But that's the thing. I want to delete everything but it'll only cause drama. All the in laws and crap will take it as a personal attack even though they don't care.. but yeah. The drama would be worse
I love when my friends save funny videos for me on social media and we have to watch them together on their phone, in person. Laughing with others is something we miss out on when we just send stuff online instead of getting together
I feel you! I deleted Instagram from 2019-2023. A large part of me wants to delete it, but I love seeing the things that make my boyfriend, friends, and great aunt think of me :’)
Came here to say the same thing! I think I've always known it's damaging, but not quite how damaging it is. I realised recently I basically have no hobbies anymore, and the difference from now to then is I didn't have as much social media as I do now. It really does destroy your identity, and your life.
I deleted all my social media at the same age (22). I also got married that year and had my husband do the same thing. It’s coming up 3 years and life can’t get better
such a breath of fresh air to see an actual human that's free in expressing themselves without the need to confine to any aesthetic. Just simply letting the things you love and the person that you are define you. I cant lie Ive been guilty of trying to fit in with every aesthetic shown to me on the internet and at the end of it, its just capitalism tied with a pretty pink bow on top and it just made me feel empty. Nowadays Ive been truly reflecting on what makes me genuinely happy and what feeds my soul even if its not the most aesthetically pleasing process.
gosh, i was HUGE into cottagecore for a while there. pretty sure i used the term once in at least every conversation i had for a good two years lol, so i feel you. because when i got tired of that my first instinct was to get on pinterest and search up different aesthetics in hopes of finding one that felt more like the person i had become. the most freeing thing was realizing that no one aesthetic is ever going to do that because we aren't made to fit into boxes. anywho, i love this comment, and i hope everything is well🫶
I love this comment wow!!!!! you explained exactly what I have been feeling!! "just simply letting the things you love and the person that you are define you" BEAUTIFUL.
I promise you if you get friends who are older you'll find more of them are "free in expressing themselves without the need to confine to any aesthetic". This issue is primarily a gen Z problem
4 and a half months clean now. I have made so many more friends, even went on a mini vacation with them, started going to the gym everyday consistent and realised that I am actually a gym girl, got more confidence, reading what I want and slowly enjoying it and not just going along with what is on social media. Best 4 and a half months as I have ever had.
How ? I’m going through the exact opposite of this and I’d take any sort of advice :( after deleting socials for a year I’ve lost so many friends and I’ve realised how isolated I’ve become I’ve just become so depressed.
@m4jima you can always be the one to reach out or invite them for sports or reading or movies 😊 don't think it's the only way to connect with friends. We don't need an audience. Just people that we care and care about us.
honestly deleting all socials was the best thing i could have done for myself, i definitely agree that it can send you through and identify crisis of sorts because you're consuming so many things of so many different people and it's so exhausting, being completely yourself is so freeing!
so freaking true. the journey to TRULY discovering yourself can be so intense (especially with all the indoctrination from socials and stuff) but in the end it is so rewarding.
I've definitely felt this. I scrolled the echo chambers of Reddit a lot in the past but getting out of that and actually practicing some beliefs that I took from it in my real life without the influence of redditors has helped a ton
The problem for most people that get addicted to social media is that it often is a result of having none or very few friends, bad economy, etc. This is were money comes into the picture. There has to be other types of irl entertainment and that costs money. It's a huge privilege to be able to afford going out, going to concerts, etc, when prices are this high. Going off social media just isn't a choice for most people who are actually addicted to it in a negative way.
@ladybird491 You are not living in reality then. Because one months income can not even cover a concert ticket.. Wanna go to a wrestling show, 1500€ if you buy 2 tickets for 3000€. 2 day festivals wanting 700€... It's not realistic. Going out to eat is almost impossible, even pizzas are expensive af. I get it, the upper middle class does not have any connection to the reality of people that don't have that kinda money. Only buying normal groceries will empty most people's monthly budget.
