01
Turn off the algorithms!
On Facebook, adjust your feed to Friends, On Instagram, select Following. Both settings default to the algorithm every time you close and reopen the app.
Pillar
Unfriend Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Meta profits from keeping you angry, scrolling, and profiled. Here's how to actually leave.
- Privacy and Data Concerns: Users are often alarmed by Meta’s practices of sharing private user data with third-party advertisers and partners without explicit consent, viewing the platform as a data-harvesting tool rather than a social network.
- Mental Health and Well-being: Studies and personal anecdotes highlight that Facebook can exacerbate anxiety, depression, and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), as users compare their lives to the curated, often unrealistic highlights of others.
- Algorithmic Manipulation: The platform’s algorithms are designed to keep users engaged for longer periods by promoting divisive content, misinformation, and sensationalist posts, which can warp one’s perception of social reality and political discourse.
- Decline in Authentic Connection: Many users report that interactions have become boring or superficial, with friends acting more like celebrities posting professional photos rather than sharing candid, genuine moments, leading to a sense of isolation rather than community.
- Political and Ethical Stances: Some individuals quit as a political statement against election interference, the spread of hate speech, and the platform’s role in enabling ethnic clashes or propaganda, feeling that their presence inadvertently supports these harmful outcomes.
Alternatives by Purpose
Here's How - Step By Step
02
Start Crossposting
Every time you post on Facebook or Instagram, start crossposting to a decentralized open-source platform like Bluesky or Mastodon as well.
03
Explore the Fediverse!
The Fediverse is a decentralized network of interconnected social media platforms. Watch this video and you will get the idea.
04
Create your own pod.
Are you on Facebook to find out what your friends are doing? Invite them to join a group chat on Signal or Bluesky. And ask them to post regularly for at least a month.
05
News and Updates
Following organizations directly through email newsletters or an RSS reader skips the feed entirely and shows you everything, in order.
06
Pixelfed instead of Instagram
Pixelfed is functionally similar to Instagram in its core photo-sharing features but with no ads, and no algorithms. Like Instagram before it got enshittified.
Getting Started
Four Steps to Actually Do This
1
Download your data
Facebook's own settings let you export photos and posts before you leave.
2
Tell people where you're going
One post with your new contact info covers most of your network at once.
3
Deactivate before you deactivate
Try deactivating (reversible) before deleting (permanent) to make sure you don't miss anything critical.
4
Actually delete it
Deactivation alone still lets Meta profile you in the background. Deletion is the real exit.
Ready to actually leave?
Pick one thing you use Facebook for, and find its replacement this week.