How to Stop Getting Bummed Out by Social Media

There'south a lot of unlike types of social media out at that place. Whether you're into the image sharing at Instagram, the pithy textual tweets of Twitter, or the uber-networking of everything social at Facebook, they're all more than popular than ever.

But they are too under fire as much they've e'er been. Exercise yous realize that the first "Quit Facebook Day" was held nigh five years ago? The social network was barely out of diapers at that betoken, and the backlash had already begun. Today, Facebook is the whipping male child of all things wrong with social networking, and peradventure for adept reason. But it doesn't matter what network you're into: when it takes over your life, information technology'south non a skilful affair.

Here's my dingy little secret—about the aforementioned time that Quit Facebook Day was commencing, I realized I had a big trouble with Twitter. I was post-obit fewer than 200 people, perchance half of whom actively updated—simply I was utterly obsessed with never, always missing a single tweet. I had third-party Twitter apps on my telephone, desktop apps running on the side of the screen, SMS alerts, email alerts, you proper name information technology. If someone said something clever with 140 characters, I had to know.

Then, one day, I didn't. Well, I did...simply the amount of work I wasn't getting done, and the number of existent-life friends I was ignoring wasn't worth that. I had to do something radical. And so, I cut myself off.

I didn't miss out on anything globe-shaking, the globe kept on spinning. Eventually, it felt utterly normal to non be on Twitter all the fourth dimension.

These days however, I accept the aforementioned problem with Facebook—and at to the lowest degree there, I actually know most of the people.

Then, knowing I have a radical take a chance coming, I analyzed why it's a problem, why information technology's not that big a deal to take care of it, and all-time of all, the steps it takes to get off social networking, either piecemeal or cold turkey.

Why Quit?

Why Quit Social Media?

In that location was a time when we were all getting conditioned to retrieve of our social continuing online as our self worth. Remember Klout? In 2012, nosotros reported that at that place were employers actually hiring based on people'southward Klout score. Present, that particular form of whuffie doesn't announced to exist a cistron for most tech jobs, or have much going on menses—only still, we persist in constantly engaging in the social.

Let's face up information technology, this is really all about Facebook, so I'thou just going to write Facebook here. But the nuts apply to whatever social-networking service, exist it Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vine, Tumblr, etc. (Maybe non Google+, since no ane's there.)

If you need reasons to quit, here's a few. And they're not nonsense, similar those paranoid calls to activeness you lot run across bandied about on your mom and dad's timeline, where hoaxes are such an issue that Facebook is at present issuing warnings about them. (For more on that, check out 10 Huge Hoaxes That Fooled Facebook.)

Wasted Fourth dimension
Yous probably check Facebook a few times a solar day. Assuming y'all don't autumn downwards the rabid rabbit hole of reading status updates, clicking to run into more than, then updating your ain, it might only be v minutes. If you do that every hr of an eight-hour workday, that's 40 minutes. In a five-day week, that's 3.33 hours. In a year, that'south seven.2 total days. If you've been on Facebook since 2007, that's about 7 ENTIRE WEEKS. Almost two months of your life gone—at minimum. Because you know you're spending more than time than twoscore minutes a day on the Facebook.

That said, if you're honest with yourself, you know meliorate than anyone if Facebook has get a monumental time-suck that is ruining your productivity and social action.

Tracking Every Like (and More)
Facebook isn't altruistic. It's a corporation that is appreciative to shareholders to brand coin. And it makes a lot of it (n of $3.ii billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2014 lone, for example). Information technology does that past selling not just advertising that you have to run across (and there's plenty of that) only also selling you. Facebook is tracking everything you do on the service—if you "like" something, it knows, and it shares, and it makes greenbacks with that sharing of info.

Yous Can't Trust Them
If you think all that stuff in your profile you've marked equally "private" is private from Facebook itself, we accept several bridges effectually Manhattan to sell you. Cheap. Facebook volition, of form, utilise that info to better target ads, at the very least. Simply information technology's also manipulating users in other ways. Recall the emotional manipulation scandal last year? Information technology'due south only a minor thing—but allegorical of what Facebook can and will practise in the future if it continues to be and then all-encompassing.

It's Not Helping You
How does it really make y'all feel as the voyeur to all those status updates? It's been described past some every bit a "bad reality show" that'southward on 24/7. Worse, it'south non real connection or real engagement with other people. You can update all y'all want, even if every single person you lot know is on Facebook—you're still going to accept that conversation that goes like this:

Them: "Hey, what accept yous been up to?"

You: "Didn't yous see my condition update?"

Them: "No, I was out doing stuff. In the existent earth. With people."

That'southward assuming you even yet communicate with people in the real world.

If you don't believe, at that place'southward a study on "social comparison" (where people compare their lives to the updates they run across online from others) and overall, being on social networks obviously just makes people feel bad nearly their lives. (Another way to expect at it: manifestly information technology's better to be sharing than to be shared with.)

Another style to consider if Facebook is helping yous—Akshat Rathi at the The Health Care Blog asked the question, "Out of the approximately 10,000 status updates, links or photos that you have accessed on Facebook in the last 12 months, name one that – because you consumed it – allowed you to make a better decision nigh a serious matter affecting your life, your career or your business organisation." Consuming things (posts) that are "new," it turns out, is easier than consuming something truly relevant. He also says Facebook acts similar a drug, inhibits creativity, increases cognitive errors, and is literally toxic for your body.

