I got tiktok in 2020, when I was 11. For the first few months that I had it, I spent up to 8 hours a day on it. Obviously when I got back to school it reduced, but maybe to about 5 hours.

Up until lockdown I was an avid reader, constantly drawing and writing stories. My biggest crime was maybe daydreaming a bit too much. Since 2020 I have lost all of my passions apart from video games. Somehow I only came to a realisation of how bad it was 6 years deep.

About 2 years ago I noticed a problem with my screentime, so I set a timer. 5 hours for tiktok, which is still far too much but I thought it was reasonable. I exceeded it everyday. I genuinely thought I was doing well at the time and I'm so embarrassed in retrospect. At new years this year I realised this issue again. This year I've tried to repair myself slowly. I got back into art (got an A* at gcse, and I'm very proud of myself), and I'm on my 6th novel this year (my previous post-covid record was 2).

5 days ago I deleted the app, completely spontaneously.

But even at that I feel like a husk of what I could be. Without tiktok screaming a personality at me everyday, I dont know who I am outside of the content I consume. I have no particular skills, I haven't made anything of myself outside of grades, etcetera. I dont know if im being too hard on myself. But I have no idea what I'm doing and where to go from here.

Hello fellow Digmins.

Do you know of places to discover/follow comedians, artists, performers without losing your soul?

Long ago Blogger/RSS feeds were great to easily follow people you liked without all the garbage.

- Patreon is the closest I've seen, but it's a bit too siloed to be discoverable
- Substack has gone to 💩
- YouTube follows the same model of propping up artists who pay* to play. (*with constant posting, and click bait)
- Obviously all Meta products, Twitter, TikTok etc. are right out.
- Discord feels overwhelming, like a slack channel designed by gamers
- Vimeo feels deserted and very 2009
- Reddit (I find the interface and operation less intuitive and confusing)

Thanks!

.
.
.
.
***Backstory***

I'm a stand up comedian. I feel gross about using Instagram to grow my audience.

I know this hurts my career. I see my friends post attention-harvesting reels and rack up the followers and opportunities, but I know what it's doing to them (because there was a time I actively committed to gaining followers/reactions).

Like many of you, I don't have addictive apps on my phone (I even have IG blocked on my desktop, I can only access the Meta Business Suite to check messages)

Every show and festival I do, the producers want me to promote it on socials. I need to sell tickets but don't want to put another dollar in Zuckerberg's pocket or encourage any more people to be on these awful apps.

People don't want to sign up for email newsletters or text alerts.
I'm looking for something easier than getting email addresses, but less passive than an IG "follow" (since they won't see my content anyway because I don't post thirst traps or rage bait).

I can post some of the things I've been doing in the comments. I don't want to make this initial post too long :)

Thanks! xx

*Image credit: Ramin Nazer, fellow comedian and genuinely kind thoughtful person.

Hey Friends!

I harnessed the collective spirit from r/digitalminimalism for my first ever marathon!

• 26.2 miles ✅
• No phone use 📵
• No music 📴
• No problem! 🎉

If you haven't tried a screen-free run or walk, I highly recommend. Even a 10 minute break can do wonders.. doesn't need to be a marathon! Thanks to all for the inspiration!

I've been finding myself scrolling too much on Reddit. I used to use my web browser for Reddit when I wanted an answer to a particular question. That would prevent scrolling. But then Reddit started blocking that to say I needed to download the app. I eventually caved and now I'm scrolling again. Ugh.

This is really all you need.

The phone is setup to receive calls from my personal smartphone and work phone via call forwarding.

I only have my mums number saved in it.
I’ve found using a AI phone service useful ( I use Nannacall)

Why isn’t there anything to remove shorts off the YouTube app?

I know I can achieve this by using the extension on my web browser on my phone but the app is so much more convenient and you can’t then save videos and it’s clunky on safari.

And then when I search it goes “just set your timer for 0 mins” but then look at this page - the go home button and ignore limit for today button are the same size- is that any kind of deterrent???

Short form media is ruining my life.

Someone please, help me, or invent something that takes it away.

Seems the premise of this sub is that online people are shallow and fake but in real world people are sincere and genuinely interested in you. My experience is that it's the same fakeness everywhere.

