Are You 'Weird' If You Don't Use Social Media?

Personally I don't feel the need to make my personal life others people’s business.

I think very highly of people who don’t use social media.

I don't need social media to be happy. There are an infinite number of things people can choose to do with their precious time.

LinkedIn is the only social media site I use, but it is very different than Facebook because it focuses on topics, not people.

Social media is about the gamification of self.

Some people just don’t like to post what they eat what they doing that doesn’t mean they are loners in fact some people are more social than those on media show popular they are and got many followers may be more lonely than those that don’t use social media this is just solely my opinion

You type like you've sustained a traumatic brain injury.

I've noticed a very real feeling of isolation due to my social media absence. My nearest and dearest relationships haven't changed bc they were always based in the tangible world. But 2nd or 3rd degree friendships no longer exist for me. I'm 50/50 on whether this is a good thing or not. Some days its refreshing. Some days its an overwhelming sense of rejection.

I don't use social because i'm not interested, it's makes people addicted to it, people forget communicate face to face and makes us being fake and we don't have any secrets because social becomes our diary.....

I do have a social media presence, but not much. I have forgotten my password for all four of my defunct face book accounts to the extent that I don't even know how to post on face book anymore. I have never had a twitter account. I do answer such interesting sites as the one I am on, but only when I have a few spare minutes and stumble across the site. It is usually months to even years old. And, then it may be so old, the comment section is closed. I have a very old linked-in account that is not updated and never visited. I have a job, take care of a mini farm and have a disabled husband. My alone time is therefore very precious to me. There may be more folks out there just like me who feel that social media is just not that important. What I do for fun is everything from playing my flute in a community band to singing in the church choir. I don't have time for much of social media, but for those who do, go for it.

Cant be arsed with it

I enjoyed reading your article. I always wonder what people think of the fact that I am not on social media and never have been. To be fair, I dont hate social media, it was just never something I was interested in. Growing up I had a friend that was very competitive. I tried everything I could to not participate, but found that eventually I would always give into the game. Even when I came out on top, it still felt bad.
As an adult I just feel that some people have blurred the lines about personal privacy in order to understand how I fit on the measuring stick. Because I don’t post online, I have had “friends” drive past my house to keep on eye on our home renovation. When I stopped them one day she said “oh you caught me”. I have had friends have their friends break into my kids school records because they wanted to discuss who got the best teachers. High school friends who “Like” the horrible sweaty picture of me my sister posted so it would show up in their feed, commenting about how cute my kids were. Funny they didn’t “like” the picture Of my cute kids! And I have had a distant co-worker look up my house in tax records. These types of actions are what keep me away. Like your friend, I am not a crazy murder, I just don’t want to compete. I believe there is room for everyone to succeed at what makes them happy, and it’s NOT the same thing for everyone. Thank you for the article. I feel slightly less crazy, and do understand that social media isn’t bad, it just depends on who and how they are using it.

So I’m not on social media, and tbh, my life is much less stressful and complicated because of it blah blah blah... it’s great, don’t miss it. BUT the thing that bothers me is that while I contently refrain from participating, it seems others who aren’t used to someone they can’t stalk online do seem to go a little crazy. Honestly I haven’t seen the video referenced, but that actually sounds fairly accurate. No joke. It seems like aquaintances and coworkers feel strongly entitled to know about my life, which is creepy, but what pushes this even farther is that THEY WONT JUST ASK ME. They would apparently much rather talk about me and speculate about my life behind my back. I mean, what, am I back in high school? That’s not how you make REAL friends. Seriously, it makes me not want to be friends with you. I’m a nice person, so can we not communicate like fully functioning human beings? Likeee I’m successful and happy and I don’t have time for these crazy people with nothing better to do than selfishly ‘worry’ about other’s lives. I honestly think this worldwide social obsession is going to limit a bunch of these people in the long run because instead of focusing on themselves and their own progress, they’re wasting time uselessly obsessing over others. Tend your own garden! ..It’s seriously as if everyone forgot how to communicate without a screen, and it all speaks endlessly about the current human condition. But I think what really bothers my coworkers is that I’m cute, I have a cute boyfriend, and a cute dog, cute clothes, and a cute house. I’m killin’ it. So they wonder why I don’t want to show off and seem to assume there’s something wrong with me. And I guess there just MUST be, because if THEY were me their ego would apparently skyrocket out of their own heads and run a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all on its own. Sadly this cultural phenomenon is slowly shaping society, and I’m actually worried for us. So what if I’m cute and good at life, that does NOT mean I owe you pictures to ogle!! Ya bunch of creeps.