If I'm understanding this right, you're saying that social media is a result of not having enough money to go out and do stuff... yes, everything got more expensive but that doent't mean that you can't do other activities in your free time. There are cheaper things to do, which are not less fun :)
Honestly... I've had a lot of friends growing up, and yet I still had an addiction to social media and my phone. I think there's also social pressure to be on social media because everyone is. Every single one of my friends was as well. Social media is made to be addictive, and once you're on it, it can EASILY become a habit no matter what. No matter if you even have the money to go out, or just hang out with friends at home without spending any money. Things are expensive, absolutely, and I do agree that that, as well as lonelyness, makes the risk of becoming addicted even higher, but that isn't the core cause.
I'm 40 so I grew up without social media. It's wild to think how much has changed. I use it when I'm bored. RU-vid is also social media which isn't talked about much but it's so easy to lose hours to it. That's the thing for me. I've spend so much time watching other people live their lives instead of living my own. And don't even get me started on the amount of money I would have saved if I didn't have the internet in general!
I don't know if it's particularly an age thing. I'm 42 and I've been active online since I was 16 - it was Live Journal, then eventually Myspace, it's all been around a very long time.
" I don't think that just deleting social media is what has helped to ground me and make me happier, i think it's just the things that i have learnt being off of it"- THISSSSS ❤❤❤
On the topic of slowing down, one new practice I've adopted is taking the time to mull over and reflect on a video I've just watched, in the form of a comment. I started this habit when I realized that I was using RU-vid just like I did all other social media apps that I ended up hating and deleting, binge-watching video after video after video. I barely gave my brain and mind the time to digest any of the content I consumed. I had shifted to RU-vid in the effort to find and practice slowness, to only realise that that was completely dependent on how I used the service. Plus, it helps the creators that I watched, which is the best unintentional side-effect!
Love this idea, I’m also not one keen on commenting, but as you said it’s because we’re just consuming video after video. Will try it out starting now 🫶🏻
I want to delete social media buy a digital camera and document my life without posting about it online all the time. Social media makes me feel so drained and sad because I always feel like I’m constantly chasing validation from others.
I'm much older than you (just turned 35), and I got my first smartphone in 2013, when I was 24. As soon as Instagram had the "for you" page and changed up the algorithm, the doomscrolling started. Then they introduced stories, and I started thinking about activities in terms of "how can I post this in my stories"? As a fully grown woman, I've noticed my self-esteem and self image have suffered dramatically in the past 5+ years, and I feel lost and aimless. I had a stronger, more unique identity in high school and my teens and drew from a wider variety of personal influences. I can't imagine how hard it is for the younger generations to decouple from social media, especially TikTok. The short-format videos are insanely addictive and I wish I could get rid of them on RU-vid
hi, as someone who also struggles with short-form content, i've found out that there are chrome extensions specifically to block youtube shorts! I've also disabled RU-vid on my phone as it plays a 'short' as soon as it opens and now only go on youtube on devices with bigger screens so it feels more purposeful. good luck with everything! i understand how you feel
I’m 30 I got Facebook at 12 it RUINED my life. I’m a late mellenial early Feb z person I guess since the cut off is 1996. GET OFF social media. Constant comparison no joy no life. I don’t remember a single happy moment in my life. When I say it DESTROYED my life I mean DESTROYED. ❤
Outside of RU-vid (I watch it on my lunchbreak at work), I've taken all of my social media apps off my phone. I miss the days of the 2000s where the internet and all these giant companies weren't permanently attached to our hips at all times, ready to distract us, ruin our attention spans, and sell stuff to us constantly. Back before smart phones, using the computer was something you did when you went home at the end of the day for a limited amount of time, it wasn't constantly around us impacting everything we did. You got on, you got off, and you went about the rest of your day. I miss that and I'm trying to recreate that in my life, I've even debated getting a dumb phone and a separate mp3 player but I'm not there yet. I just feel like the apps take up so much time and really makes me miserable. Also, as an artist, I feel like spending too much time scrolling impacts my creativity and desire to make art.
