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[Makoto-Yuki]

With all that's going on in the world right now there is so much hate, anger, and negativity. I know it's always been there but this year it has become way too much and overwhelming.

I haven't had a Facebook account for years now but still held on to my Twitter + Instagram accounts and even then I never posted on them. I would only use it to follow stuff that interested me but even that was becoming too much. I've deleted both accounts now. I still have Reddit but I've unsubscribed from a lot of places and stopped posting.

Now when I check my phone it's only to come on here or read Reddit. I'm only really looking at gaming stuff on there.

It feels good to detach myself from the internet. Not completely of course but cutting out toxic shit like Twitter/Instagram and breaking news feels refreshing. I plan on avoiding/ignoring as much of it as possible and using that time to play more games, read books, watch movies, and to go out into the real world much more.

Anyone else feel the same?

 

[keraj37]

Nah, it is so much fun to see what is going on. Take CHAZ for instance - why would I miss so much of entertainment?

Wanna popcorn?

 

[-Arcadia-]

If it hurts you more than it helps you, get rid of it.

It really is that simple.

There’s a certain amount of friction to be expected when dealing with human beings, but these sites are beyond the pale.

Alternatively, I recommend keeping a judicious block list for stuff like Twitter and Facebook, and curating your own little sane world. Not to say blocking out other opinions, as those are important, but just showing the retards the door. Likewise, stay out of search and public posts.

 

[TaySan]

The only social media i use is Era and GAF. I stopped using my Facebook as tt was really starting to have a negative impact on my life fighting with people for all for nothing. Theres was nothing to gain from posting there anymore.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

The only social media i use is Era and GAF. I stopped using my Facebook as tt was really starting to have a negative impact on my life fighting with people for all for nothing. Theres was nothing to gain from posting there anymore.

If you want to avoid unnecessary drama and fighting with people, you should drop ResetEra too. What is the benefit of posting there when our community is so much better?

 

[Croatoan]

I haven't posted on social media in over seven years.


This is really the only forum I still post on as well (I do lurk other forums though).

 

[TaySan]

If you want to avoid unnecessary drama and fighting with people, you should drop ResetEra too. What is the benefit of posting there when our community is so much better?

To me Facebook was different because there was a personal element to it since i knew everybody personally. I had to cut off most of my friends for personal reasons.

Era I don't fight nearly as much. Helps i generally allign with everyone. Lol Even if i dont always agree with the out there takes.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

I just snooze all of the virtue signaling and highly political posts on Facebook. Use it maybe once a week to keep in touch with family and friends and it's not so bad, but definitely do what you can to avoid negativity and fear-mongering because that stuff isn't healthy.

 

[Tesseract]

never bothered, those systems fracture psyches and destroy souls

i will use them to crush my enemies when it comes time to conquer the sprawl

not there yet

 

[-Arcadia-]

To me Facebook was different because there was a personal element to it since i knew everybody personally. I had to cut off most of my friends for personal reasons.

Era I don't fight nearly as much. Helps i generally allign with everyone. Lol Even if i dont always agree with the out there takes.

I’m trying not to get into fights on the internet for a few days, for mental health reasons.

But this. This. If those personal reasons were political, you are being inducted into a cult, developing extremist behaviors like wanting to torch buildings, and abandoning all friends over differences of opinion (a cult staple).

I highly doubt this will change your mind, but worth throwing out there.

 

[Tesseract]

if you don't think social media will be used to clone people, you haven't been paying attention to the literature

black lab ai and shit, synthetic friends and family calling you from the great beyond

 

[Fbh]

The only reason I still log in is because of work (I have a Facebook and Instagram page for my shop).
Haven't posted anything as myself in years though, I still have the same profile pic from 10 years ago.

 

[Tesseract]

The only reason I still log in is because of work (I have a Facebook and Instagram page for my shop).
Haven't posted anything as myself in years though, I still have the same profile pic from 10 years ago.

that's the ticket

compartmentalization helps to a point, that data is still out in the wild tho

 

[jufonuk]

Yes I am just posting nice photos of place nearby on Instagram. I barely use Twitter tbh and FB is just to let my family know what I am up to. Might deactivate it on my mobile. Keep messenger though.

 

[teezzy]

Social media is best for discussing your interests with other enthusiasts.

I enjoy GAF, and my PC Era, NHL Era, and Shreddit (Metal Reddit) Discord servers. Cool people all around. All very helpful, and I love learning from them.

Any less niche social media just feels weird to me. "Look at me fishing!" "Here's what I ate today!" Like... um ... okay? Instagram and Facebook were cool when I was younger and chicks would post hot pictures of themselves. Now we're all hitting 30 and everyone's got a job and family. Hard pass.

I'll stick to my nerdy goblin dens, thank you very much.

 

[badblue]

if I could, I'd just quit the internet all together.

