Our love of social media seems to have grown and grown in the past decade, but recent studies show the tide may be turning for some platforms, with young people in particular ditching Facebook. One study claims that more than 11 million teenagers left Facebook between 2011 and 2014. It’s been argued that they are swapping public platforms such as Twitter and Instagram for more private messaging apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat.
We asked the Guardian’s younger readers whether they have quit social media and why, as well as what apps they are ditching. Almost all reported a greater sense of happiness after going offline. Here, we share some of their experiences.
Daisy, 23, Manchester: ‘I feel less anxious and less like a failure’
Daisy
After a romance ended with a guy I really liked, I kept trying to avoid Facebook so I wouldn’t have to see him. It was after this that I gradually switched off from it, but before that I’d been wanting to quit for a while.
Facebook made me feel anxious, depressed and like a failure. When I went online it seemed like everyone was in Australia or Thailand, and if they weren’t travelling they were getting engaged or landing great jobs. I felt like everyone was living the dream and I was still at home with my parents, with debt from my student loan hanging over me.
I also felt that if I wasn’t tagging myself at restaurants or uploading photos from nights out, people would assume I wasn’t living. I remember a friend from uni said to me once, “Yeah, but you’re still going out having fun, I’ve seen on Facebook.” I tried to present myself as always having a great time. If my status didn’t get more than five likes, I’d delete it.
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Facebook is full of people trying to act like there life is better then it actually is. Deleted my account because I realize I don't even have the same views as most of my friends on there. Also tired of getting tagged by people when I am out with them. I don't need my whole life out there for people to know my business.
ReplyDeleteMy 20 year old son who is in college gave up his social media last year and said its the best thing he has ever done. He realized he was wasting time on it when he could be doing other things. He also said the sefies were getting ridiculous. I believe it is more productive to sleep than to be on social media.
ReplyDeleteI'm an old man of 50 but I'm about 3 weeks in to getting rid of all social media accounts. People use it as an excuse to not see each other because "I keep up with everyone on Facebook ". Most of the posts are garbage
ReplyDelete