loved your video! getting rid of instagram (either temporarily or not) felt hella isolating AT FIRST. It'll soon be a year that i don't have it on my phone anymore, but i chose to keep my account active so i can post smth once in a while on the web version (it's like a virtual album to me). Total game changer, my main issue was the validation seeking, this constant need of approval and feeling of relevancy, and doom scrolling💀im glad our generation is detaching itself from social media and focusing on the stuff that matter. (get rid of tiktok too guys!) doing things without constantly thinking abt how entertaining, funny or likeable i'd look on my stories has been incredibly healing, and ive been building myself as a individual (still got some issues i gotta work on but i haven't ever been better :)
Instagram made me want to do things just so I could post it on my stories, so I would seek activities that looked good on camera regardless of me liking it or not! And always I mean always thinking about what I could post next so that “people” would think I’m cool and I lead such an eventful life and want to be my friend or something:/ and it got to a point where it was as if I was just living my life performing for this audience who obviously doesn’t give a shiz and moreover seeing other people’s stories having fun and enjoying their young life gave me major fomo. I’m not gonna lie it’s a little difficult to just let go out of it because “ how else are people going to talk to me?” But then I wonder do these people even matter? I’m so grateful I found this video : )
social media is not everything and it sucks that it's become our main way of communication and bonding. trust me, you'll find your people. sending all my love🫶
Been of social media for about 1,5 years now and it feels so freeing. During my decade of social media usage I always had one rule, to never take my phone with me to museums. As an art lover I once read an article about how social media changes peoples perspective on art, and how they describe aesthetic value to artworks. I didn't want bias of what other people found pretty or 'instagrammable' to ever interfere with my gallery visits. This worked, but in doing this I forgot to realize that this interference of social media went beyond liking Monet because it looks good on the feed. Only when I went off social media completely I realized how much of what I did, liked, watched, read, and so on was all shaped through what I was seeing on my feed on a daily basis. What you said about doing and seeing things just for yourself really resonates with me.
Thank you for sharing this. I'm 23 and I know I struggle with social media use (constantly checking all day even first thing in the morning and last thing at night, comparing myself to others, feeling behind etc etc.) and have been torn with the idea of deleting it or staying on. I want to build a career in content creation within the world of food and recipe development as a creative, and I know that I need to be online for that, but I find myself feeling paralysed by constantly doom scrolling and seeing other people's content. Your video has really made me reflect on things, knowing that I can do that and use social media for good, but first I need to heal my relationship with it. This has really opened my eyes, so thank you 💖
I deleted all socials for about a year in 2021. I actually did because it became detrimental to my mental health. I went back on eventually but only kept instagram. I still only have instagram now (other than RU-vid duh) and I limit my screen time on there as much as possible because I SEE and feel what it does to me. I don’t have it on my phone and just keep it on my iPad. It feels so much better that way because everytime I use it, it’s intentional
Well done ! I quit social media in 2021 when our 2nd daughter was born and I never missed it because I lived in the present and haven't missed a moment from our kids' life. ❤
Just wanted say you’re amazing. You’ve done so well. I’ve just quit Twitter and have never felt better about a decision. You’re an inspiration. I deleted Snapchat after a break up, and never went back. That was six years ago! Now Twitter has gone, I’m wondering what is next. Thank you for this.
no seriously i’m not done with the video but i fully agree with you . I have taken many breaks in my life with social media but i think i want to fully take the break because i had people on my ig who didn’t really know me and then between 2022-2023 i went through something traumatic and i would post sad things and literally nobody cared or anything and some were my “friends “ now that im 22 i want to start building my life up in private
it's so sobering (and FREEING) to realize that most people don't really care about anyone they follow on social media. it's such a transactional relationship; you like my stuff, i'll like yours. i've found that getting off socials and keeping my life as just my own has actually helped me to foster real friendships with people who actually care about me. hope everything is well
Watching this video has just made a light go off in my head. I think social media has been taking all my life and attention I woulda been soo much further rn and happier
I left TikTok in 2021. It was a good call. Now everyone around me has it, it's like I'm forced to go back and it gives me anxiety. Especially being a creative artist with no money so I may have to use social media again to advertise myself.
A heart break caused me to delete all my socials. I look back 2 years ago and I'm kinda glad I don't have to think about "snap scores" and "likes". I feel like I'm able to see things and have more of my own opinion about them. It allows for a lot of growth in my life too. sometimes i feel like i'm missing out on some things, but i prefer this life a lot more for real.
i’m a gen z, and i recently deleted social media. it’s changed my life for the better. i’m rarely on my phone, and spend all my time being me, not some version of me that i felt was the only acceptable part of me for social media. it really is breath of fresh air.
