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Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

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Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#231

Post by pmichaud »

PTOB wrote: post #220
godelski wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I suggest consuming news through text rather than video? In fact, the more boring the better. I see a big issue is that the news is frequently emotive based. In some cases this is helpful, when terrible stuff is going on. Other cases it makes mundane things seem worse. Or it makes things that don't affect us and/or we have no control over emotionally important. The latter is particularly harmful, imo. A lot of th…

Where do you get the boring stuff? Please, I'm drowning here.

Reuters and AP are the news wire services from which most new networks get their news. They are both super boring and terse, and there are RSS feeds for both.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#232

Post by [deleted] »

anderber wrote: post #101
INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

I absolutely understand what you're saying. But part of me feels an obligation to be informed to hold those in power accountable. If everyone follows the advice of avoiding the news, what effect would that have in our Govenment?

[deleted]

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#233

Post by rconti »

Vysero wrote: post #157
papreclip wrote: post #18

I open facebook for 2 minutes a week and scroll through my relatives' baby and pet pictures. I don't get how the site is such a specter of misery for some people Twitter I would understand a little better. It's such a tar pit of negative energy, insults, rage bait, etc

I don't get it either. Then again I don't get how Twitter or any of social media site could be either.. thin skin I guess.

There are plenty of people who claim (Facebook|Twitter) is what you make of it.

But it seems to me that there's a substantive difference between the default-circles of Facebook where you see what your 'friends' post/share, and the default-broadcast of Twitter where more things are shouted publicly to the ether.

To be sure, posts on either can be 100% public, and, in theory, you only see what you 'follow' on Twitter, but the design of the platforms is very different, and they have very different incentive structures. (Despite Facebook's incessant drive to increase engagement).

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#234

Post by TallGuyShort »

daveFNbuck wrote: post #128
j-c-hewitt wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can delegate your concern to a political party, which is essentially all you are able to do as a citizen in a country like the US particularly if you live in a state that does not have a lot of referenda. If you want to learn more you can spend more time on researching the issues. Otherwise you could vote on a single issue, or just pick the party that is supposed to represent people like you with a similar hierar…

The problem with the strategy you describe is that if too many people use it, politicians can just openly lie about what's happening in the world and what they're doing about it. A voter who has identified with a party and is no longer interested in learning the facts has no way to correct for this.

Do politicians who openly lie about what's happening in the world and what they're doing about it get corrected? Now THAT would be news.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#235

Post by cbhl »

PTOB wrote: post #220
godelski wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I suggest consuming news through text rather than video? In fact, the more boring the better. I see a big issue is that the news is frequently emotive based. In some cases this is helpful, when terrible stuff is going on. Other cases it makes mundane things seem worse. Or it makes things that don't affect us and/or we have no control over emotionally important. The latter is particularly harmful, imo. A lot of th…

Where do you get the boring stuff? Please, I'm drowning here.

Audio also works well. I've been listening to the NPR News Now podcast, as well as NPR's Planet Money.

When I'm feeling a little more capacity for the news cycle, I might also listen to NPR's Up First, NYT's The Daily, and NPR's The Indicator.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#236

Post by rconti »

wronglebowski wrote: post #26
sakisv wrote: post #9

I wonder, have fb quitters stopped using all social media? Have they also stopped visiting news websites? My point is, is Facebook the only negativity inducing platform? I know for me it isn't. The question is how do you deal with the rest of them? Do you balance news intake against the impact on your mental health or you stop consuming news entirely, because in the end whatever it's set to happen will happen regardl…

Personally I’ve changed to leveraging social media to pursue my work and some specific interests. No friends or family. HN for stay current in my industry. A very curated Twitter via a third party client for following specific tech creators. No FB, IG or Reddit. No keeping up with the Jones’s or lusting after others lives. If I want to talk to someone I make a habit of doing it regularly. I text friends and family at…

This seems backwards to me. FB is exclusively friends and family. Those are people I am close to. Why would that drive "keeping up with the Joneses"? Wouldn't following some celebrity or athlete or something drive jealousy more than following friends?

On Twitter, I've attempted to follow industry experts and "special interests" but it seems exclusively about people who I thought would provide insight into that special interest, saying mundane or inflammatory shit.

Maybe it's down to different personality types, but if I'm going to see random shit, I'd rather see it from people I know and love, than from someone I've never met lusting after engagement clicks.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#237

Post by _cerv »

Yup.

I hopped back on Facebook in 2012, and it quickly became the nexus of my online life. I started to get wrapped into how I maintained my presence, the kinds of witty things that would make it as posts, the banners and profile pics, and I was always hoping to see a double digit number in the red notification bubble. It all peaked in early 2017 where I was wrapped up in some political ideological battle and I just said "fuck it" and left. Deleted it and didn't think about it.

There were a couple hours at first where I thought I was losing a connection to the world and my friends, but that cold feeling vanished a day later. I felt like I had gotten time back, I felt free.

For all of that, I still putt around on Twitter but that scratches a different itch and I never seem to be consumed by it.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#238

Post by doublerabbit »

sakisv wrote: post #9

I wonder, have fb quitters stopped using all social media? Have they also stopped visiting news websites? My point is, is Facebook the only negativity inducing platform? I know for me it isn't. The question is how do you deal with the rest of them? Do you balance news intake against the impact on your mental health or you stop consuming news entirely, because in the end whatever it's set to happen will happen regardl…

I deleted Facebook and Twitter at the same time in 2008 when I dropped out of University. It’s really been hell not owning social media, as it just cuts you off from everything. "just add/msg me on facebook", why can't I just text you? txting is free.

In the end, while it has made me more depressed not being part of it, it has made me a better person not being part of.

Reddit and HN are the only two online accounts I have. And even I am tempted to delete my Reddit account.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#239

Post by im3w1l »

varenc wrote: post #61
new2628 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drink one glass of fine red wine once a week while having a nice conversation with a good friend. On other occasions I have a shot of strong brandy before stepping out on a cold winter evening. I don't get how alcohol is such a specter of misery for some people.

Similarly: Alcohol quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression, and anxiety

Implicit in your statement is the proposition that quitters are a self-selected group of people with a disordered consumption pattern - a moderate social drinker is not going to quit.

But I do recall an instance where everyone in some college class or something were supposed to abstain from social media for a week, whether they had a healthy relationship with it or not and the group reported substantial increases in life satisfaction.

Re: Facebook quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression and anxiety

#240

Post by james_s_tayler »

INTPenis wrote: post #89

What gave me the most satisfaction is quitting the news. Incidentally I don't have or use any social media either. Except imgur and sometimes among the funny memes I get news. But I'm afraid for people I meet who always remind me of all the awful things they've seen in the news. I'm aware of none of this until someone tells me. And yet my life is the same as everyone elses. Not knowing what is going on, living in a c…

How long have you quit the news for?

I sometimes do that but I'm never able to quit it permanently.

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