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Comment by chistev

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Comment by chistev

> Once I was in a place with a more reliable connection, I reconnected, but not to social sites. I tracked the news enough, but not obsessively. I kept in touch with friends, mostly via text and WhatsApp.

I'm currently taking a break from social sites, if you discount Reddit and HN. Reddit because it has communities on things I'm interested in like football (soccer). But, I left WhatsApp too for the moment. I connect with my friends via email, texts, and phone calls.

It has been refreshing not knowing all that's trending on social media. It's usually rage/engagement baits anyway, and I must admit that besides the engagement baits, it makes me feel pressure when I keep seeing people's success stories on every other social post. I know it's just people posting their highlights, but it makes me feel like I'm not doing enough with my life, and I wanted a break from all that.

Now I just read lots of books (25 books read thus far this year). I'm starting a book on The Cold War soon - The Cold War A Very Short Introduction" by Robert J. McMahon. [1]

The problem for me with leaving social media is not so much missing out on trending news, but that I might miss out on an employment opportunity posted on social networks. The problem though is I never see those opportunities even when I'm online, so it just seems like I'm missing out on a potential opportunity that never presents itself even when I'm online!

> What if we just stopped?

Easier said but difficult for the following reasons. One, many people can't have fun if the world doesn't know about it. They need to always publicize these events to get that euphoria induced by everyone knowing that they are living the life. It's a matter of climbing the mountain so the world can see them rather than so they can see the world.

Two, many people wouldn't know what to do with their time instead. What should they do instead of scrolling through an endless feed of content? Read a book? That's a chore for many people. Watch a movie? Perhaps they regard watching movies as just a waste of time as scrolling social media and engaging with the algorithm. Going on walks? For how long?

Three, how else would many people make friends, or attempt to make friends, with people in different parts of their city, state, country, continent, the world?

Thanks for sharing, and I wrote about leaving social media too on my blog if interested.

Decoupling from Social Media [2]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896133

[2] https://www.rxjourney.net/decoupling-from-social-media

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