25 yo male here. haven't been on socials since 2021. I feel so much peace and confidence in myself. It's nice not morphing into whatever the current trend is. I am simply me. At first I had some serious FOMO but now if I care enough about a trend I just ask friends to explain it to me.
i deleted tiktok 4 months ago, i thought i would really miss it, but ive actually had a great time and i hardly think about it. I started to get less intrusive thoughts, i wasnt triggered anymore by offensive or scary videos, i had more time to focus on my creativity, and i felt like i gained part of myself back.
Thank you for being so honest, Gillian! Right now thinking about quitting it too. I've always thought it wasn't an option because I had to "market" myself, like get followers and listeners and subscribers by posting on social media. But this week I realized basically no one goes from tiktok to RU-vid to watch long form. And why would I make short form content if it doesn't make me happy? So, thinking about this a lot. Thanks again💕
I'm only just learning a lot of this stuff and I'm ten years older than you -- it's so awesome and refreshing to see someone so young having these realizations and learning these lessons 🥰
Hi!!! we have verrrry similar journeys (got SM at 11, started deleting apps in late 2021/early 2022) and we're around the same age, and it makes me so happy to see others in our age group share the same sentiments. No one around me in my circle seems to recognise how 'bad' SM and tech use can be for you, so I always feel so alienated lol even though not having it is definitely for the best. ALSO, your hair is stunning and you look soooo much like Aubrey Plaza!!
thank you. I was doubting but you've convinced me to delete twitter and maybe Instagram, it's hard because it's actually an addiction but we have to do it!
wow. what a video. i have been leaving instagram and ending up going back to it for the entirety of the year now, and despite having noticed that i feel a million times better when i'm off it i always end up returning -till now. it's been a week since i took a step back and your video helped me decide that it was for good this time. deleted both my instagram accounts and god, the weight that has come off my shoulders just by doing that!!! LOVE the video!! thank you, really!
yeah I agree when I had social media, I was not a good person because doom scrolling all day on tiktok just made me miserable. I felt awful about myself and it turned me into a very bitter and insecure person because my life wasn't like everyone else's that is shown online. after deleting apps like tiktok and twitter a couple of months ago, I feel so much more productive and happier. I'm still struggling a lot with mental health but I'm happy to say that I'm not nearly as bitter and low energy as I was when I had been scrolling on tiktok all day long. I still have instagram but I've been considering deleting it as a whole just due to reels being a total distraction. I just feel more myself and I've developed more healthy habits now that I'm doing other things rather than sitting on social media all day and comparing my life to others. I also overshared a LOT with my mutuals on social media and almost everytime, it never made me feel good. like you said, it should feel like a weight off your shoulders - not something that makes you feel exhausted, guilty, stressed.
Thank you so much for making this video! Watching this video made me feel less alone and more confident because we have so much in common! I decided to leave social media a few years ago. While I never had a huge presence, I was negatively influenced by seeing others opinions all the time. Sometimes I wish I could go back to make more friends, but I know I’d be acting inauthentically toward myself. Also, when you said you were working on a novel, I got so excited because I’m working on one too! Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, and I’d love to see more videos from you soon💕
That was a very useful video!❤️thanks for sharing your thoughts, experiences and for giving advices. I am now mentally preparing to delete social media apps, bc I felt more peaceful and content with my life when I used to not have it. Hope I can try living off of it for more than 2-3 months at least
Thanks for sharing this, I got off social for similar reasons in 2021 and STILL haven’t gotten back on & don’t know if I ever will. I was just thinking today maybe I’m missing out & your vid just confirmed to me , nah, thanks!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR POINT: that you won’t get it now because you are still craving making a point !!! I love that concept, that you are still committed to growing even though you have been off for two years and did “the thing” it shows you are truly intentional. You’ve really inspired me.
Loved the video. I've deleted everything except for my other youtube channel and telegram (messenger) too, about 2 years ago, after working in content creation for nightclubs. A couple of days ago I've made a tiktok account to promote my guitar playing thingy, but i'm already seriously considering leaving. The brainrot is real.
