This June will be 2 years since I deleted both Instagram and Facebook (after being a very active user). My newsletter has grown, I was able to promote and lead a 10 day trip abroad, and I have not lost friends (I know exactly that resentful judging feeling you're talking about re people's online personas). The next step is a dumb phone. My light phone II arrives in May and I intend to keep my smartphone as a wifi accessible iPod basically (the light phone itself acts as a hot spot so you can use your smart phone in emergencies if needed). Welcome to off-app life!
Right? Such a great option. You do need to add on a data plan to use the hotspot, so I will have to see if it's a good fit when the phone actually arrives, but that in and of itself is a game changer. (and the overall phone plan will already be so much cheaper anyway)
"(...) the lives of others existed within my head to a degree that made me uncomfortable (...)" is what made me stop using Instagram last August. I don't have it on my phone anymore, and I will most likely deactivate it one day. The thing is, I am a photographer, and I used to use it to show some of my work to the world. But as far as I know, I have never really gotten any clients this way. It's always through word-of-mouth recommendations or via my website, which I plan to update more often. I even made my own "feed" on it, where I post short updates: www.inthecities.org/newsfeed — for those who might find inspiration in something similar. This way, I keep it away from big tech and the power of algorithms.
"Whether right or wrong, I perceived their constant stories as sad/irritating bids for attention, and it made me like them less" I have felt this same way! I lost my FB account for 2 years and found I liked people much more in person than their online persona. I only have it now for a small business that I run but my detox during that time made me such a different user.
Gabriela is an amazing young woman! Gen Zers like her give me so much hope future generations!
I went cold turkey off IG shortly after my daughter was born and have not regretted it one second since, almost 4 years now. Anyone I want to keep in touch with, I do so via text or calls. For example, I do not need to know what old coworkers are up to (you know, people I was never really friends with anyways), I do not need constant ads (who needs more stuff? and what a waste of money), I do not need to share my life/family with everyone (I am not looking for approval or likes), And I certainly do not need my face glued to a screen. Not that I don't waste time doing other unproductive things (no one is perfect).
Welcome to the good life! Quit cold turkey the morning after the US election, haven’t looked back. What freaks me out the most was how much I don’t miss it. I spent HALF MY LIFE on these platforms, and yet it’s as if I never did. I hope this choice continues to bring you peace!
I deleted my Instagram account almost a year ago. Have not regretted it for a second. I never posted that much but was definitely a committed lurker. When I read about Instagram's algorithms pushing content featuring young girls to convicted sex offenders, that was the last straw in terms of ever posting another photo of my children on there (not that I posted many). I went through and deleted every single photo I'd ever posted right down to the birth announcements, and made my husband do it too. I wish more parents would be aware of how untrustworthy Meta is when it comes to protecting children on its platforms, and look for other ways to share photos with family and friends (we use an icloud shared album).
Facebook is the only social media platform I'm still on (unless you count Substack), and I am preparing to leave that one too - only thing holding me there is a group that I moderate. I unfollowed every single friend I have on FB which was helpful in not getting sucked into distraction on there - but I still want to be done!
Thank you for this article. Leaves me with a lot to think about. I haven’t enjoyed social media for a few years now. I don’t post on my feed. I posted my daughter’s birth recently but before that it had been almost 3 years. I only post to my stories and mostly review people’s stories, which tend to be more “real”.
My page doubles as my business page, which I’ve always struggled with, but I’m wondering if I transition it to only business and that is literally the only reason I open the app. I could post and respond to my content only and then leave, but that probably won’t work very well either. Hm.
absolutely love this. i’ve taken a handful of extended (months to over a year) breaks from ig and don’t miss it much at all. i do miss my friends who legitimately don’t stay connected without being on IG, and find that somewhere on a scale from disappointing to upsetting, but gosh. life is soo much better off social!!! i’ve been thinking about removing my data and deleting— thank you for the push!
That’s a great post, Katherine. Thank you. I am at the stage where I want to come off Facebook and Instagram. I’ve had enough of ‘faux friendship’ and when I look at my friends list, I realise that I haven’t seen many of them for several years in person. Some of them are people who I worked with years ago and there is one person on there who I met on a holiday five years ago and it is unlikely I will ever see her again!