People are just a tad more polite in person giving the illusion they care about you more. But nobody does. And why should they? All friendships are tit for tat. To expect people to show interest in your hobbies, political views, kids etc is plain delusional and selfish. Everybody wants fans, not friends.

I am nearly 50 and I only have three close friends from long ago. But sadly all have disappointed me. One keeps borrowing money . He pays it back but last loan he seems to have "forgotten" about for over a year. Another friend just posts conspiracy theory political stuff on facebook/instagram. Then he forwards me daily dumb memes I've seen recycled before. Last friend was always "weird". But after not talking to me for 20 years he reaches out. But he comes in "hot" and agressive wanting to chat on the phone out of nowhere. Nope. Learn to respect people than maybe I will talk to you ( that was my main complaint with him when we "broke up" 20+ years ago)..

Hi everyone, the title is a bit of a clickbait one I know.

So I quit Social media about 4 months ago (IG, X) and from the beginning I felt good and had much more free time.
I had all the benefit from my decision, I started reading again, watching stuff without getting bored after 5 minutes, I enjoyed everything slowly.

Now I also found a little downside that sometimes is tricky to experience. I almost have too much time.
I used to scroll my phone for around 6 hours a day and suddenly I had that time back but didn't know how to use it.
I "modeled" my life around a specific number of hours and when I had more hours I didn't know what to do with it.

I think It's because we are too used to never get bored that being bored is unbearable for us.

Did it happen to anyone? What did you do to get along with being bored?

I remember using facebook as a teen when it genuinely used to be a place with people and not content. We used to have pages of all kinds (meme, politics, etc) operated by real people. The "feed" used to be just pages, you had to click buttons to go to the next page and load posts. Everything was designed for a computer not a smartphone.

Even reddit used to be different. Youtube used to actually have personas, people who just made whatever videos just because (nigahiga, vsauce). There was no incentive to larp as a "content creator" to make money. I remember feeling genuine connection with friends over those videos because they felt more real and less polished.

All this made me think of a hypothetical experiment: would it still feel the same if we just removed infinite scrolling from all platforms? Or have the algorithms now completely destroyed any positive that could result from these platforms?

I spent a weekend at a festival with no signal. When watching an act I wouldn't be on my phone, but suddenly every other spare second wasn't filled with a distraction. It was really eye-opening as to how my phone affects me. I don't have a ridiculously high screen time, but I'm finding even short periods on social media are affecting my wellbeing without me realising. For example, I didn't think negatively about my body this weekend, because instead of filtered content, I was simply around other normal looking humans. Conversations were more meaningful. It was great.

I really want to get away from social media, but how do I do that without making contact with certain people difficult?

I only use instagram. I only follow people I actually know, and I find it a great way to see what my family and friends are up to, and vice versa if I post. I message a few people exclusively through instagram. These things are all fine, but I can't seem to stop myself from scrolling on the explore page. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this? Do I need to just take the plunge and delete it all together? Or is there a way to stop scrolling without reducing contact with friends?

Thanks in advance. I think this is a really great subreddit, you guys are cool :)

It's a good idea, isn't it?

I’m currently in a clashing situation where I want a digital minimal lifestyle but I have a deep passion for music production.
I know I can’t become great or show my music to others unless I’m networking, both in person and online.

It’s a constant contingency where I want to delete social media, and throw away my phone but suffering from FOMO of my art not being heard and seen.
I greatly have a decent amount of beats that I want others to hear, I posted today on TikTok with surprisingly good results.
all my friends and family hear my talent, I don’t really network, as much as I need. I want to minimize being on the internet but I get such a relief not being on my phone 24/7 but I need to for my music career to move places.

It’s keeping me between the lines for the last 4+ months, I can’t think of anything. the impulse control difficult, sometimes I get brain fog being on my phone so it’s putting me in a position where I abuse my phone or neglect my music career.

