I haven't been on any of the major social media sites in a very long time. First, I got rid of Twitter, then Tiktok, then Instagram. Now, I mostly just use Tumblr to get memes and fanart (what it's best at, imo). I can't bring myself to not use YouTube, but that's barely social.
It was really hard at first, but it's more than easy to stay away now. It's sort of like when I hear vegetarians say they just don't crave meat anymore; you stop wanting social media at all when you've been off of it long enough. I recently got a new instagram just to keep up with irl friends who used it, and look for irl events in my area. It's kind of hard to want to check it, though. If I want to know what's going on in my friends' lives, I'll just text them. Checking Instagram doesn't feel worth the shitty way it makes me feel.
And what is that shitty way, exactly? It's the feeling of always needing to be on top of things, like there's one more update around the corner and I can know exactly what's happening. Have I checked everyone's stories? Have I given my obligatory likes? That, and, of course, getting sucked in to short videos. Those never really stop being addictive, when you encounter them.
The thing is, I do miss the social part of social media sometimes. There's not really another way I know of to get updates on what events are going on in town. It also just makes me feel a bit isolated to see people be like "here's my insta, my x, y, z..." and I'm on none of those platforms. At the same time, though, I have no desire to update and browse five different places near-daily.
I've really liked long-form social media platforms, like Dreamwidth and various forums, but neither of those are super popular, and none of my irl friends are on them. If I'm talking to someone new in person, and they ask me for my instagram or something, I just don't have anything for them. I don't check my messages and I don't post shit! But am I going to give them a link to my blog or personal site? Well--maybe if they're chill, but not if they're someone I need to work with professionally.
I know I made the right decision for myself, and I think I'm happier with less social media. My problem is I haven't replaced the social aspect of it with enough other things, I think.