Finally Unsocial

The last of the social media apps were banished from my life several months ago.

This final one being WhatsApp.

The messaging platform was the connection between myself and 95%+ of my social network.

As keen as I was to do this, there was a sense of apprehension about going through with it. It felt like I am intentionally removing myself from modern society.
 
I spent time thinking about the consequences of all this. It has taken me a number of years to get to this point.

It all started with the my complicated relationship with the smart phone, the constant attention it demanded from various apps. I would check one thing and then be on the next app checking something else then before I knew it I had spent 15 minutes doom scrolling mindlessly. This would happen multiple times a day.

My situation isn’t unique. Nothing I’m saying here is new and there are no revelations, I was just becoming fed up with carrying a really expensive mind numbing device around with me.
 
I will admit that not all my interactions with the smart phone have been negative, but for me at one point the cons far outweighed the pros.

The more social media platforms I was engaging with, the more time was being taken from me. As soon as I deleted my accounts, my time was becoming my own. As I removed each account I went through a type of anxiety. This is confirmation that I shouldn’t be on these platforms.
 
So with life after WhatsApp and the socials now in full swing, how have I done?

Totally fine in all reality.

Digital distraction free days? No just less of it, and when I am on my device it's for a genuine reason.

I moved to Signal. Not many people are on Signal, so it's quite nice, the privacy concerns I had with WhatsApp aren't present with Signal.

Has social media crept back into my life? No. I am now looking at reducing my YouTube consumption slowly. This is always on my laptop so it's like I'm now working on other devices I use, and looking to thin out my time on various platforms.

Do I miss any of it? No. It's like it never existed, which for someone of my generation, (43 years old in 2025) there was a time when all this stuff didn't actually exist. For me it's easier to reset. For the younger generations this may be a lot harder to achieve.

I have one confession. Reddit. I recently got an account. I'm not sure how long it will last, I have found some of the topics interesting to read about. The sub reddits that have Wiki's are actually very good and provide a lot of information on certain subjects I'm interested in. It's been a positive experience so far, I have the app installed on my phone but I am keeping the usage low and use Reddit on my laptop, this is for more screen real estate when reading about stuff.

Becoming free from devices is impossible in modern life but it is totally possible to be intentional about our usage, like anything moderation is key.