Why I Deleted My Social Media Accounts

In light of the recent social media scandal concerning the exploitation of minors (along with other random accusations about the misuse of our information by the whole Facebook and Instagram corporation), I decided it was time to unplug from all the madness of scrolling, information switching and the general unease I felt every time I disclosed any information across these apps/websites. 

So, recently, I decided to get away from social media.  This is something I have been pondering for the last year or so, primarily because of the fake news and the extreme negativity.  I also felt that mindless scrolling was making me less intelligent, I literally felt mentally numb before after losing track of time and mindlessly scrolling for an hour.  I knew there were more beneficial ways to spend my time, but the fear of not being able to keep in touch with people kept me back...until I flipped open my messenger one day to the realization that only maybe two people ever message me on a regular basis...the rest just 'like' my posts and honestly don't interact much at all.  I also took note that of the 4200 friends I had, I personally only knew maybe 25 of them...and, again, aside from the 'like' button, they seldom interacted.  In light of all the negative attributes of social media and their effects upon me, it was easy to deactivate Facebook.  I never had a Twitter or SnapChat.  I deleted Instagram long ago.  Facebook was the last to go!

photo courtesy of Nikita Kachanovsky , Unsplash

I just deleted my social media account...for the last, and final time.  Despite the negative effects this website/app was causing me...effects I could clearly see in myself (lack of attention span, lowered self esteem, even anxiety) I kept deleting then activating, deleting and activating.  Primarily because the damn thing is addictive.  Really and truly, google it...there are studies about the dopamine trigger directly correlated with the 'like' button!  Anyway, after the covid thing, then the huge war on race our country has undergone, not to mention the obsession with politics...I was absolutely burned out with ALL social platforms.  The last one I had left was Facebook, and it was the last to go....just last night!

I left for a plethora of reasons.  But here are probably the biggest, most problematic for me.  These are the ones that really pushed me over that little blue edge.

1.  The Negativity
I remember when I first heard of Facebook, years ago. I was excited.  Much like Myspace, but Facebook seemed a more serious platform.  A place to share ideas, education.  A place to network with like minded individuals, join groups based on interest or vocation.  These day's it's become a breeding ground for nonsense.  You have trolls who post random comments just to stir the shit pot, then you have others who use their Facebook wall as a personal diary....no one needs to see thirty pictures of your childs' wardrobe or the metaphoric dump you just took.  I literally feel as if my IQ is on decline while strolling my newsfeed!  And I cringe at the amount of weird personal information people just throw out there for the masses!

2.  Bad News, Bad News, Bad News
At least when you find 'bad news' in your local newspaper, or a newstand magazine, or hell, even on TV...you see it once...you flip past it, turn the page...you move on.  But if you are using social media, you might as well just ruminate on every single bad news article you see....because you are going to be subjected to seeing it over, and over, and over again as one person after another posts it...argues about it...so on and so forth.  No wonder people are suffering anxiety and depression.  I prefer to live in a world where I can curate what type of news I'm subjected to.  Sure, I like knowing current events, but if there's bad news I prefer not to live inside it!  Not having a social media wall to stroll through means I can choose my own news sites, I can read whatever stories and articles appeal to me instead of reading the slush pile of redundant posts that everyone else prefers to read and share.

3.  False News and Misinformation
Half the articles and posts you do come across need to be fact checked.  I don't know how many things I've read that were either total fabrications, or they were posted from fake news websites.  I can't help but wonder, what is the point? I prefer to be able to choose reliable sources for my news and information, at least then I can trust they aren't total lies.

4.  People are self-obsessed, and it's kind of gross.
Social media is a breeding ground for narcissistic, self-important people who have appearances to upkeep.  Selfies.  Fishing for compliments.  Posting a thousand photos a day.  Over posting every single detail of your life.  Incessant bragging.  I don't know whether to pity some people (do you really think anyone cares about how you curled your hair today?)  or whether to be grossed out (please put your tits back into your shirt to the random girl who cuts half her forehead off to fit her bulbous tits into her profile photo).  Seriously, no one really cares about the great cabinet you purchased for your kitchen or any other mundane, everyday detail or your life.  (we all style our hair and buy household items).

5.  My Life is so Fabulous!
All the wonderful, great, fabulous posts on Facebook should be read and viewed with a grain of salt because everyone is posting ONLY their highlight reels, they are keeping their hardships and bad times undercover.  This is so they can out-fabulous the next person, who then attempts to over post their magnificent lives and out-fabulous the next person.  And it goes on and on and on.  And it's so FAKE and meaningless.  Not to mention exhausting.  Seriously, you can get on Facebook feeling pretty okay with your life, and fifteen fabulous-posts later, you are wondering if maybe life didn't deal you a shitty hand because you are comparing your 'real' life to all this fake, over-glorified nonsense.

6.  The breech of privacy and information.
Why would anyone want to use and support an app that is taking your private information, just to exploit it for the purpose of throwing ads in your face....so you can make THEM more money?  This concept makes absolutely no sense to me.  I literally can private message someone about a product and five minutes later an ad for that same product will show up on my wall.  Not only are they monitoring your search engines and internet history usage, they are also using your own private messages (that you think are private but are not) and using them to try to gouge more money out of you.  No, thanks!