My particular problem, however is that my two daughters constantly post videos and updates of my grandchildren. One uses Facebook and the other uses Instagram. It seems to be the way that adults communicate these days. I don’t want to miss out on seeing the latest updates on my grandchildren and I know that if I ask them to message me separately, I will probably miss out on a lot because they will forget or won’t be bothered.
I do feel a bit trapped by it all at the moment. I am also concerned about the amount of hacking that goes onon Facebook. Nearly every week I am now getting messages from friends saying ‘please don’t accept a friend request from me.’
I have spent the last week and a half going through my Facebook posts. I joined it in 2010 and I have been slowly deleting everything off, saving various photographs back to my camera roll but deleting the posts, with the aim of eventually suspending my Facebook account.
I also realise there is a ridiculous amount of personal information and photographs on there that I would hate to lose should someone Facebook hack me. I have really enjoyed looking at the things I have posted over the years, but it is time to move on into a more private space now. I think that for me nowadays ‘less is more’.
Excellent! I deleted all social media platforms from my life and I don’t miss them at all. I’m delighted to have my time back and not scroll through mindless postings. How did I do it? It wasn’t sheer willpower. It came from a steady practice of silent meditation over the course of ten years. I now meditate two hours a day and even though it can be a challenge at times to sit for an hour in silence, I show up anyway. I’m convinced that silence is the greatest wisdom teacher but I needed to show up and remain with silence before she ever shared her gifts. One of those gifts is being free of FOMO that so fuels social media mania.
I've been off Insta for over a year... but I didn't even think about deactivating. That's done now!
I really want to DELETE but I don't feel ready (I finally deleted an account last year that I hadn't used since 2018). Not sure why I'm hanging on (maybe that niggling voice that says "BUT YOU NEED A PLATFORM TO BE PUBLISHED")... but I've been mulling over whether I even want all that if that's the show and dance I have to do.
This June will be 2 years since I deleted both Instagram and Facebook (after being a very active user). My newsletter has grown, I was able to promote and lead a 10 day trip abroad, and I have not lost friends (I know exactly that resentful judging feeling you're talking about re people's online personas). The next step is a dumb phone. My light phone II arrives in May and I intend to keep my smartphone as a wifi accessible iPod basically (the light phone itself acts as a hot spot so you can use your smart phone in emergencies if needed). Welcome to off-app life!
Oooh, I didn't realize the light phone had hot spot capability -- I LOVE this idea for the "wifi accessible iPod" function of the smartphone.
Right? Such a great option. You do need to add on a data plan to use the hotspot, so I will have to see if it's a good fit when the phone actually arrives, but that in and of itself is a game changer. (and the overall phone plan will already be so much cheaper anyway)
Definitely going to look into this! Thanks Katie!
So building a business is possible without the app? And please, I’d love an update on the light phone II! I’ve wanted one for a while now.
good for you!!! i ordered one for my teen and wonder if the wait until may just might get me on board too.
"(...) the lives of others existed within my head to a degree that made me uncomfortable (...)" is what made me stop using Instagram last August. I don't have it on my phone anymore, and I will most likely deactivate it one day. The thing is, I am a photographer, and I used to use it to show some of my work to the world. But as far as I know, I have never really gotten any clients this way. It's always through word-of-mouth recommendations or via my website, which I plan to update more often. I even made my own "feed" on it, where I post short updates: www.inthecities.org/newsfeed — for those who might find inspiration in something similar. This way, I keep it away from big tech and the power of algorithms.
Thank you again for the article!
Honestly, I’m just super impressed by the name “APPstinent.” That’s bloody brilliant.
"Whether right or wrong, I perceived their constant stories as sad/irritating bids for attention, and it made me like them less" I have felt this same way! I lost my FB account for 2 years and found I liked people much more in person than their online persona. I only have it now for a small business that I run but my detox during that time made me such a different user.
Gabriela is an amazing young woman! Gen Zers like her give me so much hope future generations!
I went cold turkey off IG shortly after my daughter was born and have not regretted it one second since, almost 4 years now. Anyone I want to keep in touch with, I do so via text or calls. For example, I do not need to know what old coworkers are up to (you know, people I was never really friends with anyways), I do not need constant ads (who needs more stuff? and what a waste of money), I do not need to share my life/family with everyone (I am not looking for approval or likes), And I certainly do not need my face glued to a screen. Not that I don't waste time doing other unproductive things (no one is perfect).
