Taking a break from social media

Posted on January 21, 2025 • 5 min read • 859 words

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Social media, for me, has become somewhat tiresome, causing me to once again take a break. Yes, this sounds whiny, but let me explain my thoughts as to why I’m not leaving it permanently.

Tiresome? How so?

I’ve been on social media on one aspect or another ever since I first got online in high school. BBSes, Prodigy boards, IRC, Usenet newsgroups, MySpace (briefly), Facebook, etc. As with anything, there are both good and bad experiences, but I’m going to concentrate mostly on Facebook for the pros and cons, and as for why I need a break.

Pros

When I was a runner, I found a few great communities through which I there was/is plenty of positive encouragement towards my goals. Additionally, I made a plethora of new acquaintances, a good number of whom have become friends.

As someone who does not run in large social circles, this was a great way of expanding relationships.

In my high school days, to say that I didn’t have a large group of friends would probably be an understatement. It was a small school, and everyone pretty much knew each other, but I was hardly a popular person (in my view).

Using social media, I wound up reconnecting with many people whom I knew back in the day. Some of these connections have really shown me that we all missed out on what could have been better relationships back in the day, whereas others were great ways of getting back in touch with special people, (re-)forming new relationships as mature adults.

Thanks to social media, I’ve found other communities and events that have kept me busy over the past many years. I’ve discovered a more delinquent side to my already juvenile humor (and have been jokingly referred to as a reprobate), gone camping in locations I didn’t know about, and discovered restaurants and foods that were well off of my radar.

I would definitely day that my cultural, culinary, and hobby horizons have all benefited from my years on social media.

Cons

The signal/noise ratio of ads to relevant content is just out of control. Most of my feed is full of junk that’s not even targeted properly, so seeing the content from those I’m interested in is sometimes tough to find, even in a timely fashion (I’ve seen stuff that was posted weeks earlier that might have meant something).

When I do see the content from the people I’m interested in, it’s become a lot more content that no longer relates to me. Again, the signal/noise ratio. I’m not interested in your local neighborhood squabbles 90% of the time. Maybe I just want to see what you and your family/friends are up to, something humorous and/or encouraging, or pics of your pets.

Privacy, privacy, privacy. I’ve put too much out there, and there are too many companies that are harvesting the information. Since I started using social media more regularly, the amount of spam in email and on my phone has increased. My name is out there, and I’m not too difficult to find. Any small step to reducing my social media footprint is important.

To say that I’m mentally exhausted from social media is an understatement. I dedicate too many brain cells to browsing and BS-ing, whereas I can spend my time better with other hobbies, such as reading, blogging, cooking, studying for my CDL and ham radio license, etc.

Why?

Without getting political, I feel that too many of the big technology companies are doing too much with what’s put out there. I’m not paranoid, nor am I a conspiracy theorist, but many years in technology have convinced me I need to slow down. This is a direct response to Con #4 above.

“But aren’t you using a GitHub (a Microsoft-owned product) for your website and comments? They’re a big tech company!”

Short answer: Yes. Long Answer: While all my experience over the years has moved me away from Microsoft in many aspects, GitHub remains an independent entity from the rest of the organization and maintains a commitment to Open Source.

OK, so what kind of break?

I don’t plan to delete my accounts on many of the major platforms. What I am going to do is restrict my time and interactions. I believe there are apps out there that will assist with that (future blog post?). For people who want to interact with me, feel free to reach out via e-mail, text, or Signal Messenger . I do have WhatsApp, but that is ONLY used for work when I need to send international texts. I WILL NOT be responding to personal messages there. I may occasionally check other messaging systems, but I’m most likely removing the app and/or notifications from my phone.

I’d enjoy hearing about what you think of my decisions. Please comment below (yes, you’ll need to sign up with GitHub , but there are many worse things that you can do in life), or contact me directly. Heck, let’s meet up for a cup of coffee!