Celebrating you girly 🥳 my favorite pieces were when you shared the deepening of TRUE friendships and that you have the attention span to write a novel! I totally get the comparison with where you’re at in your timeline to others, I think SM def enhances that but it’s still around in every day life bc we’re social creatures. I will say as someone who’s 12 years older than you, I felt the exact same way at 22 but I was also, like you, discovering myself and learning things- KEEP DOING THAT- because every single year your life will get better and better and better and then when you’re turning 30, you’ll be so dang grateful to the 21 year old version of you that took that time to know herself. That’s the biggest gift you can give yourself ❤
8:08 I just want to add- I had a tiktok feed that was very very few big accounts or rich people. It was just a lot of small niche accounts, meme/shitpost accounts, etc. It still made me miserable, because in the end you're not making real connections or gaining very valuable memories/experiences. There's just some unremovable gap between every person online.
You are so wise for your age ❤️ I went back to social media after a 2nd 2 year break (I was off twice for two year spans). It was so much better when I was off. I’m on now but as a doomscroller and content consumer. It’s so wasteful. I could be spending my time on other things. I miss the days of when social media was about connection instead of over sharing.
I'm 20, and I feel like you're my older sister giving me advices lol. Ty so muchhhh for this video, it made me really happy and confortable with myself :))
Girl I'm the same as you! 22, bookish girlie and writer, been trying to get off social media since the pandemic regulations ended and recently I deactivated my Insta (might delete it entirely but we’ll see) I thankfully have a solid circle of friends I can count on who don’t just check on me through socials so it’s been very freeing. I’m hoping I can stay off it for as long as I can, but it’s also so hard bc I feel like I need social media for my work. I just wish it wasn’t so bad for us because a lot of companies use it for advertising and marketing, but the effects of influencers doing it is detrimental to my mental.
I've recently completed a full six months with my instagram deactivated. I don't miss a thing. I am probably never going to go back. The amount my random mental load of all types of insta stories and posts has decreased and opened up room for new thoughts and creativity is amazing to me. I much more favor catching up with my REAL friends in person or by just randomly ringing them up. I feel so good about it. Thank you for making this video and sharing your experiences.
Wow!!! To realize that at such a young age.... I have a 12 year old girl and everybody at her school uses tik tok and instgram. My husband and I don't use these platforms and we really think that this is more dangerous that going out to the park with a couple of friends during the day.... I really want to protect her from it😊. You are very honest and espacially young people should hear your message
In my 20's i lived my life to the fullest. i travel to europe, thailand, had a boyfriend (now husband) graduated from college, created 2 businesses, got married, survive a categorie 5 huracaine, I built my teaching career, 3 times panel speaker, magazines, tv, newpaper, and digital interviews. Met writers politicians,had mentors, got a grant to start a business. I became an political and cultural advocate that it was not until yesterday that what i was fighting for became a Law. Travel 6 times in a year to different countries. That been said...hunny IM TIRED IN MY 30'S so ready for the quite life, to read and write books. I am ready to start a family, keep traveling, built my career slowly and enjoy the ride. Im now living the consequences in my health, so i decided to take myself out of social media ans keep my circle even smaller. Not only that It feels so good...i think imma extended my ghosting mode. Its been like almost 2 weeks, is not a lot...but imma stay out. I need to stay out
See i learn a lot on youtube and ticktock which is why i have it and i love love it. Problem is that its bled into the rest of my life and its an all day affair now and i go off on a tangent and spend hours on it. Thanks for uour video. Its a breath of fresh air
You’re so well spoken and this was really cute! Thanks for sharing 💛💛 I definitely ebb and flow with my social media usage but man, when I’m not on there…. The difference in my mental AND physical health is too good to ignore. So important to talk about! The first couple of days off of it are always hard, but after a few days… it’s surprising how much you actually don’t miss it. It’s like your brain can finally relaxes, and likes it
im 16 and like a week and a half ago had my first "situationship" end, which obviously hurt me alot, and ive noticed myself resorting to the usage of social media to avoid thinking about it, but instead i end up feeling more guilty for wasting my time and i end up feeling worse in the end because i havent actually solved the issue, ive just delayed thinking about it. Ive decided today (after starting this video) to deactivate and delete my tiktoks, instagrams and snapchat (debating on my facebook too) because i realized what a waste of time it is. I deleted social media for a while but never went as far as to actually delete my accounts. im excited for summer and i feel like it'll be alot easier to enjoy myself when im not stalking to see if hes with a new girl, or wasting my time watching reels for hours, or just comparing my life to others in general. im watching alot of these videos today to try and convince myself i made the right decision, because i know i did. Im mostly worried about missing out and not having a place to post any pictures i take, and being bored, but in the grand scheme of everything, id rather be bored and have to learn how to entertain myself without consistently checking how other people are doing, etc, then be overtly sad and never heal because im too busy scrolling to admit i have uncomfortable feelings. Thank you for this video, its helped me alot with realizing i should change.