Welcome to the good life! Quit cold turkey the morning after the US election, haven’t looked back. What freaks me out the most was how much I don’t miss it. I spent HALF MY LIFE on these platforms, and yet it’s as if I never did. I hope this choice continues to bring you peace!
I deleted my Instagram account almost a year ago. Have not regretted it for a second. I never posted that much but was definitely a committed lurker. When I read about Instagram's algorithms pushing content featuring young girls to convicted sex offenders, that was the last straw in terms of ever posting another photo of my children on there (not that I posted many). I went through and deleted every single photo I'd ever posted right down to the birth announcements, and made my husband do it too. I wish more parents would be aware of how untrustworthy Meta is when it comes to protecting children on its platforms, and look for other ways to share photos with family and friends (we use an icloud shared album).
Facebook is the only social media platform I'm still on (unless you count Substack), and I am preparing to leave that one too - only thing holding me there is a group that I moderate. I unfollowed every single friend I have on FB which was helpful in not getting sucked into distraction on there - but I still want to be done!
I quit socials. Thank you for putting into words how I feel. What are your thoughts about Substack. Sometimes the scroll habits creep back in..
I just don't have the brain space... follow a few newsletters on substack for ideas, but I need quiet brain time to be my most creative
Thank you for this article. Leaves me with a lot to think about. I haven’t enjoyed social media for a few years now. I don’t post on my feed. I posted my daughter’s birth recently but before that it had been almost 3 years. I only post to my stories and mostly review people’s stories, which tend to be more “real”.
My page doubles as my business page, which I’ve always struggled with, but I’m wondering if I transition it to only business and that is literally the only reason I open the app. I could post and respond to my content only and then leave, but that probably won’t work very well either. Hm.
absolutely love this. i’ve taken a handful of extended (months to over a year) breaks from ig and don’t miss it much at all. i do miss my friends who legitimately don’t stay connected without being on IG, and find that somewhere on a scale from disappointing to upsetting, but gosh. life is soo much better off social!!! i’ve been thinking about removing my data and deleting— thank you for the push!
I'll be thinking on this one for a bit. Thank you!
That’s a great post, Katherine. Thank you. I am at the stage where I want to come off Facebook and Instagram. I’ve had enough of ‘faux friendship’ and when I look at my friends list, I realise that I haven’t seen many of them for several years in person. Some of them are people who I worked with years ago and there is one person on there who I met on a holiday five years ago and it is unlikely I will ever see her again!
My particular problem, however is that my two daughters constantly post videos and updates of my grandchildren. One uses Facebook and the other uses Instagram. It seems to be the way that adults communicate these days. I don’t want to miss out on seeing the latest updates on my grandchildren and I know that if I ask them to message me separately, I will probably miss out on a lot because they will forget or won’t be bothered.
I do feel a bit trapped by it all at the moment. I am also concerned about the amount of hacking that goes onon Facebook. Nearly every week I am now getting messages from friends saying ‘please don’t accept a friend request from me.’
I have spent the last week and a half going through my Facebook posts. I joined it in 2010 and I have been slowly deleting everything off, saving various photographs back to my camera roll but deleting the posts, with the aim of eventually suspending my Facebook account.
I also realise there is a ridiculous amount of personal information and photographs on there that I would hate to lose should someone Facebook hack me. I have really enjoyed looking at the things I have posted over the years, but it is time to move on into a more private space now. I think that for me nowadays ‘less is more’.
Excellent! I deleted all social media platforms from my life and I don’t miss them at all. I’m delighted to have my time back and not scroll through mindless postings. How did I do it? It wasn’t sheer willpower. It came from a steady practice of silent meditation over the course of ten years. I now meditate two hours a day and even though it can be a challenge at times to sit for an hour in silence, I show up anyway. I’m convinced that silence is the greatest wisdom teacher but I needed to show up and remain with silence before she ever shared her gifts. One of those gifts is being free of FOMO that so fuels social media mania.
I quit social media last year and I don’t miss it at all. Such a blessing to me to disengage from social platforms.
I've been off Insta for over a year... but I didn't even think about deactivating. That's done now!
I really want to DELETE but I don't feel ready (I finally deleted an account last year that I hadn't used since 2018). Not sure why I'm hanging on (maybe that niggling voice that says "BUT YOU NEED A PLATFORM TO BE PUBLISHED")... but I've been mulling over whether I even want all that if that's the show and dance I have to do.
Thanks for the motivation to take the next step!