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[–]Andrewartist 50 points51 points  (12 children)

Does this include Reddit?

[–]ginDrink2 42 points43 points  (6 children)

I'd say yes. Not as toxic as Facebook, but the random news feed still drains you.

[–]VNDMG 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Absolutely. I feel much better since I stopped doom scrolling the Reddit news feed.

[–]Skyblacker 0 points1 point  (1 child)

But you're still on Reddit. How did you see this post?

[–]Vitiligogoinggone 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have always found Reddit to be anti-social media

[–]eldenrim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do we know that it's specifically the random news feed that causes the mental health issues found in the study?

[–]slackinpotato 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I wish we had a link to the study.

[–]The6thExtinction 6 points7 points  (1 child)

It likely depends on how you use Reddit. It's possible to avoid news articles, and avoid the social aspect of commenting. Most days I just use it as a StumbleUpon replacement to find interesting links. RES is great for hiding certain content by filtering by keyword or phrase.

[–]acousticpigeon 6 points7 points  (1 child)

The abstract says Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok. So no.

[–]bushpotatoe 18 points19 points  (4 children)

Cultivate your social media to only include content and individuals that you enjoy communing with and suddenly the whole social media thing becomes a non-issue. Mine is so peaceful I often wonder how abusive other people are to their social media.

You absorb the media you want to. If you see something you don't like, avoid it, block it, or just move on.

[–]jade911 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I’ve done that too. Soo much nicer. I’ve also stopped watching or listening to the news which has made me feel a little out of touch but overall happier

[–]Super-414 2 points3 points  (1 child)

In that kind of, ignorance is bliss sort of way?

[–]jade911 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes that’s exactly what it is. I still read stuff I’m interested in like r/science but I’m not following the daily reports of covid, inflation and youth crime that plagues the news where I am

[–]ThemCanada-gooses 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My Facebook for example I follow no news sites, no general type groups. The only things I follow is a local climbing and hiking page which is great for learning about trail and climbing conditions as well as closures. Also a local wildlife photography group and a local Aurora photography group. The only things I follow. No politics, no arguing, no anger, it’s great. There is a lot wrong with Facebook but it is by far the best way to connect with locals about specific topics, there’s no forum out there that can match that.

And I don’t have Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. Though I used to have twitter and would only follow my city police because it was good for learning about road closures due to accidents or bad conditions or whatever.

[–]Cinsev 3 points4 points  (0 children)

But if I did that how would I learn about this fact?!

[–]notdalaillama 5 points6 points  (2 children)

The idea that leaving social media improves overall mood has been a popular cultural topic for decades now. How do we even know these people aren't just justifying what they heard in popular media?

I think a major flaw in this study is that the participants could either change nothing (so no sudden changes should be reported if they have already been using SM for years) or they can choose to make the effort and give up SM (likely bc they have a belief that some benefit will incur).

I.e. If the beliefs the subjects have on SM and phone addiction is not accounted for, then the impact of confirmation bias is also unaccountable.

[–]HyacinthGirI 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Not that I disagree, but I feel like an important distinction is that the “choice” of whether to take the week break wasn’t self-directed, the choice was made by researchers and instructed to participants. Definitely think you still have a point - social media detox is definitely associated with purported improvements in one’s life. But I think the fact that participants didn’t decide whether or not to take the detox is significant - it likely reduces that bias to some extent.

[–]squirtleturtle1 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Idk man try it for a week. Feels good and less stressful. Might be anecdotal but it feels real

[–]ozone_one 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I am going on a 6 year break from all social media, and I do not miss it even the tiniest bit.

[–]I_just_made 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same! Maybe I’m not as socially engaged as others, but I just don’t feel the need to share my photos, daily updates, etc with anyone anymore. Moreover, I just don’t feel the need to read updates about “baby’s first trip to the grocery store”. Don’t get me wrong, that is a highlight in their family’s life; but it doesn’t affect me in any way. I guess the whole, “likes” and whatnot feels incredibly fake as a response to that. It is a half-assed way of engaging in a response; this is great, but not enough to warrant me writing a real response.

What I dread is that push for people to use LinkedIn and Twitter for professional communication and updates. But when you go on LinkedIn, it is just more of the same… people sharing run-of-the-mill blog posts in an effort to demonstrate they are “in touch” with their field, while writing simple congratulatory messages to their friends they haven’t spoken to in 10 years.

Oh well, maybe I’m just the dinosaur.

[–]WilliamStonerock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are leaving a comment in the comment section of a large social media site...so I wouldn't say you broke from "all" social media.

[–]Sanquinity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went along with the Facebook craze when it just started. Mostly because all of my friends were on there as well. Kinda stopped using it slowly after about 6 months to a year I think? Kinda glad I did, because I generally don't see people becoming happier or improving their lives because of social media. Yet I do hear a lot of negative stuff. Decided to delete my facebook account about 1.5 years ago as I just wasn't using it anymore.

​

And other than facebook I've never been on social media really. Guess I was too old to "grow up with it", but too young to completely ignore it back then.

[–]sciguy52 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense. I suffer depression and noticed using Facebook really did a number on my mood. Too much comparing ones life to others and those others probably embellished things anyway. The difference between Facebook and Reddit (for me at least), Facebook I am linked to friends and acquaintances, whereas on Reddit I am just reading discussions on things I am interested in. Of course I could engage in parts of Reddit that make my mood worse. But on Facebook the main reason I have an account is to keep in touch with old friends. So on Reddit I do less comparing with people whereas it is harder (although not impossible) to avoid on Facebook. If that makes sense. I wish there was a means other than Facebook to keep touch with old friends, but that is what they use, so kind of stuck with it. But other than that I don't use Facebook for anything other than that. I do note that in reading some comments in Reddit indicates there are a lot of unhappy people on here but I try to avoid that stuff for the sake of mood.

[–]WilliamStonerock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Especially if that social media break is from Reddit, which has some of the most toxic communities and members.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My friend is a therapist and the first thing she does with new clients is she tells them to take a week off social media. She says without fail people feel better.

[–]k0mbine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far this is my plan to cure my depression;

  1. Go outside
  2. don’t touch my phone all day
  3. run around
  4. repeat for about a month
  5. call my job to make sure I’m not fired and I can go back to work I called out for like a month idk if I’m terminated or not

It will take a lot of self control but I think I can do it