sending you all my love. you've got this! p.s. i'm working on a video with TONS of ideas on how to keep from being bored once you've deleted social media ;)
I found myself struggling to do things at my first full time job and I just wanted to not do anything and scroll (part of this issue I attributed to bad management but socials definitely didn't help me). Getting off of Reddit and Instagram has helped put some motivation back in my head. I've been going biking more, visiting friends more, I enjoy getting bored in public without needing to whip out my phone, and I appreciate some silence from time to time to just think. Cutting back on socials has been good so far though I admit I spend too much time on YT but I'm working on cutting that back too.
For me, I think social media has just fucked up my self perception. I don't post at all, but whenever I scroll I find myself so dissatisfied with my appearance. I feel like I need a 12 step skincare routine, or professional makeup skills, or $100 shampoo, or lip filler to be remotely pretty. I think years and years of poor scrolling habits have made me feel like "If I'm not pretty in a photo, am I even pretty at all?" (and more than that too. Am I enjoying life if there's no videos of it? Is my outfit cute if I don't take cute pictures? Things some how felt like they matter less if there's no external validation of it) And I hate it. Starting yesterday I made a promise to myself to stop scrolling. And actually start taking photos/videos (because I never did before). I want my future kids and grandkids to be able to see me (without a filter, without posing for likes). That's what I want my relationship with photos and videos to be from now on.
Wow. I’ve been looking for a sign to get rid of social media, at least for the time being. This is it for me. I’m a type 4 and a libra myself. Up until you said that bit, I wasn’t convinced. Once you mentioned that, I felt for sure about the decision. Thank you for your story!
Thank you for this! All of my apps have been deleted for a week or two now and my anxiety has been so much better already! (I also kept Pinterest, would die without it)
I feel like the thing that always brings me back to social media is feeling out of the loop. I feel like every time i talk to someone during a social media detox is like speaking a different language, I don’t know the trends or im missing out on major news. Im trying to find my balance.
omg not the “would any of your followers check up on you” questikn bc i literally made my last tweet and then never went on twitter again until over a year later when i was in line at a concert to see like updates on when doors opening and such and i had messages from my followers literally checking up on me 🥺🥺 it was so sweet tbh
omg you're telling me that there's more to life than social media and aesthetics? but but... what if I want to be the new *insert random thing* girl? very important message this video showed up at the right time. I probably won't do that extreme of a detox but it has gotten to the point where I have become too reliant and obsessive when I'm on social media.
You look like what I pictured Marion from "Normal People" looked like, and I mean that as a compliment! Good on you for getting rid of social media, I want to at least delete the apps on my phone because I am certainly starting to feel its negative effects on my mental health as well.
the only thing i have is snapchat because its how me and my friends text. but as i am watching this i am deleting loads of people off there who i dont talk to anymore
I don’t consider RU-vid as social media because there’s no addictive need to seek peoples approval. There’s no seeking validation when looking at a video of a topic you enjoy. I watch RU-vid when I’m at home with no plans and when I’m out I don’t feel the need to check RU-vid on my phone where as if I had social media I would because there’s an addictive aspect to it that i think RU-vid doesn’t have because what your getting out of RU-vid is completely different that to Facebook, instagram, etc..
Trying again to be social media free. TikTok is my addiction. I deleted my account and the app. Only keeping Pinterest and RU-vid but setting time limits.. wish me luck 😩
I deleted all my socmed apps on my phone. I just re install it whenever I feel like sharing something. But i never try to look what others are up to. And it's very rare for me to share something online.😂 So if i share something, that sure thing is good. Now i feel so much better. Life feels so easy and feels peaceful. I can now focus better ❤