I had a Facebook 12 years ago and MySpace. I closed them over a decade ago and I have never signed up for any social media since. I feel free and I never have to worry about what others think or what I think about others. I remember the jealousy, envy, hate and love that came with social media and I hated it.

I cherish my privacy and i have a less than "zero" desire to ever put my life on display for the whole world to see. The whole idea of putting your picture and your positive ID on a public internet site seems like one huge security breach which opens yourself to id theft, cyberbullying and possible physical bullying and physical harm.

After Cambridge Analytica last year, I deleted all my social media accounts and haven't looked back. I was probably going to facebook and instagram several times a day and posting 2 to 3 times a week with a couple hundred "friends". I unfriended everyone from my accounts and then deleted them all. After about a month I felt less stressed about all the garbage I would see on social media that my "friends" were posting. There were posts of people bragging a lot. Also, posting a picture of the food people were about to eat, kinda creeped me out. It would be like if I took a photo of my sandwich and sent it through postal service to 200 of my not so closest friends with a caption that reads, "this was so yummy". Kinda strange. The whole social media thing is strange and it's weird that people actually just accept everything they see on social media as socially acceptable behavior. I tried to block people and unfriend some, but after Cambridge Analytica I decided to just delete it all.

To tawm: your post was so funny ". It would be like if I took a photo of my sandwich and sent it through postal service to 200 of my not so closest friends with a caption that reads, "this was so yummy". Kinda strange." I literally laughed out loud til I had tears rolling. I feel exactly as you do. I've never had any social media and was wondering what others really thought of that because I've gotten some strange (even hostile) looks when people find out. I do like to surf the net sometimes. Kinda like paging through magazine articles.

I used to be on, but I felt like I was selling myself short. I was on because everyone was on...then I realized how juvenile I was because if the whole world jumped in the fire, why should I?
I got tired of what I couldn’t say better myself, Karl Lagerfeld’s description of selfies - “electronic masturbation.” I cannot stomach people’s vanity and especially was disillusioned by close friends and family who became narcissists. What I see online infuriates me often because of all the hate and silliness. I wasted so much time following posts and neglecting my daughter, that one day I had to catch a wake up. Not to say that social media is all bad - but for me who is unbalanced - it was a problem. Other people can and do use it for good because they have self-control; I don’t. I don’t need to be a sheep and follow the crowd. Instead I choose to spend family time the old school way, not having fake conversations online with people who pass me in the street in real life like I am invisible and rather call on the phone and sometimes send letters via snail mail. What’s wrong with pretending I am back in 1989 when life was simple?

I am one of those people who went without a TV for a long time, and actually liked it. But then I found I needed one again and got one. Actually not watching it so much as I have found a lot to watch on youtube or putlocker. As for social media, I do tend to admire people who don't go on social media. I think there lives much be much less cluttered with nonsense. On the other hand, I do like being able to keep in touch with people who I used to know, just to see how they see the world. I find though most people just post cute or uplifting quotes from other people and don't post their own opinions or lives. One person I know has been posting about cancer treatment, which I find heroic. I would never be able to share that on social media.

I didn’t mind FB a few years ago when they had games like FarmVille but I am tired of seeing videos of sick children that their moms post. Somethings I think are private and I don’t always want to see it because most of the time people are looking for attention or money.
I’m even tired of Instagram.
I see the same thing over and over.
Besides who wants to know I’m eating dinner.
I’ve eaten dinner long before social media.
And I don’t want the world to know I’m having a bad day. Or that people often tell others they are going to end their life. Pick up the phone.
The verdict is out on YouTube though.

I think its weird if you do use social media. If you have internet chances are you have a phone too...So this excuse of needing to “stay in touch with people” is a ridiculous one to me. Social media is for narcissistic people and fame seekers. Eww..

Hello

Hmmmm. I know I'm about a year late.. this totally happens when you aren't on social media. Ha
Your thoughts are profound and provoking.
Why do you want us to share our thoughts?

I was homeschooled alot so I had no friends and therefore no purpose for social media. (Okay I had friends but I didn’t see them often). This lack of people to talk to also made me social akward and I probably still am. now I’m back in normal school and EVERYONE has some form of social media. Before I only had a gmail and phone number but now have tik tok YouTube and Xbox account. I never post anything bc all I don’t have anything to post exept for my life with five younger siblings in a three bedroom house. I mostly use my accounts to watch others videos (I sometimes play games with xbox account but the computer is super slow). I want to feel included with my friends but it would be so much work and time that I don’t have.

idk if deviantart counts, but that's it for me
i also have a flip phone
i didn't know this mattered?