 

[RavageX]

Getting away from it all bit by bit. Here even maybe. Partly my fault for nosing around off topic, but even in the gaming area people seem to wanna talk about streamers and what someone said on Twitter versus games themselves.


Seems so odd to me.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Facebook is a fucking shit hole. I removed it from my phone in January and never looked back.

 

[NorwayBot]

Closed my FB 10 years ago, but kept my Twitter - thinking the Twitter crowd seemed more reasonable. Twitter had of course a smaller user base 10 years ago - and it was also more divided into "sections". You've had the news people, sports people, entertainment people etc...

The political divide on twitter 10 years ago i will argue also leaned considerably more to the right than to the left. My theory on this is that "the left" was happy with having the presidency - so no need for bitching,- and for "the right" it was opposite - it was the rise of the "Tea Party movement".

People on general showed decorum, maybe not Donald Trump, but all us nobody's for the most part behaved like we were trying to have a "conversation".

2012 changed all that.....

Twitter today is toxic as plutonium, and i only use for breaking-news , but also that "section" has been run over by virtue-signalling idiots. So answer to the OP question is ,- I've returned to "forums", just like the pre Facebook days, funnily enough there is less of an echo chamber mentality on many closed forums than there is on so-called "open" social media.

 

[Tigerlord]

I have a Facebook account, but I rarely post on it anyway.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

I've taken a step back from all things Internet and gaming. I still post on gaf an play the odd game here and there but tbh, I'm bored. It's fucking boring. The Internet used to be an escape from reality, now it's just a very muted, very dull extension.

I'm an anarchist. You should be able to come on to any page of the Internet and just say whatever the fuck you want.

 

[Cracklox]

To cut back or take a break, I'd had to have used any of that shit in the 1st place

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I deleted my Facebook years ago. I only have a dummy Twitter account for sports/movies/game news that interests me. I only have an IG for the butt models.

 

[Happosai]

With all that's going on in the world right now there is so much hate, anger, and negativity. I know it's always been there but this year it has become way too much and overwhelming.

I haven't had a Facebook account for years now but still held on to my Twitter + Instagram accounts and even then I never posted on them. I would only use it to follow stuff that interested me but even that was becoming too much. I've deleted both accounts now. I still have Reddit but I've unsubscribed from a lot of places and stopped posting.

Now when I check my phone it's only to come on here or read Reddit. I'm only really looking at gaming stuff on there.

It feels good to detach myself from the internet. Not completely of course but cutting out toxic shit like Twitter/Instagram and breaking news feels refreshing. I plan on avoiding/ignoring as much of it as possible and using that time to play more games, read books, watch movies, and to go out into the real world much more.

Anyone else feel the same?

In a way, NeoGAF is like social media and also not. That's about it for me. I have a Facebook because my wife likes sharing some landscape/art pictures and for long-distance family who can't call by phone (I moved from Central Illinois to Central Mexico in 2016). Even though I have a Facebook account -- I tend to use it seldom-never. I liked how MySpace was during its run from 2005-2008; then it went downhill and was eventually gone. I guess I preferred having a social media homepage that would play my music, have custom wallpaper, and almost no news/politics. That was pretty much mid-2000's MySpace.

Never cared for social media after that. Never got into Twitter, Instagram, and the many others which I don't even know by name. Life is better without it. That's my preference, though. I liked social media when it was Yahoo! messenger or just a short/sweet e-card. Now, I feel like a dinosaur criticizing it due to the fact that I see many who are 50 + in age and enjoy it so much. Darn kids!

 

[Moogle11]

I have for a long time. Facebook is just a fairly small number of family members and friends, with the ones that post politics stuff all the time (regardless of which side) hidden from my feed. Never really got into Twitter or any others. I pretty much never post on Facebook, just occasionally see what some friends/family who live far away are up to and don't want to miss out on things local friends are doing as we have a few that send party/event invites via Facebook still.

I've paired back my forum posting a lot--though it's upticked while working from home since March. Just here and the paying member board of my college team's recruiting news site though. I use Reddit a bit too, though mostly for just keeping up with news on pro-teams I follow and what's going on around my city from it's Subreddit. I rarely post there.

In general, I try my best to stay away from political and console warring nonsense and just focus on gaming/sports news and fun/casual topics. I'm just mostly over getting into arguments with even friends/family, much less randoms online. People who like to argue pretty much never change their mind on things anyway, so I just usually stick to casually shooting the shit about hobbies and life.

 

[Kadayi]

I'm not really on it all the much, but it's hard to avoid given all the fucking insanity that's doing the rounds atm. Honestly the sheer amount of stupid going on makes me wonder whether there was some other unknown element to Covid-19 that hasn't been figured out.

