn’t want to be without WhatsApp but I mute all groups and am forever battling the demand of replying to messages. I find it helpful to leave them marked as unread and then reply to them in batches when I have a burst of energy.
I was nodding along whilst reading Liv! Love the idea of a timer, and I do the batch responses to messages I read and leave on unread until later too. I cannot believe I used to use TikTok AND instagram and mostly consume video content - it wiped me out sensory wise. I find now that I don’t have them I have more bandwidth for other sensory input in my day.
I use various social media platforms to different degrees.
I use Facebook for the chat feature and groups.
I still use Twitter but not nearly as much as I used to. I have threads too but I rarely check it.
Instagram and Tik Tok were my biggest drains. I have since set a timer for 30 mins for Instagram and 30 mins for Tik Tok. I have found this hugely beneficial. I'm hoping it will be the jumping off point to further reduce my screen time.
I never did tiktok and I've completely abandoned twitter since Elon.
I pretty much quit Facebook at the beginning of the year as its the social media that makes me the most angry and the ads are out of control. I have a couple of groups there I use so I 'pinned' them in the groups tab and I can click through and visit them directly without getting stuck in a scroll loop. I also use it to check out local events.
I only regularly use reddit and Instagram at this point. Reddit has lots of good collated info and it's easy to tailor your feed only to see posts from subreddits you are interested in, plus minimal ads compared to other social media. Instagram I use because I make visual arts and my feed is entirely made up of carefully selected mental health/wellness accounts and artists/crafters I enjoy and know so it's usually a nice experience.
I've replaced social media time with Substack articles and more book reading with my Kindle - I'm up to two books a week since I left Facebook and curated my social media feeds elsewhere.
Two books a week!! Thats amazing. The one social media app I never got into was Reddit - I guess I never saw it as a social media app? But probably cause I don’t know too much about it other than googling questions and adding “Reddit” on the end. 😂 It sounds good for finding niche groups of people with similar interests.
I've struggled with minimizing my social media use, but this is what I've tried implementing with some success so far:
-i only use Facebook for marketplace
-i set my timer for Instagram to zero minutes so that I don't use it regularly to mindlessly scroll. About once a week I'll hop on to view any videos that my husband or friends have sent to me, and then I set the timer back to zero. I haven't figured out how to healthily engage in the content that I actually want to follow yet
-i do not regularly use tiktok, the only time I use it is to very occasionally check in on chronic illness tiktok when I'm stressed about my health
-youtube is my free use social media. I don't mind spending hours watching videos as I'm usually doing chores and other tasks while doing so. I have tried to manage my feed to where I don't see shorts though as that always becomes a huge time waster
Broadly speaking, I try to minimize or eliminate as much as I can. My husband thinks it's a bit extreme of me, but I really do find my mental health better without it. Small doses of asynchronous content that's rich in information or personal experience without those algorithmic sponcon/like and subscribe vibes is where I try to focus my energies.
The specifics:
While I haven't deleted my Facebook or Instagram or Twitter accounts, I don't use them.
The Reddit app comes and goes from my phone in cycles, as it's a great resource for first-hand accounts and recommendations, but can quickly become a doom-scrolling situation.
I don't have the YouTube app on my phone, though I do sometimes break down and access it through the mobile browser. On my computer, I use the "Unhook" browser extension - no watch history, recommendations, comments, etc. It's more like a library or DVR, which suits me better, since I do sometimes go down a YouTube rabbit hole if given the opportunity.
I'll go to Tumblr once a month or so, computer only. There are parts I miss, but I can feel the bad feelings if I linger too long, so I try not to!
At this point, if I find myself on Tumblr or Reddit too often, or mimicking social media scroll behaviors on a barely-social-media site like MetaFilter, I treat it as a canary in the coal mine. Am I feeling stressed? overwhelmed? anxious? What low-effort dopamine things could I do instead? Even just switching to re-watching a comfort movie can be an upgrade if I find myself scrolling and feeling bad.
Love your last point about the scrolling being a prompt to think - what else is going on here? what do I need? how can I meet it via other means?