Nuts - I wouldn't so dignify the product (so-called "Social Media"). There is zero legitimacy to its existence.

I think people undervalue their privacy...and then they cry when there's some kind of a breach. I don't even have a data plan on my phone. If you want to get hold of me, you can call or SMS. People literally freak out when they find out. "You don't have data? How can you not have data? You're a VP of IT! That doesn't make sense!"
After I explain why I don't want data, people change their tune because it's logical. It makes sense. And you know what? I'm not cut off from the world. There's wifi everywhere if I want it. When I travel, I get data for GPS or emergencies. That makes sense to me. Social skills are disappearing, and those who will succeed in the professional world will be the ones that HAVE social skills. It's no secret.

i dont feel the need to know everything about everybody i know. and, i dont desire anyone to know anything about me. i'm past the age when i thought life was a popularity contest. i dont require other's approval, or input in any decision i choose. i live my life according to "me", and only me. its quite liberating ... and powerful really.

The only social media I have is pinterest and honestly it's great. All I use it for is Marvel memes when I'm bored, so I don't have to deal with other peoples' preppy fake lives.
But to be honest it does get a little lonely. For example, I found out Stranger Things 3 came out a few days after it did and when I told my cousin she said "i thougt you knew. everyone knew."
but oh well to that, guess I just better stay up on release dates and such.

the only social media i have is pinterest, which i only use to look at marvel memes when im bored, and it is honestly great! but yeah, it's a little lonely sometimes; for example, i found out stranger things 3 had come out a few days after it did, and when i told my cousin she said "i thought you knew. everyone knew." but i guess that just means i gotta keep up on all the show release dates

I deleted ny FB, twitter, instagram, etc all about a year ago and have never been happier. I actually see friends and catch up on their real ideas in person. If I don’t hear from someone, then they were never my friend. Social media is a time drain when you could be out experiencing life. When I leave work on a vacation, no one knows what I did or what I saw. I don’t spend it taking selfies. I was walking into somewhere one evening and every person I passed was engrossed on their cell phone, usually social media. My plan at retirement is just to get a simple basic cell phone and even drop texting. I have worked much of my life in tech so I am not a technophobe. The best thing I ever did was leave social media behind in the dust and re-engage with the world.

I joined Instagram last year December because my friends said it was necessary in today's standards. I just deleted the account after I read some comments here, I realized I wasn't alone. I'll tell you from the few months I engaged in it, didn't see it's necessity (Although I enjoyed watching some videos there). I felt no real impact. I only joined because I didn't want people to perceive me as weird, which I'm not, if I do say so myself. Honestly, I prefer good old fashion convo's, we'd meet and I'd see you, face to face. I use WhatsApp tho, because it's sort of like the new sms app, it's sorta like required nowadays. I have a Facebook account but rarely use it, can't remember the last time I posted on it. Social media isn't a bad thing, it really has helped a number of people out in their careers, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

Nerds were conerd in any culture.
So they thought how to fit in??
Lets make everyone a bloody nerd. Suckerberg stupid idea.
Now young kids have eyesight problem like nerds have cos of this bullshit social thing.

I am with you, I use social media a lot but I have a lot of respect for friends and family who have never chosen to sign up for Facebook and the like. My husband is one who simply doesn’t care about it- he lives a very full life and has never felt the need to broadcast it to everyone. Nor does he want to waste time looking at other peoples’ lives. I know a few others who are the same, or simply just don’t want people up in their business. Those who abstain from social media seem to be way more “present” and actually living life than those who post about it.

I have no profile on a social media, and never had one. I might get one eventually, but for now I looking to see if it's going to be mainstream.
:-)

Based on these comments I'd have to say that those without social media are weird. They all have some sort of holier than thou reason for not participating and believe the intentions of those who use it are to show off or stalk others. I think it's totally fine if people choose not to use it, but to justify it as though there's something wrong or weird with those who do use it speaks to their own insecurities or egos. They can protect the image they have of themselves if they don't have it reflected back at them through social media. Privacy is overrated. The things people want to keep private they don't post on social media, simple.

I often notice that people think they know who you are from looking at your social media page but that's like thinking you know someone famous because you've read every article you can about them. We're giving you too much credence to it. I deliberately leave out a lot of events in my life so that the people I interact with in real life notice I'm not posting everything. They should because nothing about what we just did together and there's a lot more like that. Just because people use social media doesn't mean they don't have privacy. It's just another way to communicate, however you use it.

