Terminated all my social media accounts today

[Coolest Ranger]

For years I have enjoyed facebook. I just got to the point where I figure out how twitter work and I used it and enjoyed it big time, but today I decided that I was going to terminate my facebook and my twitter account. Facebook used to be a great place to share videos make people laugh, but lately, I'm running into people who want to control everything you post on social media. Funny videos which you like some people find tasteless or get offended which is fine.

I just think I'll be more productive without social media in my life. I am so utterly disappointed in how I have allowed social media to control my life. So as of today, my facebook account is gone, my twitter account is gone. I don't have to worry about trolls stalking me on progressive pages. I don't have to worry about being spammed by spam bots any more. Maybe it's for the best maybe not. All I know is I got to take control of my life and start doing what's going to make me happy.

Has anyone else cut the social media cord and how has it made you feel?

[closeupready]

1. DU is social media, too, isn't it?

But I applaud you for running against the current in order to uncomplicate your life.

[Coolest Ranger]

3. i do not see DU

as a social media sight. I see is as a news site to help keep me informed about what is going on during the election. But in the case of facebook. When I should be working on my novels, I'm on there chatting with people. At first I thought it would be a great way to connect with people who could help me in my career but the people I was meeting would not connect me to the folks I needed to get me off the ground.

Or if I post a video I would find funny, I would get messages saying that was tasteless when I see people post the same or similar videos on their page which I find offensive but would never say anything to them. This morning, I just had enough of it all. Social media was not helping me connect to the people I need to connect to in order to further my goals. Did I make my job harder as a published writer? Maybe but I have to go out on faith that I'm doing the right thing

[ladyVet]

22. Hey, fellow writer! What kind of novels do you write?

I'm doing a variety of things, from SF to horror to urban fantasy. Going to throw in some romance, too. I've written some erotica shorts, mostly to see if I could and to make a little cash (before the subscription program on Amazon went to hell).

I'm self-publishing, so I don't really care about the "real" publishing world, so not interacting on Facebook or Twitter doesn't mean squat to me. I'd only care about readers. I get my writing news from message boards and blogs for writers.

To me, Twitter is stuff like "sat on pot, took huge dump. relief! #turd-o-licious".

Facebook is like "hey, I hate your mama, this is what she looks like after I screwed her: {insert weird photo from some meme site}".

I get that some people use social media to stay in touch with family and friends, but I just don't enjoy it. My family is far too close as it is, and my mother has a phone.

I may really be antisocial, like people say.

[Kelvin Mace]

20. DU is much more reality based than FB

You get more intelligent exchanges here than on FB. Admittedly, that is a VERY low bar...

[closeupready]

32. I think so, too. And even RWer's can pipe in here, as long as

the discussion remains polite. On FB, anything goes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Yes, by the classic definition it is

[TexasProgresive]

2. Never used so called social media.

Probably it is the experience of fellow DUers that has kept me facebook clean. I read of so many things being said on it that it reinforced me never getting an account. My original reason is that facebook is out to make money off of the members by selling information.

[malaise]

10. Same here

Never joined any of them

[MADem]

27. DU is "social media."

The difference between DU and facebook is that it's more likely you will actually know someone in real life on facebook (family, friends, e.g.), but DU is more user-friendly and it's easier to have a conversation (the letters are bigger, for starters!).

[TexasProgresive]

40. We have some anonymity here

and while some feeling have gotten hurt at DU from time to time I hope no one has committed suicide because of bullying. Such things have happened with other internet channels. A few people at DU know my name and address but that is by my choice and I don't believe Earl and Skinner are selling my info to outside vendors.

[MADem]

45. You can have reasonable anonymity on twitter and facebook, too.

You don't have to use your real name--you can be Howie Dodat or Ima Icholunch and no one will say a word. Hell, the whole premise of that MTV show "CATFISH" has to do with people who use fake social media accounts (and pictures they've swiped from someone else) because they're enamoured of someone (who is out of their league, usually).

Even if you clue your family in that "Fred Kadiddlehopper" on facebook is actually you, facebook isn't going to get very far selling your personal details, especially if you use a tosser or a "just for signing up for shit like this" web based email account.