Makes me feel stuck.

i quit social media (almost) completely because it was draining me and i've observed that it's taking so much of my life. additionally, i was recovering from a heartbreak.

i was panicking at the first few days that i didn't have social media. that feeling made me realize how much i've become dependent on social media because of how much space it took up and how that space felt ridiculously hollow.

during the second week, i already felt so good that i didn't have anything to check, that there was nothing frying my brain at 8 am, that i didn't know anything about anyone's lives, they didn't know anything about me.

i realized i DO have time. for my hobbies, for my family, for my nephew, for myself, for nature. my phone took that away from me. my favorite part was there was an actual CATCH UP with my friends. because i didn't know anything that they were posting, i didn't know what was happening in their lives. so when we finally meet in person, i feel genuine shock, excitement, and interest about what's been happening to them. it was so nice to actually have a nice conversation about each other's lives without knowing details about it online.

why i came back. to tell the truth, i really don't know. maybe my head was programmed that it was only going to be temporary and that two months was already enough time for me to get back again. but there was no good reason for me to come back. i didn't miss out on anything. my life went on even when i didn't understand a trend or a phrase that circulated online.

now, i'm dating someone again and he's pretty much offline. when he's done with work, he listens to music, cleans his place, goes out with friends. he's living life. i am inspired by how calm, unbothered, and generally well he is because he spends time outside of a screen.

now i want to do it again. i'd like to know your journey. how do you go about your day without social media? any advice would be appreciated. i just really would like to do this for long term.

thank you!

Sometimes it’s only 2pm and you have exhausted all your hobbies, cleaned ur house, walked 6 miles already and all there is to do is watch tv or scroll.

How do I sit w the boredom instead of giving in? I get rlly irritable when bored and tend to get suicidal thoughts (yes I’m in therapy and on meds)

Wendell Berry died today: https://www.npr.org/2026/09/01/1139228585/wendell-berry-obituary

If you've never ready any of his books, I would encourage you to do so. They're mostly long and the storylines meander all over the landscape, but if you can patiently stick with it, you will come away with many deep thoughts. I read "Hannah Coulter" several years ago and I still think about what I read in there today.

Like somehow just existing, causally browsing the web, and not getting involved or even knowing about internet drama makes some people very upset.

"The world is ending and so and so just dunked and so and so and you're just listening to music? What is wrong with you???"

Are people really that into the internet that they let it consume them?

I've recently deleted both Instagram and TikTok. I've already deleted my Facebook years ago, and I also have suggestions on YouTube disabled and shorts hidden. Screw doom scrolling, I'm surfing the web like it's 2006.

For other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and to an extent TikTok. But why Snapchat? Streaks are completely useless and messages get auto-deleted after 24 hours. It's questionable to use as well since the userbase mainly consists of people 13 and below. Why still use it?

I find short videos on various platforms very addictive. They're everywhere now on youtube, instagram, X... I have installed extensions on desktop to block them. Is there any app on ios that can block social media apps partially?

So I’m gonna make this short. I am really good at not using my phone and my screentime is really low (sometimes even 1 hour a week messages, phone and Spotify only), but I noticed that I pick up my phone quite a lot, 60 times a day on average to be exact. I want to reduce this number but I really don’t know how since I use my phone to play music and start a hotspot since I don’t have WiFi in my apartment and I often pick it up to check if there is some new notification. I am avid Forest app user and most of the times I grow digital plants but the habit of activating my phone is still there. I’d be really grateful if somebody could help me with that issue!

it’s like smoking organic cigarettes.

AGREE?

This morning, I realized that I had fallen off the horse. During the last 2 days, I ended up using my phone even after making the screen time post here. And this morning, I ended up using my phone unconsciously for over 50 mins (not at a stretch). Knew that it would only get worse if I didn’t do anything about it.

So I took some time today to get back on the horse. Sat with myself and wrote down all the things that I wanted to achieve from this challenge.

And I also made all the unwritten rules that I set for this challenge written. That way I won’t break them anymore (at least that’s what I believe. We’ll have to wait and see what actually happens).

Spent some time journaling about what made me use my phone unconsciously. Found out that I didn’t prioritize rest. Had some unexpected tasks during the last 2 days… I should have realized that I couldn’t do everything that I wanted to do. But I still tried to do everything and fell off the horse.

Another thing that I’m becoming aware about is that every time I do something like this that increases my capacity, I tend to fill all my free time up with some task. Everything feels important and that makes me lose my balance. This is something that I get to work on too.

Day 8 - Total screen time: 2h 6m

P.S. I also use my laptop for my part time job and some other tasks but I’m conscious with my laptop screen time. I started this challenge to become more conscious about my phone screen time. So this challenge only includes my phone screen time.

My part time job happens between 2.30 am - 7.15 am my time. So I use my phone during that time for small tasks like turning off my alarm, sending urgent slack messages, etc.