Oh, also, Unhook is GREAT - I think I will go back to using YouTube after this social media experiment is over so long as I use it on my computer and Unhook is downloaded. I miss putting videos from my favourite content creators on in the background whilst I cook or clean or do chores or whatever.
I have all notifications off apart from direct messaging so my use of any platform is always intentional and often purposeful.
Facebook - I've had this since it started but this is now mostly used for marketplace and groups for information purposes. It takes effort to curate your feed on Facebook now with all the ads/links to the wider Meta offering - this is where Meta is clever as it's made it more work over the years to filter and sort the ads and non-personal content as opposed to originally only being personal/friend content.
Instagram - I have 4 accounts, they have different purposes and therefore have different feeds but I've always found staying off explore page and mostly away from reels is good. My feeds are curated by what I follow and choose to interact with which is also intentional. I've had Instagram since it's early days when it was a photography platform (way before meta bought it), everyone was there for a purpose and it was led by static content unlike today - I do miss the community and focused idea of the original. You would collaborate with people and it wasn't filled with 'influencers' or content for contents sake. But I have found I'm able to manage and keep my experience limited by being intentional with what I follow and what parts I use.
YouTube - intentional use for handful of channels, for some how to videos, and podcast videos. Very rare engagement or use of comments.
Tiktok - never downloaded it and refuse to. Only way I interact with tiktok content is if it's been reshared/repurposed on Instagram/Facebook reels but even then I prefer static content.
Most of my friends only use Facebook for marketplace now - I was intrigued so I googled if there are stats and, apparently, about 16% of active users on the Facebook platform log in ONLY to shop on the marketplace. That's a lot!! https://techreport.com/statistics/finance-marketing/facebook-marketplace-users-statistics/
I cut social media out of my life a few years ago when I became sober. It was life altering in the best way possible. My friendships are genuine now and I am less affected by others. I do have YouTube but to minimize exposure to extra unwanted content I have turned off my browsing history and now I only see content from people I subscribe to. The only shorts I have access to are those same subscriptions. I spend less time on YouTube while still being able to enjoy content from my favies♥️
Happy you've found what works for you Val - I think I may end up with a similar arrangement to you after this experiment. I miss the channels on YouTube I genuinely find value in, just not the rest!
Thank you Charlie! Yes I'm really happy now and am doing more crochet, gardening and most recently Mediterranean cooking 🙌.
oooo Mediterranean cooking sounds yummy - lots of fish and veg right? - I've started getting into cooking recently too... well, maybe that's an overstatement! I don't love cooking itself but I've started to find satisfaction in preparing nice meals (never happened before!!).
I use YouTube in much the same way, and it's lovely to go to it as more of a library or weekly radio show instead of an endless time sink. Love hearing the other hobbies and interests that you've grown in the place of social media <3
I agree! It's much more enjoyable now that the extra 'noise' is gone. Tonight I'm making Greek salad for the 3rd time in a week lol. When you find something you love.... gotta keep on keeping on 😺
Great question- I’m loving reading thoughts on this. I’ve definitely struggled over the years to find what works for me - often getting in negative spirals from scrolling. I realised it was so linked to me comparing myself so I now have an incognito Insta where I mainly follow ND folk and therapy related content etc. I very rarely look at my other account and when I do, those feelings quickly creep in again so it’s the best way I’ve found to manage it so that I can still access all the content I love. I’ve also got a timer set on my phone for lots of my apps so that I am held accountable otherwise I can completely lose track of time.
Sensory wise, I prefer stills to videos on insta and if I watch videos they’re generally on mute with subtitles. My cousin once showed me her tik-tok and it was a sensory nightmare for me so I won’t be getting that!
I wouldn’t want to be without WhatsApp but I mute all groups and am forever battling the demand of replying to messages. I find it helpful to leave them marked as unread and then reply to them in batches when I have a burst of energy.
I was nodding along whilst reading Liv! Love the idea of a timer, and I do the batch responses to messages I read and leave on unread until later too. I cannot believe I used to use TikTok AND instagram and mostly consume video content - it wiped me out sensory wise. I find now that I don’t have them I have more bandwidth for other sensory input in my day.