Await, there are worse vices than Facebook, certainly. Merely I tin't become you into a 12-step program, this isn't an intervention, you don't even need rehab (probably)—this is just to assist you in self-awareness. You may be able to have back a lot of your life by reducing, fifty-fifty eliminating, Facebook from your routine.

The question for the fond is...how?

How to Quit

How to Quit Social Media

Here are a set of steps yous tin take that will slowly motility yous from dependent to free when it comes to Facebook (or any social network; conform appropriately).

Track Your Usage
Chances are you don't have any idea how much time you spend on Facebook. If you're mainly using information technology via the desktop, you lot can check how oft you lot log in using programs like TimeRabbit (free, Windows) or Facebook Runner (complimentary, multi-browser extension). On Android, you tin can use the App Usage Tracker (costless). If information technology's worse than the U.S. national average—twoscore minutes per solar day on Facebook, a number BusinessWeek called "higher than the corporeality of time spent on pet intendance" —it's time to consider further steps.

Eliminate Gas Bags
Nosotros all take friends on Facebook we shouldn't. Negative, irritating, abrasive, or worse, totally banal. This is the fourth dimension to be rid of them.

You tin unfriend if you want, simply you besides take the option to cake them. They won't know. You can still exist "friends" while avoiding their tiresome, icky, or ho-hum posts. Exercise that with 50 percent of your friends list, and Facebook may nearly become useful again. (But probably not.)

Take a Breather
Walk away from the service cold turkey for but a short amount of time. Attempt a solar day, or three, or a calendar week. At the very least, endeavor information technology for the 8 to 12 hours y'all're at piece of work. Don't make a big deal out of it, announcing it on your timeline so along. This isn't supposed to exist virtually you looking for attention, show-boater. Just walk abroad for a fiddling while.

Keep careful rail of what happens next. Information technology'south near guaranteed to be absolutely zilch. Y'all won't have friends who are angry with you, they won't have left you in a huff, y'all probably didn't miss out an invite to the biggest political party of the year. (If yous did: your real-life friends suck.)

Turn Off Notifications
If you can't walk away under your ain power, put engineering to piece of work. Head into your Facebook settings and plow off all the notifications you lot get. No more emails, SMS messages, beeps and boops, little red badges, banners on your phone'southward lock screens, etc. In other words, don't make it possible for Facebook to achieve out to you. It might blow upwardly in your confront, so to speak—without notifications of communication from others about your every condition/comment/like, you might check it twice as much. Merely if they're the bait you always take, shut 'em down.

Block Facebook Entirely
There are lots of ways to cake Facebook. You tin can become into your domicile router, find the domain filter selection (every router is dissimilar), and make certain that "facebook.com" isn't allowed. Parental Control software tin likewise practice the trick. Give your significant other the password so you don't get around the cake similar your kids always do. (This won't work on mobile apps.)

If you lot desire to proceed it browser-based, extensions similar StayFocusd (free, Chrome) or LeechBlock (free, Firefox) will assist.

On mobile devices like iPhone and Android handsets, it's a petty harder—you accept to accept the discipline to not use the app. Fifty-fifty if you lot do have that inner strength, it'due south still possible to call back the service on the mobile browser. Thankfully, since iOS 7, there's been born website blocking features. Go to Settings>Full general>Restrictions and turn it on. Scroll down to Websites, and you tin turn off admission to specific sites. Again, let someone else have control of the passcode and you'll be Facebook gratis. On Android, try the app Focus Lock—it makes it piece of cake to block specific apps for specific amounts of time.

Deactivate Facebook
Time to get truly proactive. If you're prepare to give Facebook a nice, long break instantaneously, conciliate your business relationship. It couldn't exist easier. On the desktop, just go into Settings from the upper correct drop-down bill of fare, click Security, and yous'll meet "Deactivate My Account" link at the lesser. (Hither's a directly link to use while logged in.) Facebook doesn't take this lightly—information technology'll do any information technology tin to continue you around, fifty-fifty some emotional bribery nigh much your friends volition miss y'all.

The thing to proceed in heed: "Deactivation" is not the same as leaving Facebook forever and ever. Your timeline volition disappear, you won't have access to the site or your business relationship via mobile apps, friends can't post or contact you, y'all'll lose access to all those third-party services that use (or require) Facebook for login—but Facebook doesn't delete the business relationship. Yous can reactivate information technology after. (Just in example, you should download a re-create your data on Facebook—posts, photos, videos, etc. —from the settings menu (nether "General").

The Nuke-u-lar Choice
To fully delete an account, go to the Delete My Account folio. Only be aware that, per the Facebook data utilize policy, "afterward yous remove information from your contour or delete your business relationship, copies of that information may remain viewable elsewhere to the extent it has been shared with others, it was otherwise distributed pursuant to your privacy settings, or it was copied or stored past other users." Translation: if yous wrote a annotate on a friend's status update or photo, information technology will remain even after you lot delete your ain profile.

But that won't matter to y'all. You lot're gratuitous my friend. Free. With all the time in the world to tweet most what you're binge watching on Netflix.

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