I don't think deleting social media accounts is a good idea. Used appropriately, social media can be very useful and open doors that would otherwise not be available.
The problem is when you are just looping[1], absentmindedly opening and closing news and social media sites for hours. This can eat a lot of time, and is generally pretty draining.
I've been adding separate user accounts based on what tasks I'm doing, and locking them down so they can only perform those tasks.
I have a social media account (which I'm on right now), I have a coding account which I can not access news or social media from, and I have a few other accounts. This creates friction when task switching, and makes it so I have to be a bit more deliberate with how I use the computer. (I have social media blocked on my phone, as I find that's just not compatible with a happy life)
I've also recently been setting up Site Specific Browsers[2], basically custom PWAs, a web browser with no URL bar and no tabs, to further add barriers between tasks (like checking CI) and just noodling on the web. (I use electron to do this, but you can also use chrome by starting it with --app=https://www.example.com/ . Sadly Firefox has removed the ability to do this. )
(Corporate) social media is a casino or shopping mall. There are fun things to do there but it's not a place for serious things. It's designed by intelligent people to be addictive like a drug. They hide the clocks and outside world, comp you food and drinks, and dazzle you with lights and sounds to keep you there as long as possible. Every moment you spend there is profit for them and a loss for you. The only thing you gain is the rush of being there.
My social media presence directly affects my income, as the more I talk about the stuff I'm doing, the more visibility it gets, and the more money I make. Social media visibility (while doing something interesting) is also a good way of getting podcast invites and similar opportunities for even more visibility.
Social media isn't the only means of getting visibility, but it's a very important one.
I get it. You go where the people are. That doesn't really negate anything I said except the rush part. Although being able to afford food is certainly a rush.
The part I'm raising an objection about is "[that it's] not a place for serious things". It's in many ways key to being able to do serious things, if used deliberately. It's the mindless consumption part that is bad, and the point of my original post is that you can largely engineer that away.
Let me clarify. I'm not saying serious things aren't happening there. I'm saying serious things don't belong there. You're doing serious things there despite the fact that it's an addiction machine engineered for mindless consumption. You're at the casino selling to the gamblers while they're gambling because it's the only place in a 50 mile radius where people can hang out.
I'm not talking about lowercase social media which is generally socializing online. I'm talking about the massive survelliance and engagement bait economy that props up these horrifying data behemoths that cynically run these networks for giant profits.
You're there because you have no choice. You have no choice because that's where everyone is. That's where everyone is because of inertia, addiction, and novelty.
Like everything else, community is key. I simply deleted some of my social media because I realized I'd come out more angry than social connected. Deletion is simply a nice hard cold turkey approach if you find yourself commenting for hours on end everyday. I'd prefer a hard freeze for X amount of time, but IIRC no one does it in a meaningful way. FB can freeze your account, but it's not hard to unfreeze.
But it's not like all my social media is gone. I'm still obviously here on HN. I have a tildes account for more general news. I have two discord for personal and semi-anonymous servers. And for future connections I semi-regret missing in the Twitter age, I have a Bluesky ready.
I'm simply being more mindful of what sites I use and and what communities I join to prevent the issues that arose with Reddit, Facebook, and Tumblr.
The problem is when you are just looping[1], absentmindedly opening and closing news and social media sites for hours. This can eat a lot of time, and is generally pretty draining.
I've been adding separate user accounts based on what tasks I'm doing, and locking them down so they can only perform those tasks.
I have a social media account (which I'm on right now), I have a coding account which I can not access news or social media from, and I have a few other accounts. This creates friction when task switching, and makes it so I have to be a bit more deliberate with how I use the computer. (I have social media blocked on my phone, as I find that's just not compatible with a happy life)
I've also recently been setting up Site Specific Browsers[2], basically custom PWAs, a web browser with no URL bar and no tabs, to further add barriers between tasks (like checking CI) and just noodling on the web. (I use electron to do this, but you can also use chrome by starting it with --app=https://www.example.com/ . Sadly Firefox has removed the ability to do this. )
[1] https://xkcd.com/1411/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site-specific_browser