[hifiguy]

42. Same here. I want no part of it.

[pinboy3niner]

4. That's one extreme way to go

I still have FB, but I rarely look at it until I get emails that say I have 100+ "new notifications."'

I rarely post there, but if anyone posts RW crap on my page I delete it. I don't spam pages of my conservative friends and nobody spams mine. It's MY PAGE.

[sufrommich]

5. I have always limited Facebook to family and close

friends,rarely use it for anything.Twitter,on the other hand,I couldn't live without.I get most of my news and articles to read from Twitter.

[MADem]

28. I am the same way. I have an information-limited account

on fb but it's handy for keeping up with the zillions of cousins and their families (we're a big, diverse and very, VERY scattered group--but we manage to stay close with the fb thing). It is handy for that purpose...for all the other stuff, the "share if you like this" bullshit, I've no time for that. For the "So-and-so is in hospital" posts, though, it's invaluable.

[AngryAmish]

6. I post to Facebook about once a month

Pictures of food or my kids. I chwck it once a week.

Never did twitter.

Between getting drunk, golf and eating I have no time.

[MADem]

46. I love this post!!!

Between getting drunk, golf and eating I have no time.

You should consider making that your sig line!!!!

[madokie]

7. Never had either of those

I tried facebook but it was too invasive for my liking so I never got all the way tuned in, never tried any of the others.
I'm 67 and figure I don't need any more than having an internet connection. Come to DU to keep up with the ins and outs of what is in and what is out. Other than that I'm a recluse without staying home.

[pinboy3niner]

11. You old curmudgeon, you!

Touch me and I'll hit ya back.

I love you, brother!

[madokie]

13. I love you too

and thanks for having my back all those years ago when we were barely out of our toddler years

OT. I wish I could show you the bicycle my wife came home with from a garage sale in my dream this morning. it was a doozy. Two wheels in front, one in back recumbent style. Ten speed pulling the front wheels and the peddles were tricycle style. How the 10 speed worked is beyond what my dream allowed me to delve into. It was cool though.
More carbon fiber than steel and light as a feather. I loved it, in my dream

Please do have a good day

[pinboy3niner]

16. I kid but you know I always got your back, man

As I know you have mine. Some things you don't forget, ever...

In your next dream, please come up with a bike for me that I don't have to pedal. I'm getting on in years, here.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. I keep most of my online talking confined to blogs.

I don't have it in me to really do much within the 140 char limit of twitter. But I do find twitter useful for keeping an ear on viewpoints from people whose lives have been radically different than mine, as well as for finding out news from organizations that won't be picked up by your typical 'news aggregator' sites. So it's more a 'listening post' for me than a talking one.

[hlthe2b]

9. I purposely never signed up for either facebook or twitter.

Nor will I. I am no Luddite and value communicating with friends/family directly, but I do value my privacy far more than that. I can not tell you the number of acquaintances who have told me of being stalked by those they encountered (or knew from their past) on facebook or twitter.

[meow2u3]

12. I still use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family

Given that all my friends and family live too far for me to see them in person, Facebook is the next best thing. I can't stay in touch any other way.

I also play DoubleU Casino on Facebook, a fun time waster/simulated gambling app. I wouldn't try casinos with real money because I'd like to be able to pay my bills.

[SamKnause]

14. I have never had

a Facebook account or Twitter account.

I use to blog on Huffington post until it became

mandatory that you sign up for Facebook.

I use to comment on YouTube until it became

mandatory that you sign up for Facebook.

I only blog on Democratic Underground now.

[Vinca]

15. Ditto what you said except for YouTube.

I do miss posting on Huffington. Sometimes I felt like I changed someone's mind there. Now it's open to everyone on Facebook so it's like a playground fight most of the time. I've never been interested in Twitter. I might have until television programs decided it was a great idea to post the Twitter brain droppings of their watchers in a box at the bottom of the screen. Very annoying. Facebook is another matter. Why some people feel the need to tell the world about every acne outbreak is a mystery.

[SamKnause]

17. There were some excellent bloggers

on Huffington Post.

I learned a lot by posting there.

You could weed out those who full of crap easily.

Those who provided links taught me a lot about

politics and the history of this country.

