Quit Facebook for two weeks

[whitecoast]

As an experiment I quit Facebook for two weeks - deactivating my account so I don't show up on friend lists, have a newsfeed, etc. I realized I spent a lot of time on that website and I decided to leave it temporarily, just to see the effects it was having on my awareness and online habits.

After one day I noticed the just how much free time I had during my day (during certain lulls at work, on the bus, and at home). Previously all that time was spent randomly on Facebook scrolling down, sharing articles, and arguing with strangers online. I actually felt like I missed the opportunities to argue with people or to prove points. I resisted the temptation to just switch social media platforms to Reddit or Instagram.

After the first couple of days, this desire to check other social media platforms ended. I no longer wanted argue with strangers or just fill my free time with scrolling down mindlessly. During the first week I would browse the web, see an interesting article on SOTT, want to share it, and then remember that I wasn't on FB anymore. I ended up reaching out to friends of mine more often, since I could no longer just randomly jump on Facebook and see what people were doing that day. Interacting with friends online was a one-on-one communication again.

The biggest difference I noticed in my life without Facebook was how much control I had over the information that entered my senses. Back when I would just farm dopamine hits by scrolling down, I would get some humor, some SOTT, some other alt media posts, some inane virtue signalling in debate groups, etc. But while not being on social media, if I wanted to read about world events I would actually go to the relevant alt media webpages with the specific intent of obtaining information about world events. Absorbing information became a more active process for me when it wasn't done through the FB social media format. Even with being strict about who and what I choose to follow on Facebook, I still seem to remember getting bogged down in trivial things. From that perspective it feels like I'm taking more responsibility for gaining knowledge.

Since re-activating my account, I noticed I no longer had the active desire to debate and argue online with people who were incorrect about something. I felt like I simply do not have time for that kind of drama 9 times out of 10. Being off Facebook made me realize that it consumed a lot of my time and energy, and the payoff was only in the sense that it helped to train my own debating skills and knowledge collection.

I noticed that I also became much more reticent about sharing news and information I wasn't as certain about as I should be. I felt much more personal responsibility for the information I passed out to my followers on my news feed. Unless I was 110% sure I had the prior knowledge needed to defend my position, I wouldn't share something. Previously I was much more profligate, and that sometimes would get me in trouble; I would be criticized by friends or strangers taking umbrage but I wouldn't have enough knowledge to address their concerns.

I also am starting to become much more acutely aware of the "signalling games" that I can play online, and which I notice many other people interested in controversy and politics can engage in as well: signalling loyalties to this or that ideology, advertising their commitment to virtue (as they understand it), attempting to shift the Overton Window, etc. It doesn't mean that any of those things are immoral in themselves - it's more like I'm starting to see "political pitching" going on, where it's not really about sharing knowledge in an open and curious manner anymore but rather about influencing others so they can validate your worldview.

On the whole taking time away made me become much more conscious about how I was using the platform, how it was using me, and the ways it was impacting my knowledge gathering and the means by which I interacted with both friends and strangers online.

Have any of you taken time of major social media platforms? What was your own experience?

 

[3DStudent]

Hi whitecoast,

I'm taking a break from social media, but because I'm doing NeurOptimal. I am checking in every once and a while, but not stressing to do it every day. I use Facebook, Twitter, and VK. Basically I just like others' posts and post a few. But Facebook is especially easy to get lost in. So I have to not post too many comments or watch too many videos. It's about 30-45 minutes a day when I use them.

I used to post a lot more articles, but recently limited it to around 5. So I try to pick a diverse selection of topics. I never got into Steemit, because it Steem seemed like a complicated economic system, and I don't ever post my own content aside from one-liners. One thing I try to remember when using social media is to, "Get in and get out." Meaning just log on and post and like a few things, and don't get lost scrolling down liking and viewing more posts.

I notice a bit of what you said regarding the quality of your information seeking. When I went on SOTT the other day, there was a few days' worth of content, so there were a few articles that I wanted to look at in particular. I think it's easy to get lost in these things trying to produce too much output. But when you step back a bit, you find yourself with more time to seek the things that interest you.

 

[Marina9]

Hi whitecoast! Just to chime in a bit, I gave up FB for like 3 months now more or less.. buuut I can't say i'm totally free from social media, cause I still use Instagram for example and Twitter to catch the news :/ But I have seen some of what you are saying from giving up FB, more "free" time so to speak, less anxiety from seeing and comparing myself to others, cause I did use to see that from time to time.

Instagram IMO, is a bit more personal, although FB owns it, I do get to see more of the things i'm interested in so to speak, and also I enjoy photography a lot, so most of the accounts I follow are either friends, photographers, paleo and keto influencers (and you get lots of recipes too hehe), uhm dunno yoga people, overall things I enjoy. But I also notice that I still need to work on the way I use it cause sometimes I get carried away with sharing lots of pics and so on. And Twitter, well it's my way of catching the news.

