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  1. #1
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    Getting off Facebook

    I'm sure there have been threads on this topic before. I've been thinking of quitting the big blue F, or at least trying to vastly cut down on my time there.

    Found this article the other day:

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-...b_6011106.html

    I'm trying some of the steps and they are working out for me. Over the years, I've gotten disillusioned with FB (and social media in general). The other night, I got in a political fight with someone and ended up blocking them and leaving the group we were both in. I try NEVER to get in political arguments with anyone, both IRL and on the 'net. I ended up yelling and crying to spouse that I hated FB.

    I have noticed over the past couple of days, more of a sense of peacefulness and well-being. I've dropped into FB just to see what's going on, and to check Messenger (my best friend's brother-in-law is seriously ill and she has been updating me on Messenger). I've also stopped following a couple of people.

    It seems that the crap FB is throwing at me is overwhelming--all these posts they think I would like, suggested friends, etc. etc. I only joined it b/c at the time, I had intentions of selling my handmade jewelry, and let's face it: it's one of the only places you can advertise that sort of thing for free. There are also some cool trade/sell groups for art supplies, and other stuff. Lots of my art friends were on there, so I joined up.

    I don't sell my jewelry anymore, so that is not a reason to stay. My excuses have been 1) boredom; and 2) keeping in touch with friends. I gotta ask myself, though: How did I keep in touch with friends before Facebook?

    Have you weaned yourself off FB (or any other social media)? How did you do it? How has your life improved? Or do you regret it?

    I'm interested to know about your experience.

  2. #2
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    I've taken time off FB at various times. Like Lent. Yes, life improves greatly. I'm more content when I'm not seeing everyone's latest trips or big purchases.
    I'm at a point where I check it once or twice a day but I haven't made a post in over a month and I go back through my timeline and delete a lot of things.
    I do plan to keep it because I use it at lot at church for getting quick responses from people. They won't check email but check facebook messenger.
    I did a lot of hiding people during the last election. I remove anything that gets me boiling. I don't engage in conversations - political, religious, etc, that might upset me. I try to post an encouraging comment on other's pages when needed.
    I've given up on feeling like I have to wish happy birthday to 17 people a day.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  3. #3
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    Yes, society has done a significant shift. I used to talk on the phone a lot to friends; now I never do. It's all done through Messenger. Ditto for email. I've got friends who never check email anymore.

    Quote Originally Posted by Float On View Post
    I've taken time off FB at various times. Like Lent. Yes, life improves greatly. I'm more content when I'm not seeing everyone's latest trips or big purchases.
    I'm at a point where I check it once or twice a day but I haven't made a post in over a month and I go back through my timeline and delete a lot of things.
    I do plan to keep it because I use it at lot at church for getting quick responses from people. They won't check email but check facebook messenger.
    I did a lot of hiding people during the last election. I remove anything that gets me boiling. I don't engage in conversations - political, religious, etc, that might upset me. I try to post an encouraging comment on other's pages when needed.
    I've given up on feeling like I have to wish happy birthday to 17 people a day.

  4. #4
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I gave up social media--including SLN--for Lent a couple of years ago. Reason: I was wasting a lot of time.

    Facebook is really losing its appeal for me. It's gotten so commercial. There's one post from a friend for every 5 "sponsored post"s. Even though those sponsored posts are for things I might be interested in because FB is the champ at targeted advertising, it's ridiculous. My son keeps telling me to migrate to Instagram.

    As for the political banter, I make it a point not to engage. I blocked the posts of one of my friends because she was a nasty, rabid liberal and I couldn't stand her rants anymore. And I'm a liberal! Conversely, I haven't been moved to block the posts of my conservative "Share if you think Donald Trump Deserves More Respect" friends. I just can't stand it when it escalates from opinion to vitriol.

    So, I never, ever respond to political posts, whether I agree or not. I'd rather keep a friend than splinter over political views.

    But you have me thinking about redoing giving up FB for Lent again this year.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  5. #5
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    Facebook is really losing its appeal for me. It's gotten so commercial. There's one post from a friend for every 5 "sponsored post"s. Even though those sponsored posts are for things I might be interested in because FB is the champ at targeted advertising, it's ridiculous. My son keeps telling me to migrate to Instagram.
    Why Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook . I'm sure the folks at Instagram are plotting and planning over how to better monetize users on that site.

    Not defending Facebook in this instance; I find my time on it has decreased as well for all of the sponsored content and for the nonsense too many people post (the clickbait "Everyone couldn't believe it when he..." and the "Which friend will help you steal a car?", not to mention the political trash on both sides). I'm not yet willing to give it up, though. It still lets me keep in (sufficient) touch with people I want to keep up with at least a little, in a way that twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and schedules can't touch.

    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    As for the political banter, I make it a point not to engage. I blocked the posts of one of my friends because she was a nasty, rabid liberal and I couldn't stand her rants anymore. And I'm a liberal! [snip] I'd rather keep a friend than splinter over political views.
    My BiL is a prime offender with this. Apparently cannot see a single post on Fb without "sharing" it and does a really poor job discerning real issues and information from outraged fake news. Sadly, Facebook's tools for filtering what you see are pretty crude, so I can't unfollow him without also missing out on what he and SiL are doing in their lives (which actually interests me). Yes, we can catch up with them a couple of times a year through visits or cards/letters/email. But it's not the same. There's a lack of involvement from not being engaged so often. So, for now, Fb it is and I skip a lot of posts.