I use various social media platforms to different degrees.
I use Facebook for the chat feature and groups.
I still use Twitter but not nearly as much as I used to. I have threads too but I rarely check it.
Instagram and Tik Tok were my biggest drains. I have since set a timer for 30 mins for Instagram and 30 mins for Tik Tok. I have found this hugely beneficial. I'm hoping it will be the jumping off point to further reduce my screen time.
I wish I remembered to use a timer - that's such a great middle way.
Oh a 30 minute timer - that's such a good idea - I can spend well over an hour on Instagram!!
Eek! So excited to see my question here, and I can't wait to read through everyone's thoughts!! Thanks for sharing!!
💘🧚♂️
I never did tiktok and I've completely abandoned twitter since Elon.
I pretty much quit Facebook at the beginning of the year as its the social media that makes me the most angry and the ads are out of control. I have a couple of groups there I use so I 'pinned' them in the groups tab and I can click through and visit them directly without getting stuck in a scroll loop. I also use it to check out local events.
I only regularly use reddit and Instagram at this point. Reddit has lots of good collated info and it's easy to tailor your feed only to see posts from subreddits you are interested in, plus minimal ads compared to other social media. Instagram I use because I make visual arts and my feed is entirely made up of carefully selected mental health/wellness accounts and artists/crafters I enjoy and know so it's usually a nice experience.
I've replaced social media time with Substack articles and more book reading with my Kindle - I'm up to two books a week since I left Facebook and curated my social media feeds elsewhere.
Two books a week!! Thats amazing. The one social media app I never got into was Reddit - I guess I never saw it as a social media app? But probably cause I don’t know too much about it other than googling questions and adding “Reddit” on the end. 😂 It sounds good for finding niche groups of people with similar interests.
I've struggled with minimizing my social media use, but this is what I've tried implementing with some success so far:
-i only use Facebook for marketplace
-i set my timer for Instagram to zero minutes so that I don't use it regularly to mindlessly scroll. About once a week I'll hop on to view any videos that my husband or friends have sent to me, and then I set the timer back to zero. I haven't figured out how to healthily engage in the content that I actually want to follow yet
-i do not regularly use tiktok, the only time I use it is to very occasionally check in on chronic illness tiktok when I'm stressed about my health
-youtube is my free use social media. I don't mind spending hours watching videos as I'm usually doing chores and other tasks while doing so. I have tried to manage my feed to where I don't see shorts though as that always becomes a huge time waster
Love this Amber!!
Broadly speaking, I try to minimize or eliminate as much as I can. My husband thinks it's a bit extreme of me, but I really do find my mental health better without it. Small doses of asynchronous content that's rich in information or personal experience without those algorithmic sponcon/like and subscribe vibes is where I try to focus my energies.
The specifics:
While I haven't deleted my Facebook or Instagram or Twitter accounts, I don't use them.
The Reddit app comes and goes from my phone in cycles, as it's a great resource for first-hand accounts and recommendations, but can quickly become a doom-scrolling situation.
I don't have the YouTube app on my phone, though I do sometimes break down and access it through the mobile browser. On my computer, I use the "Unhook" browser extension - no watch history, recommendations, comments, etc. It's more like a library or DVR, which suits me better, since I do sometimes go down a YouTube rabbit hole if given the opportunity.
I'll go to Tumblr once a month or so, computer only. There are parts I miss, but I can feel the bad feelings if I linger too long, so I try not to!
At this point, if I find myself on Tumblr or Reddit too often, or mimicking social media scroll behaviors on a barely-social-media site like MetaFilter, I treat it as a canary in the coal mine. Am I feeling stressed? overwhelmed? anxious? What low-effort dopamine things could I do instead? Even just switching to re-watching a comfort movie can be an upgrade if I find myself scrolling and feeling bad.
Love your last point about the scrolling being a prompt to think - what else is going on here? what do I need? how can I meet it via other means?
Oh, also, Unhook is GREAT - I think I will go back to using YouTube after this social media experiment is over so long as I use it on my computer and Unhook is downloaded. I miss putting videos from my favourite content creators on in the background whilst I cook or clean or do chores or whatever.