Why I left social media.

Post Reply New Topic

I've really found that since I joined Mastodon, my brain has changed. I suppose I used to be addicted to the constant notifications and the fast moving, constant cut and thrust of aggressive comments. You always have to get ready to defend yourself on big, corporate social media sites because any comment can be taken out of context and picked apart, argued about, made fun of.

But I got really tired of that a few years ago and I'm so glad I moved to Mastodon. There is no algorithm shoving arguments in my face there.

I joined last autumn when there was hardly anyone there. The local inhabitants there pointed out how traumatised the migrants from Twitter were and we all realised that we were. It took a while to relax and feel safe there. It was noticeable when a wave of bird-site people joined, they were all spoiling for a fight and took time to calm down. Some people have even complained that Mastodon is 'too nice' and stormed off in a huff.

Social media has affected our brains IMO and it's taking time to learn to converse politely again. Whenever I go back to Twitter it's noticeable how feisty everyone is, arguing with strangers, ranting and raving. It's too tiring for me.

Plus, every so often Facebook decides to vomit crappy alt-right memes in my face as it did today. I think it's looking for "engagement"?

I can totally relate to the op, I have absolutely no current social media presence other than this forum nor do I have any emotional or mental need or desire to rejoin social media. People are often shallow, selfish, and/or many times toxic in one form or another when 'hidden' behind an online persona. Some become absolute evil when they feel hidden behind their online mask, and do say evil things to provoke whatever emotional and mental damage they can to others.

I tried facebook long ago when it was young and all the rage, and because my family all but forced me through guilt and constant pressure. It was ok at best, but in the end not for me. I would be pressured socially to add coworkers as friends, coworkers who would then bombard my feed with dozens of selfies each day. Other friends would get all grumpy with me for not responding to something they said, something that was almost always stupid but missed because of the many selfies that pushed it past my patience to begin with.

Eventually after lots of time observing others and thinking about it I came to the simple realization and acceptance of the fact that I way preferred in person interactions with a few real friends much more that trying to constantly seek approval and acceptance from however many online 'friends' we are told I had but who I really didn't know. I haven't been on facebook or anything like it since, and I have been quite a bit happier. I know, I do accept that WP might be considered as social media, and maybe it is, but I don't care as I don't consider it as such and my opinion is the only one that counts in my mind. That and I like it here.

While social media has it's advantages, it's also given people who are otherwise passive aggressive who openly attack others.

I think it also often creates a platform/environment that reinforces, encourages and builds things like passive aggression.

I have a love hate relationship with social media. For one it seems like social media already has established groups of people and anyone new seems to have a tough time establishlishing themselves.
I dislike the whole upvote downvote thing, as it leads to echo chambers and no real dialogue.
But, I have a tough time keeping in touch with friends. And social media is great because a simple like or comment on a post can be seen as keeping in touch, with minimal effort on my part.

I use Facebook to mostly to keep up with what my cousins on the other side of the country are up to. I check and very occasionally post on local meteorologist pages, a page about growing up in my hometown, two related to my alma mater.

The only “political” topic I have posted about is The Judge Rotenberg Center. I follow people who I have known for decades who feel strongly on both sides of the political divide. Like on here I will post about musicians who have died that older people would know.


On X I oppose attempts to language police how autistics describe themselves. Otherwise I check to see what news items are trending. As unreliable as it is in 2025 X is still a sort of a guide into what people are thinking.

I lurked in an attempt understand TikTok and concluded I an just too old. Pretty much all of it I find inane and annoying.

Leaving social media is the hardest thing to do. I only use this site, Facebook, and Discord (though on Discord I only chat to some friends privately, I'm not into gaming or anything like that).

I've not had many bad experiences with Facebook to be fair, despite all the "oh Facebook is the worst place on the internet, it's a sin, it's where all your online issues will begin, it's toxic, delete your account now!" presumption. But Facebook can feed my RSD, making me feel hurt when mutual friends decline my friend request but have everyone else we both know on their friends list.

^ Facebook made me feel bad for the same reason. I was never particularly popular on Facebook as some other people are and I tended to overshare, which I don't want to do really with people on Facebook who could see my photos and identify me in real life etc.

In the end I quit, after a long time of using it.

If the benefits of Facebook outweigh the negatives for you in particular though, you should keep on using it.

Yeah, I've often been baffled by some people's actions on Facebook. Like this lad me and my sister both used to know when we were teenagers (no romances or dramas or anything like that were involved), we hadn't seen him for years and then my sister found him on Facebook and added him. I decided to add him too, but he blocked me. Actually blocked me. I mean, was that necessary? We're all adults now, all in relationships, so he couldn't have been trying to avoid any drama or anything. He knew me just as much as he knew my sister. But he accepted my sister and blocked me.

The only time I ever block someone is if they're a threat to me. Like I've blocked the bully at work so that he can't find me on Facebook, even though he probably wouldn't bully me online or anything but I just don't want him nosing at my profile and slagging me down even more.

One day on my day off I'd like to bring one of my pet rats into work, that'd scare the s**t out of him lol. I know he doesn't like rats. And I do understand if people have a phobia of rats, I don't judge them for it, but because he's caused me a lot of grief at work with his confrontations then he deserves to be confronted by my rat. Maybe he'll never go near me again.

Okay, I'm rambling. I'll stop now.

Confronted by your rat? That part made me laugh for some reason.