[V.Narayan]

My only outlet on social media is Team BHP and I must confess I clock in about 60 to 80 minutes a day on an average. Linked In - I created my profile only after retiring from my first career 6 years ago. It remains a passive profile. Instagram, FB, Twitter are not in my life. WA is a production/operations tool to manage my teams and facilities - very useful. I discovered to my horror how venal folks can be on WA groups of relative or classmates so exited all but one of them - a waste of time. IMHO if you are not disciplined, then social media pulls your mental discourse down to the lowest common denominator and literally devours up precious time. If one is not careful social media is an addiction like drinks or substances.

[BoneCollector]

I was an avid Facebook user for 10 years, 2009-2019 posting multiple posts a day. And one fine day, I decided to stop using it as it was slowly turning into a crap place rather than a place where you could connect with friends. Now I've been told that it is full on stupid reels and vulgarity.

My maximum use of social media is WhatsApp if you take it as a social media platform. I'm quite active on X (Twitter) and it has helped me resolve many issues pertaining to different brands. My go to place for news is X. YouTube and Instagram use is once in a while.

Other than these, my areas of interest are FlightRadar24 and IRFCA.

But my maximum browsing time is spent on Team BHP.

[RunGaDa]

Interesting thread. I found social media, particularly Facebook very useful in the past to hone my writing skills. The pull to write on some current affairs topic, or spontaneous poetry or short stories, critiques etc were finding a platform through Facebook. Though I don’t remember when I went to Facebook for likes etc.
Fast forward many years, I have now graduated to medium. Learned the maturity and extremely happy with it, even though it has a yearly subscription.

BTW - medium is not in the popular list given by OP.

No issues. Medium is a great platform where in a rapport is built over time. It’s is not break neck like or reject.

[N1Krider_R]

Many a people have realised it's a lopsided arms race against the giants. All these corporates want is your attention & time.

On the mobile even the T-bhp articles run on infinite scroll instead of click to next page button. Kind of auto-play functions used by YT or Netflix. Not complaining.

An army of engineers versus a Reptilian brain

Have realised that the slot machine tactics have made us also addicts - you don't need a substance to become addict. Human behaviour is being exploited by deploying cutting edge technology. Hence, I have quit FB, Insta, LinkedIn etc. WhatsApp is on silent permanently, phone in gray scale mode during the day. Basically phone is being used as a phone.

Surfing the net only for information - subscribing to quality blogs like T-bhp, JamesClear, StudyHacks, DeepDish etc.

[aim120]

I get all my news on X, before I rarely used twitter. Only after Elon bought twitter did I started using it. You get raw news without the media narrative/spin. Fake news including the ones from traditional media is community noted.
Youtube for reviews and podcasts. Rumble for podcasts.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by three10

Slight deviation - To everyone who’s quit social media, how did you do it?

Like any other addiction it is hard to do this. Decide why you want to leave it? As and when you feel like logging in; ask yourself do you really need to login? In the beginning you can start off by staying a week away, then a month away and so on. It’s like any other addiction but once you are out of it trust me it feels very foolish to go back. I activate my Instagram account once a year and other than FOMO nothing else to catch up on.

A sincere advice which I follow is to not use my phone for atleast an hour after waking up and have recently tried to inculcate the same habit before sleeping too. Started reading a book, newspaper or just enjoy a coffee/tea while soaking it all in. Trust me this one change can really help a lot. All the best.

[abhi_ank]

I am not on fb, instagram, linkedin, twitter or any other social media sites. On whatsapp for family and friends. I dont feel the need to share my life/activities with the world nor do I want to find out what others are doing. Those who matter are in touch. Also, dont have the time for it either.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by three10

Slight deviation - To everyone who’s quit social media, how did you do it?

This is how I did it:

1. Uninstall the apps.
2. Deactivate your accounts using the browser.
3. If deactivation is not possible (e.g LinkedIn), then logoff from the account. Make it harder for yourself to access it.
4. Remove the automatically created browser bookmarks.
5. Unsubscribe from the mail reminders/weekly digests and all such.

It probably takes a couple of hours, but it is really worth it.

YouTube, mainly for trave/food/tech videos, WhatsApp, and Team-bhp are the only social media that I use. WhatsApp can't really be avoided, but even here I keep away from any political discussions and use it only for transactional purposes.

[B5glider]

Very nice eye opening thread. 4 hours is my daily average that my weekly report shows. And thats youtube is on the top with 75% of time. I dont use facebook,insta etc. Came out of them consciously. Have a presence in linked in to fish candidates when i go in to hiring mode. I don’t login to my X account consciously. I just use it when I get struck with an appliance or something and want to reach out to customer care. Perfectly works 90 out of 100 times.
Having said that I am thinking of ways to reduce my youtube time. In fact I want to go back to basic handsets since I need only whatsapp.
What I need is a basic handset, a button handset with only whatsapp capability. Tried the jio and wasted money. Searching for options now. Any help please!