    As for the Trumpistas still out there in my friend pool, though, I think I'd rather know now they still lean that way than have it come up in a F2F conversation with them.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  6. #6
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    ...I blocked the posts of one of my friends because she was a nasty, rabid liberal and I couldn't stand her rants anymore. And I'm a liberal! Conversely, I haven't been moved to block the posts of my conservative "Share if you think Donald Trump Deserves More Respect" friends. I just can't stand it when it escalates from opinion to vitriol.
    OK, so I posted a very harmless fun little poll today on FB: Who should I root for, because I spent equal amount of time in my life right near Philly and also in New England. Just a fun thing for Super Bowl Day.

    So the above friend--while I can't see her posts because I blocked them, I forgot she can see mine. So, some of my friends responded with the levity this exercise deserved, but my buzzkill friend posted the following:

    Root for the homeless persons who have been put in danger of freezing to death bec of this dumb game - -- root for the hapless tax payers who paid for that eyesore of a stadiuim that is built in such a way it kills countless migrating birds every year ---- root for the millions whose daily transportation was disrupted ALLLLLL this damn week bec of train stoppages and street closings----root for people like ME who went to a movie Friday night in the city only to find some dumb celebs had taken over the damn lobby for an event
    So, do I answer with levity and risk further diatribe from her, or just let it go? I could block that post just to keep the conversation going, but that's unnecessary censorship.
    I think I'm just going to ignore. But I may just unfriend her. She's unfriendly enough as it is, it seems.

    Aside to Steve, I AM rooting for you guys in MN. I'm sorry you didn't get your own team in the stadium this week. Hope you haven't been inconvenienced the way my FB friend has!
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  7. #7
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    I think I'm just going to ignore. But I may just unfriend her. She's unfriendly enough as it is, it seems.

    Aside to Steve, I AM rooting for you guys in MN. I'm sorry you didn't get your own team in the stadium this week. Hope you haven't been inconvenienced the way my FB friend has!
    Sounds like your friend lives somewhere around here. Lots of details only someone who lives around here would know about Minneapolis hosting the Superb Owl (MT)...

    I would ignore your friend's comment. Depending on exactly where she lives, she may have endured weeks of closed streets, altered transit routes, and pre-emption of local amenities as visions of dollar signs from visitors flash in the heads of local businesspeople. The Vikings loss still stings a bit (even for bandwagon fans). And The People's Stadium (seriously, that's how they billed this pleasure palace) still leaves a bad taste in plenty of peoples' mouths for how it arrived. There's plenty to be unhappy about if one has a mind to be.

    We haven't been as inconvenienced as your Fb friend has. After all (as CNN has been telling the world), we live in St. Paul, a suburb of Minneapolis. There have been some Superb Owl (MT) events here as the annual Winter Carnival was held over a week to capture throngs of visitors. But it's been manageable.

    Without ranging too far off-topic, I've been rather amused watching Minneapolis enjoy its "star turn" while it deals with its deep and long-standing inferiority complex. And, not-so-secretly, I'm pleased that we got three or four inches of snow yesterday and the temperature is hovering around zero as I write this. You wanna visit Minneapolis? This is what life is like. Trash-talk the weather when you get home if you want; it keeps here the people who love living here and don't really want to live anyplace else. Minneapolis likes to think it can take on bigger American cities; I'm content to enjoy what we have here.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  8. #8
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    I have deleted Twitter from my tablet, as I rarely checked it and have never really liked it.

    I've got a problem with Pinterest. Now all of a sudden, it seem like every other photo is "promoted." How did this happen?

    I'm not a big Instagram user either.

    I used to spend a lot of time on flickr, but I've noticed it's not being used as much as it used to. For instance, I take a couple of online art classes each year. They used to have flickr groups; now it's all a "private" Facebook groups.

  9. #9
    Williamsmith
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    I belong to only two social sites. I used to belong to a forum of baseball minded people who primarily helped mentor young kids through the process of building a career in baseball and obtaining a college scholarship. I maxed out at ten years. The site owner started selling advertising space on the home page and I quit immediately because I felt the hours and hours of volunteer advice was not his to exploit and I told everyone so in rather flamboyant language. Well, I cussed him out pretty harshly.

    I took a little time off and surfed around looking for another site without much luck. And then I stumbled across this forum. I really never know from day to day what my level of participation will be and I’m not sensitive about it. I do what I feel like doing. If that means my priorities change and I seem hypocritical or undisciplined....meh. I like that this site lives up to its name in a big way. Really never experienced the kind of tolerance the members here have for conflicting views on this kind of format. It speaks to the character of the people who belong here. I am appreciative of that more than you know.

    i also belong to a forum of firearms owners from my state. It is what it is. To quote somebody. There are a lot of jackbutts, lots of ignorance, and intolerance. Just the way we firearms owners like it. Hmmmm.

    Oh yeah, I do have a clandestine Facebook account for my wife which we use a couple times a year when we want to get intelligence on our own kids and my mother. But for the most part I think Facebook is responsible for the reduction in productivity of the entire US workforce. I think the Russians are behind it.

  10. #10
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    Williamsmith, you may be right about the workforce thing. I have noticed that after 5 p.m., Facebook kind of shuts down. But boy is it humming during the day!

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