7.  It fools you into thinking you are connected...when you are not.
Half the people you interact with on Facebook, I bet you don't even know them.  They are just pixelated photos on a screen that either comment to agree with you, compliment you, stroke your ego in some way, or argue with you on their points of view.  I bet you don't even see half these people in real life, yet you know all about their kids and their lives.  It's absolute useless exchange of information.  You end up dealing with people who are, essentially, useless to you in your real life.  Chances are, any true friend you have, you can connect with this person via a telephone or a text message.  There's no point in dealing with a mass amount of people you don't even know, unless they are customers or clients.  Even then, who has the time?

8.  These platforms are true time wasters.
There's no better way to throw away your time than mindlessly scrolling.  Instead of focusing on your own life, your own goals and relationships and family...you get sucked into being obsessed with what's going on in the lives of people who don't really matter to you, and whom you probably don't matter to either (see #7).  There's so many better ways to spend your time:  read a book, cultivate a new positive habit, self care, take a class, spend time with your loved ones IN PERSON, work on a new hobby, watch an inspiring film, or learn a new skill.  The possibilities in life are endless, don't piss your life away looking at a screen!

9.  No one really cares!
Social media platforms are built on the concept of reeling you in.  You begin to work on your posts....because you want more likes.  The more likes you get, the more feel better endorphins you get.  It's the perfect quick fix for feeling like you've accomplished something when, in reality, you're posting half-false shit for some likes from people who don't even matter and probably don't even care and they are only 'liking' and 'commenting' in hopes you will come to their page and exchange the favor.  This is the silliest thing!  Believe me when I tell you that even if you are like 10,000 likes popular in this little virtual world...it's still nothing...it's fake!  In reality people usually get like maybe 100 likes or so and think they are bad ass....100 people isn't that many in this huge, grand universe.

10.  These websites and Apps foster a sense of depression and low self-worth.
Head back to #4 and #5 as a reference.  Everyone has a fabulous life.  They are on grand vacations, getting awesome job promotions, eating at awesome restaurants.  But...haven't you been on vacation before, ate great food before, got hired at a job you wanted before?  But at the moment you are reading about Sams' Caribbean vacation, you may be sitting around in your pajamas feeling like your life is just boring and bland.  Because you are comparing your 'everyday' to someone else's highlight reel.  And don't even get me started on the photoshopped and photo edited selfies and the snap chat filters that give people virtual plastic surgery.  Hell, half the photos you see on there aren't even real photos of the people behind the screen.  Yet you compare yourself to this false bullshit and start feeling as if you are coming up short in every single area of your life!

11.  Drama, Cyberbullying, and stalkers.
They abound in the digital world, and sooner or later you are bound to come across one or the other.  When people with ill intentions can send you a demoralizing private message, or screenshot your bad-day post and send to your boss, try to destroy your relationships....these types or platforms make it extremely easy for mentally sick people to wreak havoc on the lives of others.  You see it all the time in the news, kids and adults alike, bullied to death online!  And the simple way to save yourself...don't make yourself readily available for them by putting your whole life out there on social media in the first place!

12.  These platforms really are useless, pointless, and bane.
You need them to connect with others?  Refer to #7.  You have cell phones, instant messaging, email if you need to resort to that.  Social media will not connect you.  But your business page is on there, you say?  People on your friends list may like your page if you ask them to, does that mean they will purchase your product?  You have to pay for your ads, and there's no guarantee they will increase traffic to your page or your product.  Plus, no one likes those dumb ad posts appearing randomly on their wall anyway.  Or, and I like this one, you need social media platforms to stay informed!  Are you kidding me?  With the expanse of information on the broad internet...there are many, many more worthy educational and respectable websites where you can read news, and learn things.  You can also support your local newspapers and buy those if you want to be in-the-know locally.  We NEVER needed social media to share information or learn things, and we never will.  But these are the three main excuses I hear for people who are reluctant to leave social media.  None of them are true! 

13.  There are endless benefits to deleting social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I can go on and on about this.  Google it, you will find endless accounts and information, even formal studies.  Here are just a few really eye-catching benefits of deleting social media:  you will be happier, your real life relationships will become more meaningful, you won't have to be subjected to the constant anger and complaints of random people, you will have way more time for more important things, you will actually be able to enjoy your life and your moments rather than trying to take perfect photos to document it on a social media platform (the ability to live in the moment, alone, is priceless).

14.  Don't go near the games!
Much like the ads and all the other click bait that your wall is riddled with, Social Media games are designed to rob you blind...of your time, and your wallet.  Don't waste ten dollars to buy wheat for your facebook farm.  If PC games is what you adore, try sites like Big Fish or Steam, where you can read game reviews and buy full versions of quality PC games that can be replayed and enjoyed again and again without having to pay to play!

15.  Getting rid of FOMO (fear of missing out) once and for all.
This one probably ties in with a bunch of others above.  Fear of missing out...the fear that if you delete social media sites, and when you are not subjected to constant posting by everyone about everything (even people whom you don't even know) that you are going to miss some type of valuable information.  Trust me, you won't.  Does it really matter to you what other people are doing in their personal lives?  Why would anyone care about someone else's life events, milestones, vacations, hair styles, or anything else, especially if you don't even know these people in real life?  Even if you do know them, wouldn't it be better to focus more on your own life than someone else's?  And if you are honest with yourself, half the time you read others' post, you start comparing yourself.  Life is not a competition of posts, likes, comments, and great photos to show off.  Life is meant to be enjoyed and savored.  If you are incessantly flipping screens, you are not partaking in real life at all!  You are not going to miss anything....there are news sites, local and national news channels, tons of informative and reliable sites online with articles and information about anything you'd want to know.  Get rid of the blue button already, it's useless.