alt Hacker NewsI deleted all my meta accounts a couple years ago (Facebook, Instagram). When I did it I was afraid I would miss out.
Nope: 5 years after I feel good about not being a dopamine-addicted sheep (At least to Meta). It makes me sick to my stomach whenever I go to a public place and see so many people mindlessly losing their life watching reels and stories full of ads. I Used to take the Caltrain and I estimate >50% of the people were mindlessly scrolling instagram during the 1 hour train ride.
The best time to delete * Meta was yesterday. The next best time is Today.
(To be honest I recreated a bogus account to sell things on MarketPlace and I cannot believe the amount of crap constantly pushed to me)
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I have been barely using FB, but I deactivate my account early 2025 and I never looked back. I never had Instagram or Twitter.
I thought I would miss out on many events, but then I just signed up to a few more newsletters and that's still more events than I have time to vist.
I still wish we had a proper replacement for FB events. At least we have a nice market place platform that everyone uses (willhaben.at). For a long time I didn't even know that FB MarketPlace exists.
"When I did it I was afraid I would miss out."
All the cool kids left FB a decade ago. You're not missing anything.
I deleted my Facebook account years ago. Recently I tried to make a new one in order to get access to the WhatsApp API to use it for my business, and I just get banned right after the account is created. I'm not sure why, but I guess they don't need my money.
What does your social life look like? Because the reality for me is that in any major city, a significant number of places - even if they technically have websites - post all of their events and happenings on Instagram/FB.
Sure, I can talk to my close friends on any number of IM platforms, but if I want to get out and have new experiences, join club meetups, be notified of events at venues I care about, etc. - it's Meta or miss out.