RE: deleting social (zaibatsu.circumlunar.space), 03/06/2020
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Over  at gopher.black  there is  a phlog  post about  "the effects  of
deleting  a social  medium"[1]. The  insight about  the effect  of the
magnifying glass icon in the Instagram  app was fascinating, go have a
read!

The post also asked this of us fellow phloggers:

> I know  this community is  filled with  folks who have  gone through
> similar changes.  What's your experience  with cutting out  a social
> platform? Has it remained cut out? Do you still see the tangibles in
> your life,  or did  those fade  to some sort  of "rest  state"? Were
> there notable negatives?

My use of social platforms has always been somewhat limited, but I did
use FB heavily for a number of years,  and cut it out... a year or two
ago? I  actually can't remember exactly  when. I haven't gone  back. I
removed all my content. The account  exists still for a client (I have
to login and post  on his page from time to time), but  I never use it
aside from that one specific use (I don't check anything, scroll, etc.
I'm just not interested.)

I'm extremely happy to be free of  the shackles of FB. It was a waste,
in every  real sense. Nothing  that it provided  can't be had  in some
other way.

I did  see some benefits  from quitting, but  my issue has  been this:
given excess resources  of time and energy, I'm left  to decide how to
use  them, and  I  often choose  poorly.  FB can't  be  blamed for  my
choices, and my  choices haven't necessarily gotten  better because FB
is gone.  They've just  become different.  My "rest  state" is  one of
squandering; anything  better requires work.  I hope to do  more work,
and am continually  trying to be something  more than I am  in my rest
state.

There  have been  no real  negatives to  quitting the  little bit  of 
social media that I use. Friends and family still talk to me. I still 
see plenty of photos. Life goes on, and I don't feel like I'm missing 
anything important.                                                   

[1] gopher://gopher.black:70/1/phlog/20200306-the-effects-of-deleting-a-social-medium