Are you addicted to social media?
Discussion
It has come to my realisation for probably a few weeks that I was addicted to it, mainly Facebook and some instagram.
Hours of mindless scrolling. Reels being particularly dangerous imo.
I am convinced I am thicker than I used to be. Before the internet was in your hand and face constantly I was a clever bloke, able to problem solve, able to come up with ideas and able to do it confidently.
Now I feel thick as s
t, things I used to be able to do I now have no idea how to do.
I have always had a depressive streak but I now realise how much things like Facebook heighten anxiety. Half of its bullst, there's so much fury on there, I mean there's people I barely know but I know exactly what their fking aunt ate at some random persons wedding.
Its not good for you!
I almost feel like there's so much overload of total bullst it doesn't allow you to ever be bored so your brain never gets time to relax.
So I have been a grown up and stopped using it. Just YouTube for interesting stuff and here because its actually pretty calm tbh
Its been a week I think and im sure I already feel a bit clearer headed.
Anyone else had this realisation? No doubt there will be some who might mock me but I think it's a serious serious problem for so many different reasons.
Hours of mindless scrolling. Reels being particularly dangerous imo.
I am convinced I am thicker than I used to be. Before the internet was in your hand and face constantly I was a clever bloke, able to problem solve, able to come up with ideas and able to do it confidently.
Now I feel thick as s
t, things I used to be able to do I now have no idea how to do. I have always had a depressive streak but I now realise how much things like Facebook heighten anxiety. Half of its bulls
t, there's so much fury on there, I mean there's people I barely know but I know exactly what their fking aunt ate at some random persons wedding. Its not good for you!
I almost feel like there's so much overload of total bulls
t it doesn't allow you to ever be bored so your brain never gets time to relax.So I have been a grown up and stopped using it. Just YouTube for interesting stuff and here because its actually pretty calm tbh
Its been a week I think and im sure I already feel a bit clearer headed.
Anyone else had this realisation? No doubt there will be some who might mock me but I think it's a serious serious problem for so many different reasons.
The problem with SM is that it serves you more of what you interact with, so for me, it's funny stuff, inspirational and educational stuff, with a smattering of historical stuff and cars. I don't have a problem with it but do spend a lot of time on it for "research purposes." I wrote it that way for amusement value but seriously, I study what works and use it for my business so I probably spend more time creating content than I do watching stuff.
Anyway, I digress.
If you want SM to be useful to you, then purposely search for stuff that is useful to you and keep watching that stuff; the algo will serve you more of that and less of the brainrot.
And I'd rather watch YT/TT/Reels or read FB posts than watch TV.
Anyway, I digress.
If you want SM to be useful to you, then purposely search for stuff that is useful to you and keep watching that stuff; the algo will serve you more of that and less of the brainrot.
And I'd rather watch YT/TT/Reels or read FB posts than watch TV.
I know PH forums aren't social media in the strictest of senses, however, I definitely believe that there is a crossover and this is in some ways a form of social media and falls within the remit of the question.
There are several dozen posters on here that are definitely addicted to PH forums. Which is kind of alright I suppose, nowhere near as bad as mindlessly scrolling through instagram.
There are several dozen posters on here that are definitely addicted to PH forums. Which is kind of alright I suppose, nowhere near as bad as mindlessly scrolling through instagram.
Pistonheads is social media but not like Facebook, instagram etc.
So while its the same idea its no where near as bad in terms of dopamine hits.
There are a few posters who must be hitting it hard daily here though, I imagine them as people either working from home and just having it open all day or same thing but in the office, or maybe just pants with dried shreddies in the 2" long chest hair in mums spare room
Doom scrolling watching whatever st for half an hour a pop a few times a day is nothing short of ridiculous. I find myself reaching into my pocket pulling out the phone and opening Facebook, its like fking smoking its obviously not hard to quit, I have already, more the realisation of wtf have I been doing.
So while its the same idea its no where near as bad in terms of dopamine hits.
There are a few posters who must be hitting it hard daily here though, I imagine them as people either working from home and just having it open all day or same thing but in the office, or maybe just pants with dried shreddies in the 2" long chest hair in mums spare room
Doom scrolling watching whatever s
t for half an hour a pop a few times a day is nothing short of ridiculous. I find myself reaching into my pocket pulling out the phone and opening Facebook, its like fking smoking its obviously not hard to quit, I have already, more the realisation of wtf have I been doing.I've been guilty of this, but of late it's so refreshing to just look at a couple of things you're interested in then put it down. What I've done that's particularly successful is when it's bedtime, to not look at my phone other than to turn my alarm on, plug it in to charge, then close my eyes, honestly it's so much easier to get to sleep.
There’s a great free app called Jomo, it allows you to block social media and other apps on your phone between certain hours.
You can unblock it by waiting five seconds, what it means in reality is it stops you just quickly clicking on apps and looking at it all throughout the day.
Because you have to wait five seconds, you click on, for example, Facebook and then realise you’re not really that interested so you just click off
You can unblock it by waiting five seconds, what it means in reality is it stops you just quickly clicking on apps and looking at it all throughout the day.