[M@y@vi]

My few grains -

X - not active. Whenever I log in, I see a load of problems being posted. It adds to the negativity and hence I stay away.

FB- again not active. Thought of even deleting my account. But something still stopping me. May be the memories that it throws up from my twenties.


Insta- I use only to post my travel pics from the rear camera. No selfies. I am using this as my one stop place to relive my travel memories through handpicked photographs.


YouTube - used most. Even when driving. I listen to sancharam or by travel experiences shared by Santosh Of you are from Kerala you know him.

Have tried clubhouse, Snapchat etc. but ended up deleting my account as I thought they are just full of crap.

[libranof1987]

My use of social media:

X: Almost none. I rarely use it, typically only when I want to reach out to a company for faster resolution. Earlier, most companies were quick to respond and get connected; however, of late, I have found most to not reply.

Facebook: Very rarely. Mostly open the app only when I see a notification where I'm tagged, or it is someone's b'day. No posts or interaction on Facebook / Facebook Messenger though.

YouTube: Rarely; only when I need help on something (say, troubleshooting a problem) and there are resolution videos.

Instagram: this has, unfortunately, taken the majority attention span. With the amount and variety of content available, I find myself on the app during commute or periods of inactivity.

Reddit: another app with tremendous variety of content. This happens to be at least slightly educational over Instagram given the discussions on communities.

Overall, much scope to reduce the time spent on social media. The ironic reality is, all this time is spent consuming, not creating. So, essentially a massive drain on time and attention, with no/little return on it.

[NomadSK]

That's a Lovely Thread

I have consciously tried to detox myself from the online world over a period of around 6 years or so.

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn - Deleted - 6 years Ago (Sorry Zuckenberg/Musk)

Instagram/SC - What's that ?

Youtube - Yes, Yes (That's a lot of informative content), But again not on phone, rather on TV.

Whatsapp - A necessary evil (Muted all my groups and No notifications) and access it once in few days. My CA/Tenant/Parents/Siblings/Relatives/Friends all use this platform. Hence difficult to get rid of this. However, trying to manage my time as best as I can.

Team-BHP - Most spent time, but Very rarely on phone.

Next target (Probably in few years down the line) - No phone to carry or switch over to Old age Nokia (non-smart) type phone as my usage is negligible. And few hours ago, I got this notification from iPhone. That too usage is up by 8%, which I'm trying to reach Zero, Hopefully.

All of this for my own peace of mind and setting an example for the Kid at home, that these things aren't necessary in life, unless one starts to earn their bread and butter from there. Always have found these social platforms to be intrusive and Non-Social.

[KaartooS]

An interesting topic of discussion. Here's how I go:

Weekdays:
LinkedIn: Most active here, even thoguh I feel it's deteriorating day by day. Still the only way to network professionally.
Facebook: Limited during weekdays, mindless scrolling. Nothing of any value these days. I don't remember when I last saw something worth commenting. Honestly, I don't even know why I have this apart from re-connecting with old friends at times.
Instagram: Only for mindless scrolling and reels for entertainment. I rarely post on insta, unless it is one of my paragliding videos.
Twitter: Many times during the day. I do not watch any news, so this acts as my news feed across politics, latest events, business, startups, sports etc. While it has changed from what it used to be, still serves my purpose.

Weekends:
LinkedIn:Reduced frequency and time on app compared to weekdays.
Facebook and Instagram: Frequency and time on app increases compared to weekdays.
Twitter: Same as weekdays.

Few years ago, I removed Facebook and Insta from the main screen of my phone and I noticed it helped a lot in reducing their usage.

Thanks for bringing this topic up and allowing me time to reflect on this. I realised Insta and Facebook are not needed much and the frequent notifications are distractions. While I was typing this, I have barred notifications from Facebook and Instagram.

[SmartCat]

Does anybody know what is the purpose of social media platform pinterest? Out of curiosity, I downloaded the app and signed up. And this is what I see:





Ok, so now what am I supposed to do with these random images? If I'm interested in cat pics, I can always go to Google Images right?

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Does anybody know what is the purpose of social media platform pinterest?

Pinterest lets you bookmark a picture/video which you might want to refer later sometime. I don't use it but some of my friends do. Never been a fan of the app but I guess if one knows how to use it then I am sure there are many productive things to learn from there.

Ex:
1. A friend during highschool used to browse and save pins of various artworks she liked in order to help her in creating her art portfolio for college and to gain some ideas from them.
2. Have my cousins who save pins of various poses in which one can pose. Yes too much photogenic!
3. The same cousins also use it for looking up different dressing styles too.

The list can go on depending on your interests/likes.