I Deleted All My Social Media — And Life is Grand

Here’s a long article about why I deleted my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, how it improved my life, and why I’m unlikely to look back.

If you found this because you’re looking for me on social media (e.g. googling Dana Hooshmand Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn (here’s my resume) / Twitter) — just contact me!

The short, highly editorialized story is that social media sucks. There, I said it!

Social media — barring new communities that have halo periods for a while — are toxic cesspools of the worst of humanity. People say things on social media for all the wrong reasons — clout, trolling, or just expressing rage. Few would have the chutzpah to say these things in real life, especially to my face. There are consequences in real life.

I’m pretty upset at just how much social media has brought out of people. It has been instrumental in radicalism and radicalisation. It’s a medium for people to commit violence against others through threats, harassment, and stalking. People say the most vile racist, sexist, and just horrible things, hiding behind a digital mask. Social media encourages rage baiting, insecurity, and extreme positions by rewarding them with views and engagement.

You have no idea, on social media, whether you’re engaging with a child, a person with a mental illness or on drugs, a bot, or just an insecure idiot.

All social media had “good” eras. Instagram used to be vacation and food pics. Facebook used to be a way to get a feed of what your friends were up to. Twitter used to promote healthy discourse, jokes, and interesting thoughts. All of that is in the past, though, and we know what they’ve become.

So, I quit.

It actually began with LinkedIn (I talk about deleting it here), which is of note because LinkedIn is the last bastion for many people who think it’s a tool.

I noticed two things about LinkedIn — a) it didn’t seem to help me as a non-employer, and b) the ‘feed’ was filled with garbage posts in which I had no interest and which had little relevance to the professional world. I get it, the professional world is boring, so it’s good to spice it up… but I hated the vanity fair of self-aggrandisement, obsession with what people are doing, and the influencers who preyed on insecurity. So, I gave it the flick and never looked back. 

Facebook and Instagram took longer for me to eschew. I didn’t like the feed, but I liked Marketplace and some groups I was in. I used Instagram to message some old friends. I started by deleting the apps and posting less. Eventually, I realised there was no point to them — but chose to “permanently deactivate” my account so I could log in to message someone, for example.

I like Reddit, but it’s detached from my name and any online handles I’ve had, so not very “social”. I get no recommended content (which you can turn off) or ads. It’s not really social media in that sense other than that there are comments – but my feed is mostly Futurama, BJJ, and motorcycles, so, whatever. The environment there is generally positive and non-toxic, though it does tend to drown out minority opinions.

Twitter took even longer. With no permanent deactivation option, I had to permanently exit. I had once exited in 2014 and regretted losing my short username, so didn’t want to again. After Trump won the election and racist and sexual violence tropes started exploding online, I realised it’s the trashiest place on the internet, and left forever. I didn’t replace it with anything.

Life’s so good without social media. My outlet is here, on my blog. If you’re reading this post you can comment if you want, and I’ll publish it if I feel like it, but don’t have to. I own all this data. It’s on my server with Bigscoots. I can monetise it however I want.

It’s not ideal, of course. My blog relies on traffic from search engines and AI tools. But I also don’t care if nobody reads it at all.

People often ask me how I stay in touch with people. The answer is easy: messaging tools and email. No, I haven’t totally escaped the world of Meta — but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to get some mental clarity back by getting off the “feeds”. So I still use WhatsApp, Signal, and even FB Messenger —

How’s life beyond social media? So much better.

The biggest impact on my life from not being on social media is how much better life is. My anxiety is way down — I get much less angry at comments made by strangers.

And my productivity is way up. I’ve achieved so much since quitting social media. I can think more clearly, and have more time to produce, and have made leaps and bounds towards my goals of becoming an AI developer.

Without social media, I spend more time in the “real world”. I talk to my neighbours, make friends at my local jiu jitsu and combat sports club, and only listen to people whose opinions I want to hear.

I still stay in touch with people I like. I email them, text them, and call them. It’s so much more personal than social media and people seem to appreciate it. It’s also more work, but the reward is much greater — it’s a great trade.

I can’t think of a good reason for anyone other than marketers or recruiters to be on social media. If you’re selling something or trying to hire people, then sure, go there. But everyone else should get off. You’ll be happier, and the world will be a better place.