Because you have to wait five seconds, you click on, for example, Facebook and then realise you’re not really that interested so you just click off
Oh yes I can waste hours when I get into bed looking at st that doesn t even appeal to me
Facebook is a cess pit and feeds you more of what you watch, mine is now full of reform videos, people videoing Muslim protests and small boats and general other stuff that would boil a boomers blood pressure, planes nearly crashing or accidents being explained. and cats and topless gay men
So it s a mixed bag, at the moment I’m getting lots of really good videos about concord being built and flying which for someone that never got to see it in real life is cool
t that doesn t even appeal to meFacebook is a cess pit and feeds you more of what you watch, mine is now full of reform videos, people videoing Muslim protests and small boats and general other stuff that would boil a boomers blood pressure, planes nearly crashing or accidents being explained. and cats and topless gay men
So it s a mixed bag, at the moment I’m getting lots of really good videos about concord being built and flying which for someone that never got to see it in real life is cool
RizzoTheRat said:
Agree with the OP, it's amazing how a bit of Facebook reels doomscrolling can turn in to half an hour watching videos of 4x4 rescues and woodworking.
I don't really see a forum as SM tbh - they are realted but not the same....Dog Biscuit said:
Nope not me - can't stand it. Infact I think I actually hate it
Why are you using it then? Forums = topic-based discussion.
Social media = people-based sharing and networking
I do take the point mind
Not really, I don't do Instagram or Facebook, or Tik Tok or such like.
I do like looking on X though, and I follow some interesting accounts, and I remain a huge fan of Elon.
Social media is a very broad church though, and of course for many of us, computery stuff is what we do, and the dividing lines can get quite blurred. I still prefer DIY around my bungalow though, and there are many jobs for me to enjoy.
I do like looking on X though, and I follow some interesting accounts, and I remain a huge fan of Elon.
Social media is a very broad church though, and of course for many of us, computery stuff is what we do, and the dividing lines can get quite blurred. I still prefer DIY around my bungalow though, and there are many jobs for me to enjoy.
Yes!
I grew up in the era of Myspace, MSN Messenger , Bebo etc and then we all moved to Facebook.
I use Facebook and Instagram, mainly Instagram. I have X but hardly use it, I tried Tik Tok and decided I was too old (36) for it.
I wasn't into reels but just recently the last 6 months have found myself scrolling more and more reels. I sometimes think you know what I will delete it, but FOMO, I follow alot of bands etc , Facebook car groups etc etc and just generally think without it what will I miss out on, last week for example me and the wife went to a BBC recording for free, a program we enjoy, I found out about it through Instagram. I would of missed out on that without Instagram.
I grew up in the era of Myspace, MSN Messenger , Bebo etc and then we all moved to Facebook.
I use Facebook and Instagram, mainly Instagram. I have X but hardly use it, I tried Tik Tok and decided I was too old (36) for it.
I wasn't into reels but just recently the last 6 months have found myself scrolling more and more reels. I sometimes think you know what I will delete it, but FOMO, I follow alot of bands etc , Facebook car groups etc etc and just generally think without it what will I miss out on, last week for example me and the wife went to a BBC recording for free, a program we enjoy, I found out about it through Instagram. I would of missed out on that without Instagram.
Edited by the-norseman on Monday 10th November 22:25
FB is st these days, with lots of AI nonsense posted.
You can use a Chrome extension called Fluff Busting Purity (FB Purity) to filter out anything you're not subscribed to/not friends with. Sadly it doesn't help on mobile devices.
But in general, social media - especially TikTok, Instagram and FB reels are not good for you, and you'll likely be happier and have lots more time without it.
t these days, with lots of AI nonsense posted. You can use a Chrome extension called Fluff Busting Purity (FB Purity) to filter out anything you're not subscribed to/not friends with. Sadly it doesn't help on mobile devices.
But in general, social media - especially TikTok, Instagram and FB reels are not good for you, and you'll likely be happier and have lots more time without it.
You raise a lot of similar thoughts to ones I've had recently.
I feel like I use "dopamine scrolling" to get a slight mood boost, dull out other potentially unwanted thoughts or external "noise" but its now become more habitual.
It's a thing and the media companies know exactly how to play those of us prone to being suckered in.
https://www.drsharonsaline.com/blog/2025/04/adhd-a...
I've always been a bit "need more data... feed me input..." but there doesnt seem to be the gains I used to get by learning useful things or focusing on specific work things, now I seem to just try and consume everything I can but rarely retain anything of real use and none of the important "life stuff".
Following with interest... while repetitively scrolling for no reason when I really should be asleep
I feel like I use "dopamine scrolling" to get a slight mood boost, dull out other potentially unwanted thoughts or external "noise" but its now become more habitual.
It's a thing and the media companies know exactly how to play those of us prone to being suckered in.
https://www.drsharonsaline.com/blog/2025/04/adhd-a...
I've always been a bit "need more data... feed me input..." but there doesnt seem to be the gains I used to get by learning useful things or focusing on specific work things, now I seem to just try and consume everything I can but rarely retain anything of real use and none of the important "life stuff".
Following with interest... while repetitively scrolling for no reason when I really should be asleep
Terminator X said:
Get back to reading books imho.
Social media will implode at some point soon as AI is already there and growing; it was total garbage before and will get arithmetically worse now.
And no I don't count PH as social media
TX.
You should, PH is Social Media just like LinkedIn, electronic junk food.Social media will implode at some point soon as AI is already there and growing; it was total garbage before and will get arithmetically worse now.
And no I don't count PH as social media
TX.
m3jappa said:
There are a few posters who must be hitting it hard daily here though, I imagine them as people either working from home and just having it open all day or same thing but in the office, or maybe just pants with dried shreddies in the 2" long chest hair in mums spare room
Judging by the range of subjects discussed and the verbose posts on The Lounge [ not even talking about NPE], I suspect many of the mega posters here are denizens or retired denizens of academia. Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff