4 ms·

I don't know if it's a useful data point, but my sister made me a Facebook profile when I was 16. I never really gave a crap about it and would read a few post

I don't know if it's a useful data point, but my sister made me a Facebook profile when I was 16. I never really gave a crap about it and would read a few posts maybe every other month or so and use the poke feature back and forth with friends because texting cost money. I was active on forums specific to my hobbies and that was honestly the extent of my social media use until the last couple months when I figured out I could just join local groups and hobby groups and continue to bullshit with people about aquarium fish and learn about local events. I had my first severe bout with depression shortly before I turned 16. I think it was actually a few months before I got that Facebook profile. It's been an ongoing struggle with anxiety and depression ever since. Recently, I found a balance of meds, mindfulness, and a fulfilling job and the symptoms are finally what I would consider to be minimal. I was super active on reddit though from late college until recently. People go back and forth on whether that's social media, but it definitely didn't help me. Short memes about how awful the world is, you could look at 100 an hour and ruminate for 3 more how messed up the world is. Stories of injustice, both real events and creative writing projects, were available by the dozens. Find something you want to be outraged by and join the sub because it feels good to feel irate with other people. Again, my mental health took a nosedive years before I got on reddit. But having that echo chamber where the world is terrible and we're all getting taken advantage of was definitely not helpful either.

t0suj4 4y ago
I used to read news every day. I've noticed that I dread every coming day. Quitting the news for two years helped me a lot. I still read the news but not in the volume I used to. Most of the things are outside my control so I just don't worry about them. In short: doom scrolling is poison.
- brimble 4y ago
  Conway, too, found much to interest him, apart from the engrossing problem he had set himself. During the warm, sunlit days he made full use of the library and music room, and was confirmed in his impression that the lamas were of quite exceptional culture. Their taste in books was catholic, at any rate; Plato in Greek touched Omar in English; Nietzsche partnered Newton; Thomas More was there, and also Hannah More, Thomas Moore, George Moore, and even Old Moore. Altogether Conway estimated the number of volumes at between twenty and thirty thousand; and it was tempting to speculate upon the method of selection and acquisition. He sought also to discover how recently there had been additions, but he did not come across anything later than a cheap reprint of Im Western Nichts Neues. During a subsequent visit, however, Chang told him that there were other books published up to about the middle of 1930 which would doubtless be added to the shelves eventually; they had already arrived at the lamasery. "We keep ourselves fairly up-to-date, you see," he commented. "There are people who would hardly agree with you," replied Conway with a smile. "Quite a lot of things have happened in the world since last year, you know." "Nothing of importance, my dear sir, that could not have been foreseen in 1920, or that will not be better understood in 1940." "You're not interested, then, in the latest developments of the world crisis?" "I shall be very deeply interested—in due course." — James Hilton, Lost Horizon
- brewdad 4y ago
  With the Elon Musk news, I finally decided to try reducing my Twitter usage. With the exception of 3 or 4 specific tweets that I viewed because of a discussion on a site like this, I haven't been on Twitter in 10 days. I already feel much less "on edge" than I used to. I was already mostly off Facebook, basically checking once a day for 5 minutes max since a parent group I help lead in real life uses it as a primary form of communicating with the group at large. Now to get off of Reddit and be more judicious with my usage of this site.

t0suj4 4y ago

I used to read news every day. I've noticed that I dread every coming day. Quitting the news for two years helped me a lot. I still read the news but not in the volume I used to. Most of the things are outside my control so I just don't worry about them. In short: doom scrolling is poison.

brimble 4y ago
Conway, too, found much to interest him, apart from the engrossing problem he had set himself. During the warm, sunlit days he made full use of the library and music room, and was confirmed in his impression that the lamas were of quite exceptional culture. Their taste in books was catholic, at any rate; Plato in Greek touched Omar in English; Nietzsche partnered Newton; Thomas More was there, and also Hannah More, Thomas Moore, George Moore, and even Old Moore. Altogether Conway estimated the number of volumes at between twenty and thirty thousand; and it was tempting to speculate upon the method of selection and acquisition. He sought also to discover how recently there had been additions, but he did not come across anything later than a cheap reprint of Im Western Nichts Neues. During a subsequent visit, however, Chang told him that there were other books published up to about the middle of 1930 which would doubtless be added to the shelves eventually; they had already arrived at the lamasery. "We keep ourselves fairly up-to-date, you see," he commented. "There are people who would hardly agree with you," replied Conway with a smile. "Quite a lot of things have happened in the world since last year, you know." "Nothing of importance, my dear sir, that could not have been foreseen in 1920, or that will not be better understood in 1940." "You're not interested, then, in the latest developments of the world crisis?" "I shall be very deeply interested—in due course." — James Hilton, Lost Horizon
brewdad 4y ago
With the Elon Musk news, I finally decided to try reducing my Twitter usage. With the exception of 3 or 4 specific tweets that I viewed because of a discussion on a site like this, I haven't been on Twitter in 10 days. I already feel much less "on edge" than I used to. I was already mostly off Facebook, basically checking once a day for 5 minutes max since a parent group I help lead in real life uses it as a primary form of communicating with the group at large. Now to get off of Reddit and be more judicious with my usage of this site.