 

[DragoonKain]

Yeah, I did. Too much negativity out there and I don’t want it in my life.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I have cut back on Facebook. The only reason I still use it is to reach out to extended family occasionally. Never really used twitter and in general social media for me is a bad way to process or talk about anything as it is limiting for most conversations.

 

[hariseldon]

If you want to avoid unnecessary drama and fighting with people, you should drop ResetEra too. What is the benefit of posting there when our community is so much better?

No he should stay over there. That’s where this little cuntweasel belongs.

 

[hariseldon]

if you don't think social media will be used to clone people, you haven't been paying attention to the literature

black lab ai and shit, synthetic friends and family calling you from the great beyond

Someone’s been watching Black Mirror.

 

[Tesseract]

Someone’s been watching Black Mirror.

psh

 

[ESPOMAN]

Social media for a while has been pretty bad. I just think it’s funny now and try not to take it seriously

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I quit it years ago.

 

[LostDonkey]

I've not been on social media for a good 3 maybe 4 years now.

Best decision I ever made.

Only thing I kinda miss is news about deaths and stuff, kinda put my foot in it recently when I saw an old friend I'd not seen for a few years and his wife had died.

I wasn't to know obviously but it still felt awkward.

 

[and 3 others]

Serious question. Can someone explain the difference between social media, and GAF?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Serious question. Can someone explain the difference between social media, and GAF?

I don't know you and you don't know me.

 

[SegaShack]

Serious question. Can someone explain the difference between social media, and GAF?

One is an echo chamber, one is rational.

 

[TTOOLL]

Quit Cancerbook years ago and Instacancer a year ago. Twitter last December.
Some of the best decisions of my life. More time to relax, less anxiety, more reading, exercising and gaming time.

It's not healthy to follow these streams of "news" and fake dramas everyday.

 

[and 3 others]

I don't know you and you don't know me.

I guess. I'm still struggling to see the difference. Only thing I can think is here I can be 100% all the time? Keep in mind I'm an old fuck, it took me a week to figure out how to post a photo on here.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I guess. I'm still struggling to see the difference. Only thing I can think is here I can be 100% all the time? Keep in mind I'm an old fuck, it took me a week to figure out how to post a photo on here.

Social media is about socializing with an ever-expanding network of friends and acquaintances. You tend to use your real info.

A forum like GAF is an anonymous platform where you post opinions. There's no impetus to "expand your network". All posts can be viewed and responded to by all users at any time.

 

[Coolwhhip]

To me Facebook was different because there was a personal element to it since i knew everybody personally. I had to cut off most of my friends for personal reasons.

Era I don't fight nearly as much. Helps i generally allign with everyone. Lol Even if i dont always agree with the out there takes.

you align with those nutjobs? Then you are the problem on social media, not the other way around.

 

[Coolwhhip]

Social media is about socializing with an ever-expanding network of friends and acquaintances. You tend to use your real info.

A forum like GAF is an anonymous platform where you post opinions. There's no impetus to "expand your network". All posts can be viewed and responded to by all users at any time.

social media is about socializing? Oh sweet summer child.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

social media is about socializing? Oh sweet summer child.

Okay it's about "socializing"

 

[Deleted member 713885]

The only social media i use is Era and GAF. I stopped using my Facebook as tt was really starting to have a negative impact on my life fighting with people for all for nothing. Theres was nothing to gain from posting there anymore.

Do what I did.

Delete EVERYONE but my best (like family) friends and real family. No acquaintances or "girl from 9th grade english in highschool" nonsense.

Then join groups!
My Facebook is 10% people 1% news (my local towns group) and the rest is groups with people interested in the same things I am.

Right now my Facebook is filled with digital art, gardening, and bird watching.

If not for Facebook groups, I'd delete it asap.

 

[DESTROYA]

I’ve been saying this for a long time social media was a mistake

 

[Deleted member 713885]

Cant believe so many deleted Facebook. Delete the shitty people.

My Facebook looks entirely like this.

This is only like page 1. I'm in like 100 groups. From birds to art to gardening to specific game discussions.
Zero politics and dumb shit. Find your hobby, game, etc..
Only saving grace for the shithole that is FB.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

But that's how you get radicalized by the alt-right @PKM I heard so on MSNBC

 

[Deleted member 713885]

But that's how you get radicalized by the alt-right @PKM I heard so on MSNBC

I've learned to weaponize a blue bird with 3oz of high grade plastic explosives and a zucchini through FB groups!

 

[dorkimoe]

I was following the news and the George Floyd thread hardcore. It was causing me a lot of stress. I’ve since stopped and focused on my home repairs which also cause stress, but I can control those at least. Avoiding any news that’s not video games right now.

 

[bender]

Considering my activity consists of Twitter to follow Wario64 and post Switch Screenshots and Twitch to idle Rocket League streams for rewards and record PS4 footage, there isn't much to cut back.