I stopped using social media after reading a few articles about what it does to the psyche.
Before letting go of Facebook, I added as many people as I possibly could. I then began to share ideas and controversial topics that I do not in fact agree with. The amount of attention I got was alarming. I would be out on the town and people who I don't even know personally, just fb friends, would ask me questions or talk to me about the posts and pictures and topics I shared. I then kept the lie up. For example, I stated in a post once that my husband has a girlfriend and I'm ok with that. That I prepare their lunches and give them spending money. When asked in person by associates, I kept the lie going. I would get phone calls and texts and screenshots from loads of people that I don't even spend time with wondering what is going on with me. I also started to see a pattern. Every comment or feedback always began with "i" "me" "personally" "I believe". I realized people really only want to compare themselves and talk about themselves. I eventually eliminated ALL social media from my life and now that I've done that, I see that in a social setting, no one is looking at me, no one makes eye contact. They are looking at their phones and talking about their phones and showing me their phones. Now I pretend like I don't know what fb is. I ask people to describe it to me. "What is that? What do you do with it? How does it make you feel?" And everyone find that to be offensive like they have to justify their reasons for using it. There is a major image distortion going on and I hope that asking questions like those makes others reevaluate why and how much they use social medias.

I stopped using social media, I'm a 30 yr old woman. Social media feels like a virus taking over the world. I’d rather live my life in the real world. Good to hear I’m not the only one.

Social media should be called "Superficial Socializing" bc that is exactly what the majority of it is. Its ruining society, creating narcissists and more selfishness that the world just doesn't need more of. America is the worst role model. The country is dumbed down and more judgemental since these social platforms have gained popularity. If you know someone NOT on social media, you want them as a REAL friend because these types of people are really living life and enjoying their adventures happily while gaining truth and knowledge.

I think the verdict is in: most people realize social media is weird and envy the ones who don't use it.

I use to have it, I would prob cut it frequently going back/out several times that I completely cut it. Is just very unhealthy comparing your life to other people, many might say its not about that, but really as much as you try not to, you really are. And I come to realize I don't need it at all!! Like i just love being an honest person to myself, living my life at my pace and not having to display something on platforms just to impress others..

I'm like the guy in the article - been on the web 25 yrs and online before that, and social media plain doesn't interest me. When Facebook appeared, all the posts, rants, trolls, cons and revelations were already soooo familiar from many years ago already. I had my "Wow this is AMAZING" phase in the 90's. Now it's more like "God this is tedious" and even "F*** that was stupid". So all these social media sites sound EXACTLY the same as usenet in the 90's or dial-up bulletin boards in the 80's. The tech changes but the garbage people post never does. Why the hell would I want more of that, all the time, sooner faster and louder? I've worked in truly "social" environments, public places, all my working life. Now they all come in, sit down with a drink, and stare at their phones! That looks utterly dippy to me. So, that's why. I don't see why this is "creepy" or "maverick", THOSE people are! I actually SPEAK to people, go out, read BOOKS, see LIVE music! And it's better, trust me. Social media is the corporate, mass-produced, cheap garbage version of "social" now. Seeing people for real... is better.

Back in 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica, I deleted my facebook account. An unexpected side effect was that I felt better mentally. At first I had some anxiety that I might be missing out on something. But then realized I have a couple of close friends who don't even have social media accounts. I am so glad I deleted facebook. It was so toxic. I also deleted all other social media accounts.

I just cannot get into social media, never have. I tried a couple times, and the accounts just sit untended. I cannot he bothered. So much other stuff going on in life, I don’t need another inbox to check. I tried MySpace, got as far as setting it up, that’s it. Never even attempted Facebook. Tried Instagram, posted for a few months and now it’s been a year and a half since I posted anything, and I cannot remember the last time I even checked it.

I cannot understand why people that are on social media have a go at people who are not on any social media including LinkedIn. Not everybody is the same and social media does not work for everyone. I'm not because I do not agree with the terms and conditions of LinkedIn. You can still be yourself in an interview without putting up a profile. Lets say I'm investing my time wisely doing a Certified course in Medical Terminology by the British Secretaries Medical Administrators. I love to exercise my intelligence by reading or learning which I find is more productive than curating, editing a digital version oneself.

The fact that articles like this exist in the first place highlight the insanity that society has become. In the early 2000s, people would get mad when parts of their life were shared online without their consent, now people get mad when the most private aspects of their lives aren't accepted socially.
All social media has done is ruin the interactions between people by making everything about looks and status.
All I see is people who hate themselves, who seek approval and validation for the false selves they portray. As long as people are validating who they pretend they are, they never have to take accountability for themselves. It promotes narcissism, solipsism, and hedonism.
I refuse to be a part of it.