To say that I don’t like social networks is an understatement. I have used many social networks over the years and most have given me nothing but grief. In this post, I will lay down what exactly I hate about each social network.

WhatsApp

I will start with WhatsApp, because this is the one I hate the most. I used it because it was the most convenient way to keep in touch with people. However, I had to delete my WhatsApp account in 2019 because:

1. Any person who had my mobile number could contact me without my permission.
2. Everyone could see whether I was online at any point of time.
3. There was no way to turn off read-receipts in group chats.
4. Anyone could add me to group chats without my permission. This is something my work people exploited to the fullest. I woke up to be part of a new group every morning.
5. Images and Videos were shamelessly compressed/resized.
6. Archived Group chats were automatically un-archived when there were new messages in the group. There was no way to completely ignore some groups without leaving them.
7. There was no way to get rid of the “Status” notification dot at the bottom.
8. People sending useless & unsolicited “Good Morning” and “Good Night” forwards.
9. People begging for things because they are too cheap to spend money

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Facebook

This is my second most hated Social Network. I have used Facebook for many years but finally deleted my account in 2019. I tried again in 2021 but didn’t last more than a few weeks. The reason I cannot stand Facebook is because of the nature of posts from people, like:

1. Attention-seeking whores post irrelevant news that people already have from other news sources. Just for likes and comments.
2. Attention-seeking whores check-in to different airports to show-off to people that they are travelling by airplane.
3. Keyboard activism and “social justice”.
4. Attention-seeking whores posting photos of new things they have bought.
5. Parents making their kids perform tricks like circus monkeys for likes and comments.
6. Disgusting religious posts.
7. Posts insulting people belonging to other religions.
8. Posts cheering some sports team or sportspersons, as if they are reading these posts.
9. “Friends” wishing each other Happy Birthday with impersonal AI generated/templated birthday wishes.
10. People sucking up to the government/leaders.
11. People insulting the government/leaders.

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Every time I try to give Facebook a chance, I either get infuriated by any of the above posts or get drawn into arguments. Surprisingly, the only thing I liked about Facebook were the targeted ads. Normally, advertisements are irritating, but Facebook is so good at targeted ads that they are actually useful. Many times I have been looking for something specific to buy, just for Facebook to show a completely relevant ad in the app.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is supposed to be a “professional” social network, but in reality it is no different from Facebook. People post all the same bullshit things here, that they do on Facebook. And here you cannot even react negatively to posts lest some potential employers see it and get turned off.

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On a related note, I have never had a job lead from LinkedIn nor have I seen anyone else get a job lead there when they needed it.

Twitter

I can tolerate Twitter as a news feed as long as I am anonymous & don’t follow people I know in real life.

Telegram

I can tolerate Telegram to chat with friends because unlike WhatsApp, I can have people not find me using my phone number. I have to give someone my User ID explicitly for them to be able to chat with me.

Keeping away from social networks as much as possible is one of the keys for me to maintain my mental peace and sanity.