Why I Quit Social Media (Mostly)
I recently quit Instagram. It was the last social media app on my iPhone, with the exception of YouTube (more about YouTube below). I had previously quit Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. This infographic, created by Gemini, shows the promise of social media and the reasons why I quit.
My Social Media History
I was an enthusiastic early adopter of Facebook, delighted by how easy it was to connect and share text and photos with family and friends. I quickly added Twitter, Instagram and TikTok when they came along. I taught classes in social media skills to colleagues and at my local Senior Center.
At first, I loved Facebook and the chronological feed. I shared photos and videos with my friends and found information on Facebook Groups. However, as Facebook grew, the Facebook algorithm changed to encourage addictive attention and show more advertisements. I was seeing less of what I wanted to see in my feed. The posts I saw were becoming more controversial and combative. During the 2016 election year, I was inundated with political nastiness. My friends were seeing less of my photos and videos. I quit Twitter at the same time I quit Facebook.
I moved to Instagram. Instagram was uniquely designed for sharing photos and I found an active community of photographers. Some of my younger Facebook friends and family had also moved to Instagram, sharing family photos and news.
Then TikTok came along and I joined TikTok. At first, I was delighted with the fast-paced and engaging short-form videos on TikTok, a completely different experience than previous social media apps. I created and shared some TikToks. After a few years, I became frustrated with the addictive scrolling that the feed encourages and also disillusioned with the lack of creativity of many videos. So I quit TikTok.
Instagram became my primary social media app and for several years I enjoyed the Instagram community and experience, sharing photos primarily and later Reels and Stories. However, TikTok had a major impact on all social media apps, with each app trying to replicate the success of TikTok. Instagram became more focused on short-form Reels and short-lived Stories than on photos and posts. With recent changes in the feed algorithm, I became frustrated with the Instagram experience. When someone tried to hijack my account, I quit.
Why I Quit
My reasons for quitting social media are uniquely my own. It wasn’t working for me, but I know that social media works for many people who find great benefit from it.
For me, the promises of social media – Connection, Information and Social Media – were never quite successful.
- Instead of feeling connected, I felt more isolated with people only superficially engaging through links and views, and rare comments. It gave me the illusion of connection.
- I had access to lots of information, but no real way to dive into that information and confirm its accuracy.
- It offered a creative outlet to share photos and videos, but then put restrictions on how I could share that creativity.
The cons of social media, on the other hand, were apparent.
- I spent way too much time scrolling or trying to find content. App time became addictive. I really didn’t need to whip out my iPhone and look at Instagram in the grocery line.
- I found myself becoming lazy with photography and video. I was conforming my photos to Instagram sizes and was influenced by other Instagram photographers and scenes. I was using only my iPhone to make it easier to post. I was creating only Reels and no long form videos. I was too interested in Likes and Views.
- I became aware of the privacy risks of sharing information.
What’s Happening Now?
It’s early days of quitting Instagram, but I am enjoying it.
- I’m connecting more to people through text messages, email and getting together physically.
- I am reading, exploring and learning more.
- I’m feeling more creative, taking and editing more photos and videos.
- I’m working on this website.
So What About YouTube?
There is some ongoing debate about whether YouTube is a Social app or a Media app. I believe that YouTube can be both.
I use YouTube as primarily a media library for sharing and finding videos. Since 2009, I have created educational and personal YouTube videos. People find my videos mostly through Search. I use YouTube as a Search engine to find educational and entertaining videos. I am not interested in social interaction on YouTube or scrolling through Shorts.