[Vinca]

19. Agreed. There were some intelligent conversations to be had.

HuffPo seems to have gone the "dumbing down" route.

[bemildred]

18. Yes, it feels great.

Spending your life "curating your presence" on the web is a ludicrous substitute for real life.

Twitter is a stupid idea badly carried out, and Facebook is a good idea badly carried out, but neither should be central to your life.

DU is bad enough.

[elias49]

21. Hear, hear.

My wife and daughter have been pressing me to open a Facebook acct for more than a year. Not gonne happen because I never see either one of them: always have a nose in the machine.
No thanks. Esp with the increasing number of 'hacks' by either nefarious outsiders or nefarious insiders.

[liberal N proud]

23. Not all of them

You are still here.

Sorry but contrary to some beliefs, DU is a social media site. A site dedicated to discussing and in some cases demeaning others political opinions as well as a source for news and other diversions.

I am not saying you should delete this one as well, hope you stay and contribute in a positive manner.

[Coolest Ranger]

24. An interesting development

A friend of mine called me and pleaded with me to logback into facebook. Come to find out that I have more support on facebook then I thought I did. People are pleading with me to stay with facebook, I will think about it for 24 hours and make my final decision. Guess I impacted more people then I thought.

[NightWatcher]

25. Do what I did and unfriendly/hide everyone who sends or reposts garbage

And I will only check once a day or so to see if a friend posts something important

[MADem]

26. DU is social media, too. Any time you are talking to people on the net, that's "social media."

So you may have sliced a few connections, but you have yet "cut the cord!"

[carla]

29. With the exception

of posting here on DU (where I have hidden in the shadows since day 1), I have negated and cancelled and closed all my social media accounts, esp. FB and Twitter since I am an adult and I don't care for others to limit my opinions and comments because they are too immature or unsmart to accept what I offer. I know of some 15 others who have done the same. Social media once had a promise, now it is just a means of being spied on. Don't miss it, have more time for the things that matter in life...like living. I have and acquaintance who claims she does "counselling" over the internet. Her life is one of spending, everyday, some 12 hours on the internet, giving "advice" to people who she has never met and doesn't have ANY connection with. Love in action, this is what she claims she is doing. I only see a desperately lonely woman who fears real interaction with real people. This is what social media is doing to many; ruining their ability to interact with reality in favor of a fake universe of fake friends... I feel liberated.

[closeupready]

33. "fake universe" of "fake friends" - to some extent, I agree.

I miss the days when people had to actually really MEET other people to do ... stuff.

[bluedigger]

30. Facebook has been a great boon to me.

It's allowed me to reconnect with many friends and former coworkers, as well as a few family members. I have lead a nomadic life and don't live anywhere close to them in RL, so FB is how we share our thoughts and adventures around the globe. My number of contacts has stabilized at around a gross and that is more than enough. In reality, only around a quarter of that are anywhere near regular users, which works out well. As for offensive content or political posts, if they aren't very close friends I end up blocking them. I've only unfriended one person over the years, and feel that a little tolerance is a good thing, in general. I can always block their sources if they are too rightwing as well, while still seeing their personal posts. I'm pretty lucky to have a lot of intelligent and interesting friends!

I also cross post quite a bit of news and info from DU to FB and vice a versa; they are my two best news sources these days as far as current events go. DU is a great anonymous collector of interesting trivia, which I can disseminate back to targeted individuals I think would be interested, or post for all to see on my Wall.

I never saw the attraction of twitter at all. I don't have FB or DU on my phone, and that is what twitter is really designed for. I interact on the time of my choosing - I don't need my phone alerting me all the time of someone's deep thoughts in 156 characters or less.

Sorry to interrupt - you may now return to your previously scheduled FB slam.

[northoftheborder]

31. Never got on board any "social media" trains....happy not to be there......

[mac2766]

34. I too once had a Facebook account...

I created the account, used it for a few months. In the beginning it was interesting, but with many "friends", I found them way too easy to offend. My sense of humor, I found, was not enjoyed by all. Very puzzling as I'm a very funny person.

It got to the point that I felt it would be best to cancel the account, so I did. That was well over a year ago.