But overall I don't miss FB at all to be honest...

Added: Oh yes! And I have the VK account, but don't really use it.

 

[Beau]

I deleted FB from my phone a few months ago and almost immediately felt better. No more notifications and checking it at random times. I still have my account, but only check it a few times a day. I feel like Marina, I really don't miss it at all and prefer Twitter much more for getting news.

 

[Mari]

Hi,

I´ve deleted my FB account almost 3 months ago.
Since before I clicked delete, I´ve signed out of all devices and removed FB password from them so I don´t get accidentally log in to FB.
After having FB account since almost beginning, I felt like I lost 10 kilos.

I´ve noticed that I don´t use my phone so often during the day; by the time night falls I forget where I´ve put it!
Instead of scrolling up and down the FB, I go directly to portals for getting the news and then I find more and more information that I would miss before when I would only click on the link and that´s it.

I dropped FB because I was sick and tired of all the scandals and what FB grow into.

I´ve switched to VK but I don´t check it very often.

I don´t miss FB since all friends I like - I just call them or send them an email or simply chat. Just like whitecoast wrote - communication became personal.

People I had on FB were not just close and dear friends, but also acquaintances. And sometimes they made me so sad or angry with their comments; one example from the top of my head: when they were discussing vaccines or similar and I know they only stick to what the doctor says and I know they won´t change their minds and read more. And sometimes I would think about that for a long time....
And now I don´t have these problems. People live their lives as they wish to and that´s fine.
Back in the days, I would argue with people. But in the last few years I would only post and if somebody didn´t like it or have some comment, I would skip it and didn´t go into explanations or proving myself right. I knew that people who really know me, they know what I´m thinking and why I said something.

Anyway, quitting FB was a great relief for me; both in a time-consuming and in an energy-consuming way.

 

[duyunne]

I went on a vacation from Facebook last year for a few weeks too.

- upon return, I too feel completely dissociated from arguing or commenting on 90% of the crud I come across
- stopped posting selfies
- oddly, I stopped promoting music I liked, and when I was compulsed to post a track, I would strip the branding and leave naked links

The music aspect was interesting as I took notice to my friend suggestions taking a drastic turn from family and friends of friends to fans and artists of different music acts I ‘liked’ and would post links to.
Some of whom I learned we’re very self service oriented and self obsessed. I can appreciate that branding is required for their career path but felt a loathing destestment for what some of these people would do to ensure they stayed relevant.

It’s as if I have to take a break away from my self to see my self and make the necessary adjustments to appreciate the social media experience again.

 

[whitecoast]

Yeah I noticed myself listening to music less as well, but I think that had more to do with Neuroptimal therapy I’ve been doing.

 

[etezete]

Hey whitecoast, welcome to the club.

I deleated my facebook account more than half a year ago and I can relate to all the points you listed. And the thing i like the most about not being there any more is that i do not have this feeling of standing on the abyss of ignorance and staring on an endless sea of stupidity any more. Those few links I got there which were woŕthwhile were Lauras posts for sott news (which are available on sott, and I check every day) or comments on them. well, now I do no longer get these comments. I get over it. :)

 

[Turgon]

When y'all are talking about taking a vacation from Facebook, do you mean you deactivated or permanently deleted your account? I find myself constantly checking Facebook which takes up a lot of free time, and I'd say 80% of that is random scrolling my news feed, skimming through headlines and viewing other peoples feeds and pictures, basically I feel like I'm dissociating on the platform so I deactivated my account, only to find out that once I log back in, it's back to normal again. You just go through one extra step. So I'm seriously contemplating permanently deleting my account and seeing what happens. I've read so many articles on SOTT about the negative effects of constant social media use, and can't help but wonder what kind of effect that is having. Lately I find my concentration and focus just isn't there. So maybe it's time to do away with it, and even the data plan on my phone for a few months and see if that doesn't make a difference.

 

[seek10]

Though I haven't deactivated facebook, but I too find tired after scrolling though facebook. Biggest problem is time goes out mindlessly and wonder where the time went and sense of waste of time. It is hard to recollect what i scrolled through. I reduced logging in computer to avoid this mechanicalness.

 

[Marina9]

I deactivated my account, I wasn't aware that you can actually delete it completely, and now I found the how-to for that. Other things is that your FB chat thing doesn't disappear when you deactivate it, if you have it on your phone you can deactivate it, but if not it will appear as if you are still on FB. So better just delete the FB chat app on the phone too.

