I have left all social media

Is this real? Cause capybaras are cool.

You won’t miss it. Really.

Sadly no, just women staring at their cellphones. There are a lot of capybara videos on Reels though.

Yeah, reddit is really quite a broad spectrum of different things - including hive minds and cesspools, but not limited to those - for example the various subreddits on identifying objects, plants, insects, etc are generally pretty good and there are places where the advice-type content on reddit can be really excellent - as well as others where the advice-type content is completely earnest, but very terrible.
And the signal to noise ratio can be quite low - if a lowbrow joke can possibly be made, it will be.

This is my experience. I joined FB years ago in 2006 and only used it very intermittently. I thought I had deleted the darn thing but discovered it was still active just recently.

Quelle surprise. :rofl:

I never posted much but lately have been throwing out a few old pictures with extended commentary as a way to leave a bit of a legacy for a few cousins/friends. I will appoint a death reporter before I die and that cousin can leave it up for awhile and then delete it when I am gone.

I’ve curated my feed so that I don’t see anything politically hostile. If I encounter anything bothersome I block or unfollow. I’m still trying to figure out the mechanics of it all. I follow some painting and fine arts, history, and music pages winch have been entertaining.

I actually reconnected to a couple friends in real life recently which has been a joy.

I have also found it very helpful to follow a local county bulletin board which has been interesting. I’ve been able to participate in some local food events and yard sales that I would never have known about.

I have extended family in Canada, France and Belgium and some friends in Germany that I follow. I love how everything is now automatically translated for me. Years ago I used to practice my French with a couple relatives.

I have an uneasy detente with Reddit which I have been using for more than 11 years. Last year I was repeatedly banned for what I thought were innocuous comments so I’ve scaled back my presence on there. I still read through the feed to spot headlines and then do additional research elsewhere if needed. I will make a few comments but those are usually on the cleaning subreddits or something equally benign.

I never had a twitter account. I don’t plan on joining any of the other popular social media sites.

I hang out here and a few other niche specific forums for now.

My situation is a bit different in that my family are all dead and these contacts help me maintain a bit of contact with the outside world. I suspect I will need that even a bit more whenever I decide to retire.

Ahem.

Paging @Larry_Borgia .

Did you know about this group??

Women Who Raise Well-Endowed Young Capybaras, on the other hand…

I’ve never been on Facebook, but I do go to some subs on reddit. C’mon, it is SO vast that you really can’t tar the whole site with one brush. I don’t know where you hung out (and don’t tell me) that you would label “left-wing doomposting echo chamber.” I never visit political, current events, or other contentious areas of reddit.

There are subs on my favorite TV shows, on cute animals (one whole sub devoted to Corgi butts!), tea, coffee, Fitbit, soup, Jung, Quicken, hearing aids, my brand of cell phone, books… plenty of areas that engage in civilized discussion. Reddit can be entertaining and informative if you avoid the bad neighborhoods.

I don’t do any other social media and never have.

I stay with facebook to keep in touch with family and various groups I’m part of. A few months ago I heard about FB Purity, which eliminates all the reels and sponsored postings which were driving me crazy.

Also @capybara

No FB, no Twitter, no TikTok.
Yes IG and Threads
Not as a content creator, but I do respond and give likes.

I don’t think of sdmb as social media really.

Well, you’ve come to the right place to get away from all that nonsense, and to fight ignorance regarding all the right-wing lies and conspiracy theories in a high-minded forum full of smart, thoughtful individuals!

Uhhhhmmm….

Sadly, this isn’t true.

Yeah, that was poorly-worded. I take back what i said about Reddit.

How did you keep in touch with family before Facebook? Seems people did.
And they all were not checking their phones at the reunion.

Facebook wants you to believe you cannot do without it. We are all of an age to know the before times.
People kept in touch just fine.

If it’s hurting you, drop it.

I wasn’t taking exception to your description of Reddit, I was trying to say in a humorous way that if you’re looking for an antidote to right-wing conspiracy thinking, the SDMB is definitely the place for you! As a respite from worst-case doomposting, ehhhh, maybe not always so much. As LSLGuy put it very well upthread:

But overall this board is full of very smart, sensible, witty, well informed posters (myself excepted, perhaps), very few trolls or just plain unpleasant posters, and is extremely well moderated.

Correct me if I’m mistaken , but you joined this message board just to announce that you were leaving social media?

I resemble that remark! https://youtu.be/NAyrBjh3Tpc

If the protest flag fits, wear it! And proudly.

No.

I’m here because I want alternatives to social media

Well, Hal, I hope you find the Dope more plesant than where you were.

Good luck and post lots. We need posters active.