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Early yesterday morning I manually deleted every post and photo (after saving the photos to the cloud) from my social media accounts. They are set to permanently delete in 29 days. I can't describe how free I feel. I made sure everyone I wanted to stay in contact with had my number. Most already did, so I was able to just quietly leave. As I scrolled through my friends list, I realized there were many I had no interest in maintaining relationships with in the real world. What does that tell me? Social media can be an absolute time sucker.

Back to living in the real world! I'm ready to lose the anxiety and keep up with people the old-fashioned way, not like voyerism with filters and the like.

All the craziness of 2020 has driven me to go back to simple things. I feel really good about this.

[This message edited by WhoTheBleep at 5:19 AM, November 15th (Sunday)]

People express disbelief that I have never joined Facebook or Twitter or other areas of social media. My job is the type that wouldn't go well with social media anyway. So SI is the 'only' social media I have.

I'm a strongly opinionated person and I never would have lasted on social media anyway, I would have been banned the first week. Also, I never understood people wanting to share every minute of their day with other people, which would seem to result in giving total strangers a window into one's life.

I use email, text and REAL phone calls to communicate.

I have never been on Facebook, which takes so many by surprise. I announce it to parents at Open House. The last few years, I have had to request parents not contact my elderly father or other family members via Facebook. They have my school email and another messaging app to contact me. Several younger parents have been perplexed by this.

Yes, my 83 year old father is on FB. He enjoys shopping all the flea market pages.

I am on Instagram, but only follow teacher accounts. The sharing of ideas has been incredibly beneficial.

Good for you, WhoTheBleep, find your peace!

Welcome to the club!!

Never had a facebook account or any of the other social media. Had a LinkedIn for a week once more than a decade ago only because there was someone I knew who just signed up and wanted a connection or something. If SI is social media then that's the only one.

I have e-mail and my phone. I have voice mail on my phone. I don't text. If you want to converse with me phone or e-mail.

Yes, you are free!! It will still consume a lot of time.

YaY!!!! This is awesome! I gave up social media for about three years and ended up back on Facebook prior to dday for a year. When i returned I thought I’d be able to manage but slowly all of the same old feelings and habits returned that I had tried not to have. Eventually close to and definitely right after Dday I deleted it again and haven’t had social media since. I love it! For me, life feels so much better this way. ☺️

I left FB about 2 months before the elections. It was a major source of anxiety for me and I knew it, so I left. I have no desire to go back. I don't wake up in the morning and zombie scroll through a bunch of bickering, memes and random videos. You'll be surprised how much more time you have. Good for you!

Way to go WhoTheBleep!

Add me to the never had a Facebook group.

I have to be honest my FB is primarily a source of fun and education. I belong to many groups and pages that have to do with my interests and I only share posts of lost/found animals in my area.

In other words I use it for good only.

I cannot and will not post anything related to my political/religious or other topics that can be construed as controversial.

The world is crazy right now and I choose to only use FB no other social media and if it doesn't make me smile or laugh them its gotta go.

Using it for lost dogs is awesome and maybe I should have one just for that reason.

I found a dog in the middle of a very busy road this week. No tags. No chip. DD posted on her Facebook and we found the owner a few hours later!!

I do have an IG. I mostly follow dogs and dog related things.

I cannot and will not post anything related to my political/religious or other topics that can be construed as controversial.

This ^^^ is me. FB for keeping connections with friends/family spread across the country. Also hobby groups to learn new things and groups for the small community where I grew up. I will not wrestle in the mud with controversial stuff. "Friends" that do that get unfollowed quickly. Don't use it for news other than local stuff (local crime, road reports). Don't share every minute of my life. Don't play the selfie "look at me" game. Doesn't consume my life. Too busy for that. My "friends" are actually people I know, and privacy is locked down. I've even had old high school peeps send me friend requests that I decline. If we weren't friends then, why the hell would we be now? In some cases they were known school bullies so I didn't even like them back then, much less now. Very picky about who I let in my very small circle. And I have a very strict personal policy not to have employees or any work-related connections as friends. Have seen bad outcomes by mixing. It is strictly for my personal (non-professional) life. My strong boundaries have kept it light and under control.

Never been on IG, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any of the others. No patience, time, or desire. Got better things to do!

I was on FB for three months in a private group organizing my fiftieth h.s. reunion. Looked like it could become a giant time suck. I deleted my account right after the event and I have never been on Twitter, LinkedIn or any of the rest. No desire for any of it. Just email and phone. Congrats on going back to simpler things.

I like Facebook's community pages. We have one for our small town amd area. Big storm moving through now and I was able to see photos of hydro poles snapped like twigs just south of us within 20 minutes of it happening.

I see posts of lost dogs and I have the local animal group that will put out a call to help search for lost or escaped dogs to members in the area the dog is thought to be.

I had a bloodhound show up here. Posted a message on the community page and found the owner within an hour.

Facebook and SI are the only places I am.

JM’s business is on Facebook and the majority of new customers have come from there. It’s awesome because customers can call him through the page and either of us can answer pms than come in with questions.

On my personal page, the majority of my posts are scriptures, songs or COVID related (ie Please put on a F*#ing Mask) posts. I have friends across the country and world, some of whom I met here, some through work and many other parts of my life. It’s a way to keep up with people I’d otherwise lose contact with.

Whatever works, you do you. I do me. Isn’t it grand?

Well now you all have me thinking. Maybe I will go back in and just deactivate. My kids speak with their out of state friends on messenger kids, and I realized if I lose messenger they will be crushed. Also, the community pages as a resource. I do use those for research purposes (plumbers, handyman, lost dogs, etc). I also belong to a camping group that has come in very handy in a pinch on a trip.

I'll do that. Stay deactivated. Still no scrolling. No time suck or political/covid drama. Peace to all...

Thats awesome! I need to do that. When i take a break from my phone for the day i feel so good.

I'll do that. Stay deactivated. Still no scrolling. No time suck or political/covid drama. Peace to all..

That's what I did. Just deactivated FB but kept messenger. That way I can still talk to my Dad, Son and a few friends and other family members.

Yah we all use messenger and have specific groups. Son, Spouse, Me. Daughter, spouse, me. Then groups w/ their SO's added, and then a large one with everyone in the immediate family, and their favorite Gma.

These help me communicate with the family as a whole since DS works some nights, and DD is far from home, and SO is sometimes even further away than DD is...

Anyway, We use messenger as primary method of communication over texting.

Our kids live far away so we Zoom with them every week. It’s nice seeing their faces. Sometimes grandkids pop on to say hello. It’s amazing how much that hour a week helps. They do FB and I do instagram. My H does nothing but talk on the phone. He has no interests in social media. I was leaving the grocery store today and every car had someone on their phone. We humans do like to stay connected any way we can.

I posted this before, but I found Facebook to be a blessing when H was in the hospital having angioplasty. I couldn't even see him and certainly couldn't go to patient rooms at the hospital. But I planted myself in the lobby and waited till he was done and could call me. Having lots of friends "with me" kept me from being overly anxious.

I have deleted any "friends" who posted things I considered ugly, on both sides of the political spectrum, save my political statements for the groups designed for that, and do enjoy the clever memes and videos. There was a recent video of a baby reacting to the lights and decorations at his local Home Goods store. It was so special and touching.

It is a time suck. But Covid has given me lots of time.

My brother in law is right now having stents at the heart hospital. My sister is not allowed inside so she's sitting in her car in the parking lot, waiting to hear how the procedure went. The Cardio doc will call her. She has been ABLE to talk to my BIL on facetime so that's been a relief for her.