I've never had a twitter account, nor do I want one. I'm happy without social media. I think the problem that I have with it is that the anonymity seems to give people a feeling that they have the right to insult others. I've always believed that if I had something to say to a person, that I would rather say it to them directly, so that they knew who was saying it to them.

[oldandhappy]

35. My FB page is limited --

only people I want. Less than 40 people and all sensible folk. Very important to take control! I understand.

[olddots]

36. I considered Facebook to be what it set out to

then people saw the commercial potential .Ideas multiplied by computing can become whats wrong with big business = the machine runs the human and the human still gets to blame the machine if there is a problem that needs to be fixed by humans .

Social media has little to do with human interaction because it becomes a way to dehumanize people .

[inanna]

38. Like ICQ, when FB first emerged

I thought it was a very cool novelty. But I identified the "potential" issues almost immediately - mostly the privacy thing and the employer snooping thing. I quickly grew dismayed by all the conflict and personal sniping and fighting I saw amongst some of my contacts. I mean, really?

It didn't take me long to tire of FB and the drama so prevalent on it.

I have never used twitter.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

39. I'm still on DU

Plenty of drama here. Plenty of hair-triggers that send the Offended-meter to eleven.

It should calm down after the Democratic primary.

[mnhtnbb]

41. I removed myself from a private fb group of about 13 women

because I just couldn't take their lack of concern about issues--racism, education, guns, health care,
politics, etc--anymore. I called them out on it after the Charleston massacre and the response
was basically, uh, "I just want to focus on being happy". Head in the sand. Most of them were
Republicans anyway. Only one of them unfriended me outside the group (dropped me), but
no big loss. She was all about kittie graphics, recipes, and praying for stuff anyway.

I was spending way too much time chatting with them about their lives--sometimes
just listening to them gripe-- but not recognizing actions they could take to fix their problems.

Occasionally, I miss some of the banter, but mostly I feel I made the right decision.

[Marrah_G]

43. mine are set to private and I have complete control over it

if I find someone is a jerk, I delete them

[daredtowork]

44. Cyberstalkers get creepy for women

In recent years newspapers have made a big fuss about forcing people to use real names and/or turning to social media accounts with real names to manage their comments section because they are too cheap to hire a moderator to manage comments. They don't understand how rampant cyberstalking is and how common it is for trolls to exhibit their power by "doxxing" - which starts by aggregating information from social media accounts. Disputes online can easily turn into attempts to get you fired at work or make you feel like your being followed or vulnerable to being attacked in real life. During GamerGate one of the stated goals was to drive one of the targets "to suicide" through coordinated harassment.

A friend of mine has regularly had to delete a discussion account whenever she sets it up on one place, because she quickly gets "outed" in another, and the other place, which is more of a troll hang out spot, doesn't do anything about it.

I've been fairly open about my real location on DU. Today I noticed a troll making a not-so-subtle reference to my status on Clinton (only stated on DU). This is the same group that has harassed my friend into deleting her comments accounts twice through their stalking activities. This gives me some cause for concern.

Social media has a very dark side. I've always stayed away from Facebook for that reason. Now I'm wondering if I've said too much about myself on DU and will be bullied into deleting my accounts just like what has happened to my friend.

[Generic Brad]

47. I never joined

More than a decade ago I blogged and began enduring non-stop trolling by family members who disagreed with my Democratic principles. Then as social media began to take off I realized large corporations could monitor their employees through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Hell no. I have consciously chosen to limit my posting activities to DU since my family has no idea what my screen name is here. This is the only posting forum I feel comfortable with.

[damnedifIknow]

48. Closed mine a year ago

Got tired of the people posing with beer bottles so I saddled up my mule and rode out of FB town.

[Katashi_itto]

49. Can't do that. I am promoting a sci fi comedy that I am co-directing. In New Media Filmaking

Social media engagement with the audience is everything.

What I have done is toned down my politics on Social Media. I am scaling back everywhere. What is important is making a successful movie. Not politics.

I only have one candidate in mind.

I look at DU and I don't take DU remotely serious anymore. The Perpetual outrage, bioviating and no holds barred smearing each other and each others candidates.

I already know I am not voting Hillary regardless. Nothing else to be said about that.