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I know we've had chats about social media before, but I read this article from the Guardian about people who had completely quit social media and in some cases even smartphones. I thought their experiences were inspiring and worth sharing.

Over the years, I've come to dislike social media more and more...it spreads misinformation, anger, fear, and conflict, not to mention all kinds of distractions that keep people from living their best life, and it's all intentional. The algorithms that social media companies use to decide what they want you to see promote engagement because that's how they make money, and content that stirs up people's emotions and distracts them is what makes the most money. Over the years, I've come to question whether social media has been a net positive or negative for humanity, and over the last year I've concluded that it's a negative.

I technically have a Facebook, a Twitter, and an Instagram, but I can't remember the last time I browsed them. I get my news and information from morning newsletters. Most of my online friends are here in Wintreath, and this is where I do most of my online communicating. For people I know offline, there's email and the occasional phone call (I've never liked talking on the phone lol). I don't feel like I'm missing anything not being plugged into social media and glued to whatever the latest obsession is going on there. Even though I spend a lot of my life online, I'm glad that social media isn't really part of it.

What are your thoughts on social media right now?

Don't have Facebook or Twitter. I have an instagram, but I don't really use it like it's intended to be. If Reddit counts, I use that all the time, though without an account. I just lurk. The political subs definitely fit that misinformation, anger, fear, and conflict description, even when I agree with them lol.

An interesting conversation. I've recently found myself shying away from social media and smartphone use. I deleted my facebook a few months ago, and I haven't looked back. Currently I use Instagram in order to follow my family members and a few close friends, and I have snapchat to talk with some of my friends.

I've considered dumping my smartphone as well, and going back to a "dumb" phone. I've considered a Light Phone II once they work all of their bugs out, or a Punkt. MP02, but that again has its own problems.

I do have a Facebook account but haven't really used it in like 10 years. I mostly have it for when relatives need to get in contact with me.

I also have a Twitter account but don't tweet. I just follow people (mostly politicians, activists, and comedians) and pretty much only check it when some important event is going on (George Floyd protests, presidential elections, January 6 Capitol riot, etc.).

And I do have a Reddit account, but again I don't really post but just follow all the subreddits that I find interesting. I usually only browse a little in bed while waking up in the morning and before going to sleep.

I don't have an Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or any other social media. My wife uses them a lot, and by the noises that come from her phone, it doesn't sound like I'm missing much of worth. (The amount of people who all use the exact same music on TikTok makes me want to blow my brains out.)

I've considered a Light Phone II once they work all of their bugs out

They need to figure out how to make that much cheaper though. For just $100 more you can get a fully capable smartphone (iPhone SE). They could probably get a lot more interest if it weren't a whole $300. I suppose they aren't really being mass produced, which may be a big factor.

Like some of you, I use Reddit more as a website than social media...I browse the things that interest me, and I can't remember the last time I even upvoted something, much less made an actual comment. I don't think I'll be getting rid of my smartphone, but I also don't really use it. I mostly use it in case of emergencies when I go out, as a pedometer when I'm walking, and sometimes to hang out on Discord if there's an a chat I want to be in on but can't be at the computer for. Otherwise, it mostly sits on my dresser behind me charging. I'm using a cheap LG phone with a no-contract pay as you go plan though, so I'm not particularly invested in it.

Have a Facebook, nothing else

Facebook for meme groups (Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends, Poll Party, NUMTOT, etc.), local/campus discussion, and event planning
Instagram for occasionally seeing what people are up to
Reddit for miscellaneous media browsing (news, pictures, oddly interesting things, stories), I also picked up a habit years ago of posting YouTube videos that I watch and longform articles I read to relevant subreddits which is something I still do

A brief mention of Discord earlier makes me think. So many of you say you don't do social media, yet I know for a fact that some of you spend hours and hours chatting on Discord.

I feel like a lot of us who are hyper-connected to some online communities often treat social media as this "other" thing that "we" don't really do, when really when I think about it it's not so different. The way we use these forums is very much in a social media fashion. Discord is a chat-based social media platform. In many parts of the world, chat group-based social media is the form of social media (WhatsApp, WeChat, LINE, etc.). A few of the people in the Guardian article talk about how they used to spent hours chatting with people online and how it was a huge drain for them and how they quit that.

Tom Scott said something in a recent video that I think is very wise: "Everyone draws the line just below what they're doing." I've been thinking about that a lot, especially in different aspects of my own life. Relevant here, I think if you look at my screen time on my phone it's going to be much lower than most other people in my generation. But that's cheating - I spend far, far more time on my laptop. I may not be spending all day on my phone, but I'm still plugged in, just at a different terminal.

Discord gives far more immediate gratification, and I think I basically use it the same way people used to use reddit or certain clubs. I'm part of a book server with a fantasy focus, an Overwatch server where friends and I from the UK play, my own personal server which was pretty much a substitute for Wintreath for a while, tons of servers for emotes, 3 mafia servers (4 if I include my own), a general server for my real life friends and family, etc. It's incredibly versatile, and I try not to make it echo-chambery to avoid the downsides of social media. The fact that membership can be controlled so much better is also a great help. I think moderation tends to be a lot better, too, since you're not relying on a single company to provide the mods.

So basically, I'm acknowledging your point that it's a social network, but it's one of the few ones that has mostly sorted its shit out, in my experience. Social media in general is cancer.

Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends...NUMTOT

ayyyyyyy

Myself I'm basically only on Facebook as an actual social media thing (wherein I'm burrowed deep into 'leftbook'); I glance at Twitter and, surprisingly, Tumblr sometimes for memes, and only memes, because if I was on Twitter for very long at all for serious things I'd probably kill myself with how rancid most bluecheck takes are, and all that's left on Tumblr is memes after they got rid of all the porn.
Never could be bothered to sign up for any of the others. I guess Snapchat but at this point all I get on that are videos of various friends' babies on their stories.
oh I guess if whatsapp counts since tau mentioned it I have that installed too to keep up with friends outside the US, why is facebook messenger the grouptext app du jour here, it's not even good apart from the poll feature

Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends...NUMTOT

ayyyyyyy

Myself I'm basically only on Facebook as an actual social media thing (wherein I'm burrowed deep into 'leftbook'); I glance at Twitter and, surprisingly, Tumblr sometimes for memes, and only memes, because if I was on Twitter for very long at all for serious things I'd probably kill myself with how rancid most bluecheck takes are, and all that's left on Tumblr is memes after they got rid of all the porn.
Never could be bothered to sign up for any of the others. I guess Snapchat but at this point all I get on that are videos of various friends' babies on their stories.
oh I guess if whatsapp counts since tau mentioned it I have that installed too to keep up with friends outside the US, why is facebook messenger the grouptext app du jour here, it's not even good apart from the poll feature

Interesting point: where is the line drawn between social media and text tool?

(WhatsApp is great, y'all are crazy if Facebook Messenger is what you use instead, the fuck is wrong with you)

(WhatsApp is great, y'all are crazy if Facebook Messenger is what you use instead, the fuck is wrong with you)

do you think i wanted this
i just kept asking people 'hey do you have whatsapp' for a year only to be told 'uh, no, what's that, but here i'll just shoot you a friend request and then we can use messenger', and then eventually i gave up
it's like how i used to think exclusively in metric, until being worn down by people going "WHAAAAAT YOU'RE A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH" when I said 'oh man it's 5 degrees out, that's great weather' eventually led me to just give in to US Customary Units and speak to them in the 'oh, it's 40 degrees out' that is comprehensible
frankly, both anecdotes are just further evidence that this country is still trapped in delusions of being the Greatest Nation Under God while using obsolete technologies and 4th-rate apps cause they don't know any goddamn better because of how pervasive the advertising/propaganda/apathy is
(every so often i'll say 'lift' instead of 'elevator' or some other Britishism (linguistic relics of the Colonial Past) and remember Better Times in the mother country, away from the benighted savages of my father's homeland, before remembering that it's just too fucking hot there...and also that I could probably be locked up for being a socialist, instead of here where that's just a synonym for 'liberal' in the popular consciousness)
(yes I know I'm being smugly superior but this is all I have anymore, my ability to condescend to whichever of the two countries I'm in just as I'm condescended to in turn in each for being of the 'wrong' (read: non-majority) race)

Truly, such uncivilised barbarians don't deserve all the tech that immigrants and outlanders keep inventing and bringing there. It's disgusting.

Discord gives far more immediate gratification, and I think I basically use it the same way people used to use reddit or certain clubs. I'm part of a book server with a fantasy focus, an Overwatch server where friends and I from the UK play, my own personal server which was pretty much a substitute for Wintreath for a while, tons of servers for emotes, 3 mafia servers (4 if I include my own), a general server for my real life friends and family, etc. It's incredibly versatile, and I try not to make it echo-chambery to avoid the downsides of social media. The fact that membership can be controlled so much better is also a great help. I think moderation tends to be a lot better, too, since you're not relying on a single company to provide the mods.

So basically, I'm acknowledging your point that it's a social network, but it's one of the few ones that has mostly sorted its shit out, in my experience. Social media in general is cancer.

"This social media platform sucks except the particular groups I like because they're well-moderated" is a pretty common notion though. The best subreddits (like /r/AskHistorians) are strictly moderated. The best Facebook groups/pages are well-moderated and well-curated, and many of the good ones also carefully screen people before letting them join. Etc, etc.

Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends...NUMTOT

ayyyyyyy

Myself I'm basically only on Facebook as an actual social media thing (wherein I'm burrowed deep into 'leftbook'); I glance at Twitter and, surprisingly, Tumblr sometimes for memes, and only memes, because if I was on Twitter for very long at all for serious things I'd probably kill myself with how rancid most bluecheck takes are, and all that's left on Tumblr is memes after they got rid of all the porn.
Never could be bothered to sign up for any of the others. I guess Snapchat but at this point all I get on that are videos of various friends' babies on their stories.
oh I guess if whatsapp counts since tau mentioned it I have that installed too to keep up with friends outside the US, why is facebook messenger the grouptext app du jour here, it's not even good apart from the poll feature

Interesting point: where is the line drawn between social media and text tool?

I think a lot of criticism of social media applies equally to chat-based and post-based platforms. Like a common issue is misinformation and fake news, and those get shared just as easily between WhatsApp group chats as they do between Facebook feeds.

(WhatsApp is great, y'all are crazy if Facebook Messenger is what you use instead, the fuck is wrong with you)

People round these parts aren't on WhatsApp. Even people who don't have a Facebook have Messenger here.

Messenger was actually a really great chat platform like, 2 years ago? The recent redesigns have seriously messed with performance and they've like accidentally removed or nerfed really useful features. It's a pain being unable to properly search my old messages recently.