Why I'm Quitting Social Media

Post by derefr » Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 8:52 PM UTC

frossie wrote: post #11

dschobel wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183180 here's a newsweek "I'm quitting FB" article and I'm certain I've seen one on slate.com Is Facebook really so all consuming for these people who have to quit it publicly? Personally I love FB. It's like auto-pilot for my social life. It reminds me about the birthdays about the people I only vaguely care about, leave them a one-line message on their wall and that's it until next year.…

it's great for making lots of people think that lots of people care about them followed by What's not to like? Dude, I think you answered your own question: superficial relationships masquerading as genuine ones - you know, that does bother some people.

Post by jacquesm » Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 9:07 PM UTC

dschobel wrote: post #6

alanthonyc wrote: post #5

This is a classic "quitting an addiction" post. I've seen and heard this many times, from people playing wow to smokers to coffee drinkers. If you have to announce how and why you are quitting, then you probably are doing it too much.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183180 here's a newsweek "I'm quitting FB" article and I'm certain I've seen one on slate.com Is Facebook really so all consuming for these people who have to quit it publicly? Personally I love FB. It's like auto-pilot for my social life. It reminds me about the birthdays about the people I only vaguely care about, leave them a one-line message on their wall and that's it until next year.…

Post by yangyang » Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 9:16 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #4

"illusion of an audience" What about those who use this illusion to drive traffic to their website or front door? Just because you use Twitter for useless chatter doesn't mean everyone else does. Or am I missing the point of the article? If you spend x hours Tweeting every week and can track it all the way to measurable 'results', you can still get a sense of accomplishment that the author seems to be searching for.

Post by sho » Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 10:47 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #15

rottencupcakes wrote: post #9

I've been thinking about doing something like this for weeks. It seems like at the start of my day I'll log onto Hacker News and read 5 or 6 interesting articles. However, without even trying, by the end of the day, all the links will be grey instead of black. I'll end up clicking on every link, even the links I really don't give a shit about. It's a time sink - it really is like surfing channels without feeling as g…

Have you discovered the 'noprocast' setting yet ? It's in your profile.

Post by potatolicious » Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 11:17 PM UTC

alanthonyc wrote: post #10

dasil003 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but there is a seed of truth here in how social media has upped the engagement factor so much that it's easy for it to become a time sink with the user not even realizing it. I think society needs another 10 years to absorb the implications of social media and how to use it effectively (and for the filters to get better).

No one's denying the addiction. However, I'm sure nicotine and caffeine (not to mention wow) are even worse for most people. It's a combination of the stimulus and each individual's reaction to it. I'm sure that the vast, vast majority of people have no problems releasing themselves from social media.