I was reading that when you request the complete elimination of your FB account it takes some days to actually disappear:

Facebook delays deletion for a few days after the request is made. If you log in during the grace period, the deletion is cancelled

Info: https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/how-to-delete-facebook-account-2950145

 

[Harmony99]

I believe it is important to take a day or two from fb or even weeks. This has allowed me to spend more time reading and researching. It was an article posted by a friend on FB in 2014 that accelerated my awakening. Therefore i still use fb in a very control manner as many friends and families are still fast asleep and maybe I can one day be of assistant. I once implemented a no cellphone day two years ago and trust me it was a bit nervous at the start but I eventually cope for the day.I did not turn on my phone until about 8pm to see what I had missed.
IMO any short break from social media will add significant value on our life.

 

[Turgon]

I deactivated my account, I wasn't aware that you can actually delete it completely, and now I found the how-to for that. Other things is that your FB chat thing doesn't disappear when you deactivate it, if you have it on your phone you can deactivate it, but if not it will appear as if you are still on FB. So better just delete the FB chat app on the phone too.

I was reading that when you request the complete elimination of your FB account it takes some days to actually disappear:



Info: https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/how-to-delete-facebook-account-2950145

Yeah, there's a link on Facebook that gives all the details about how to go about it. Although it says 14 days before permanent deletion of all your contacts and information, whereas the site you linked to says 90 days before their backup databases delete it. Luckily I never had it on my phone, although after talking with a friend about it just now, have decided to deactivate the account and leave it be for a few months. I do have a lot of contacts on there that I would need to save before going through with it all the way, but for the next few months it'll be good to practice some self-control.

 

[fabric]

I've read so many articles on SOTT about the negative effects of constant social media use, and can't help but wonder what kind of effect that is having. Lately I find my concentration and focus just isn't there. So maybe it's time to do away with it, and even the data plan on my phone for a few months and see if that doesn't make a difference.

Yes, FB is pretty powerful 'virtual crack'. I try to limit myself to 20-30 min in the morning but I do notice myself checking in throughout the day sometimes and lose a few minutes here and there, which can add up if one isn't careful. I think what's so insidious is its apparent 'harmlessness' but in the end a dopamine hit is still a dopamine hit. I think as long as one is aware of that and doesn't fall into the 'FB hole' (or YouTube hole, Twitter hole, whatever) then it can be managed responsibly. And same as with other things that spur addictive behaviours, sometimes the best thing is total abstinence. One things I've never done is allow any social media access to my phone - they want too much access to the device and I find it really creepy.

However I'm finding its usefulness waning as of late. I've set it up so that all the alt news sites and even some mainstream ones are to 'show first' as I like using it to scan headlines or articles. But they've changed something (again) in their algorithm because I don't always get to see those pages first and get other random people or things instead. Then again, they are at outright war with news sites, particularly alt and conservative sites so it's not a surprise and it's becoming even less useful for that.

I also at times feel it's pointless but every so often I'll see a random 'like' or comment or something that tells me as much as things are censored and controlled, they can't get everything and things do fall through the cracks. So that's encouraging. I used to be of the view that these social media giants will fail but I doubt it. They are fully backed by the Deep State and they're not gonna give up their toys so easily, and a mass exodus to other social media platforms isn't going to hurt them. In fact, I think Johnstone is correct when she says:

My point with all this is that the few clear-eyed rebels are not going to kill Facebook, Youtube and Twitter by marginalizing themselves into the fragmented fringe of alternative social media outlets like Steemit, Dtube, Gab, Minds, MeWe, etc. That’s exactly what these bastards want. They want us far away from their mainstream livestock. They want us to exit into some fringe circle that they will then invent a name for and smear as the place where all the kooks go. All of a sudden you’ll see all the mass media outlets simultaneously start using that label (“fringe conspiracy sites”, “fringe media”, who knows) in a derogatory and dismissive way, and from then on their herd will be immunized from our influence.

So I think I'll keep at it, while being careful with my time and having a purpose in mind when on those platforms rather than aimlessly wandering through feeds and just 'entertaining' oneself. With the exception of cute/funny cat videos...

 

[Mari]

Hello Turgon and all!

If you want to backup data from FB, here is a tutorial:
_How to download Facebook photos and videos
This will save your pictures, contacts etc and allows you to restore your profile if you ever want to go back to FB.

For downloading contacts here is also a tutorial (which is basically the same step as above, but here also explains where exactly you can find the contacts in that huge .zip file and how to save them in an Excel file):
_How to export your Facebook contacts

After you´ve done all of that, you have a backup of your entire profile and then before you go on with deleting the account I would suggest that you sign out of all devices:
_How to remotely sign any logged-in device out of your Facebook account using a different device

Now you have all FB data on your computer and you can go on with
_How to permanently delete your Facebook account

Don´t forget to remove passwords from your browsers on all computers, tablets, smartphones you use so you don´t get automatically log in after you delete your account!

:)