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Social media is the devil


zambingo
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  • 4 months later...

I deleted Twitter a while ago but went back pretty quickly, mainly because it was a way to simulate human interaction. I finally deleted it for real a week or two ago, and I swear my life has improved dramatically. I'm less anxious, I'm in a better mood, and I'm better able to like the people in my life who are also on Twitter.

 

I have another account that I set up a while ago to be private, but my mother-in-law somehow found it. My wife keeps asking me to delete that account too, but I keep telling her that I don't know the login information, so I can't delete it but it may as well not exist because I can't even log in. Not even sure what email I used to sign up.

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I pretty much just use Twitter to like a bunch of conservative stuff and I follow a ton of sports stuff and use that for breaking news.

 

Facebook I keep pretty private. And only share photos of me and my son, really. Instagram, Im just there for the gym moms honestly.

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I ditched Facebook and Twitter at the same time, in June 2018. Twitter, I never looked back. Facebook took a solid month of genuine cravings to get over.

 

I kept Instagram. I know, its owned by Facebook... I dont like Facebook as a company, per se, but I left for my mental health, not as a boycott. I still like taking pictures and having a place to share them. My Instagram is private and my follows are heavily curated, though.

 

And I keep Pinterest because I like looking at recipes and pretty clothes.

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I think I still have an Instagram account, but I don’t remember the last time I used it. It was probably about 6 years ago. Same with Pinterest. Facebook’s been gone since 2016, although we did sign up for a joint account in order to use a local buy/sell and freecycle group. My wife uses it occasionally but I almost never log in.

 

I was doing Imgur for a while, but I posted something that was marginally political, just barely, and of course got slammed and people wishing death upon me, so I haven’t done that in months. It was right around the time I wanted to avoid Endgame spoilers, so it had a double benefit.

 

At this point Nightly is my only social media, which is obviously a very select group of people.

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I marvel hearing stories from the fresh-out-of-college kids I work with, where they talk about meeting new people as prospective dates and getting their Snapchats. I tell a similar story, and they ask me why I didn't get her Snapchat. I explained that I do not have Snapchat and I firmly believe that getting someone's phone number is just fine. "You need to get with the times, man," one of them said. "Why?" I asked. "If someone wants to talk to me, are they going to turn me down just because I don't have Snapchat? That's a pretty stupid reason not to want to get to know someone. They are shallow and not worth my time if something like that were to happen. I like who I am, and if someone doesn't like it, screw them."

They shut up.

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I have a theory that social media, and Facebook in particular, harms us by trying to enforce more relationships than we can handle. The friend terminology in Facebook especially drives home the relationship factor. We can really only have a maximum of ~150 relationships, and by the time you add friends, work, any other organizations, and then you add the guy you sat next to in algebra 20 years ago, it becomes too much for the human brain to track.

Oh hey this came full circle last week when someone set up a 20-year high school reunion planning group. Now I have friend requests from people I haven't even thought about in 20 years. My husband was like way to hold a grudge but I just dont care. I know I've reached that Facebook relationship limit, I have to really like you to add you now. Not just be someone I played softball with in 5th grade.

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That was my feeling about high school. I couldn't go to my reunion due to illness, but I also had no desire. Seeing the pictures online drove home that I didn't care. Mostly it was the preppy kids that I didn't like, but there was no animosity on my end, just glad that I dodged a bullet of spending an evening with people I don't care about. There's no joy in reconnecting with people you never really connected with.

 

I'm also fairly certain that in the modern age high school reunions are for people who peaked in high school. I'm pretty sure I still haven't reached my peak.

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My next door neighbor peaked in high school. Hes a grandpa now. Id feel sorry for him if he wasnt such a jerk.

 

Every so often I run into people who remember me from high school, but I dont remember them at all. They dont at all make me want to attend a reunion. Man, I dont consider my life anything special, but I may well be the brightest star of my class if everyone turned out the way the people I run into did.

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Yeah a lot of people I knew back then peaked in high school too. Some even married each other, which is a horrifying thought. Every time I visit my parents I dread who I'm gonna run into in town. Fortunately it's been a while since I've seen anyone outside of my friend who still lives there that I WANT to see.

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I mean I'm the boring type of happy and successful. I kind of peaked in college or right after. Not that I've been unhappy since, just kind of got busy with adulting. Not too much glory in driving to soccer games and Girl Scout meetings, and taking my youngest to 500 doctor appointments only to get a big shrug. I'm not super focused on myself right now.

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I have a theory that social media, and Facebook in particular, harms us by trying to enforce more relationships than we can handle. The friend terminology in Facebook especially drives home the relationship factor. We can really only have a maximum of ~150 relationships, and by the time you add friends, work, any other organizations, and then you add the guy you sat next to in algebra 20 years ago, it becomes too much for the human brain to track.

Oh hey this came full circle last week when someone set up a 20-year high school reunion planning group. Now I have friend requests from people I haven't even thought about in 20 years. My husband was like way to hold a grudge but I just dont care. I know I've reached that Facebook relationship limit, I have to really like you to add you now. Not just be someone I played softball with in 5th grade.

 

Whew. Glad I made the cut. I love getting my kiddo news! I have never been invited to my high school reunion but usually crash my former middle schoolers high school reunion as I know those people better.

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I quit Facebook again last night after letting myself get dragged into a stupid thing with extended family and Im getting stressed just thinking about it again now.

I'm glad it came after my couples Halloween costume idea post since it was pretty much for you.

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