Deactivating Facebook for just a few weeks reduces belief in fake news

I deleted FB 15 years ago and haven't missed it once.
- I only miss it because Facebook Marketplace has killed Craigslist and I have some crap I need to sell
  
  I gave up selling on marketplace, and donate everything. People messaging you for months asking questions or wanting a refund after they broke it. I'm not your tech support, and no warranty claims. Have heard this is a regional issue and also depends on the category. I will never sell another car on marketplace. Craigslist is great for the anonymity.
  
  Marketplace is much worse than Craigslist, I don’t get it.
  
  It's also real annoying when trying to look up business hours or a restaurant menu only to find all their links are to Facebook.
  
  Fortunately, my area has a popular classifieds at a local newspaper website, so I've never even looked at Facebook marketplace.
- I (maybe, kinda) miss what Facebook was like in, er, 2008-ish. But then again I was also 25 so maybe I just miss what life was like back then.
  
  Same. I got on it in 2006 and it was great up until about 2010, 2013-2014 was when the shit started to hit the fan.
- Me too and me either.
- I stopped actively using it in about 2015 and every time I happen to go on it (like once every 3 years because, like a lot of people, it's how I communicate with family members I don't see often) it's like uncovering and diving into a cesspool.
- No, you didn't, it is still there! Facebook.com

Not being stuck inside of an echo chamber really does wonders for the brain. And yes, I know the irony of saying this on Lemmy, but it's true.
- Echo chambers are a lot easier to recognize and ignore when they aren't filled with your friends and family.
- Lemmy isn't really an echo chamber. It's like saying going over to a friends place is an echo chamber because you and your friend get along. There's nothing wrong with hanging out with people who share your values and beliefs.
  The problem with social media are their algorithms. They aren't designed to connect you with like-minded people, but to keep you engaged. The content that keeps people engaged tends to be terrible content.
  The recent "a man or a bear" trend is a perfect example. Algorithms love divisive content like that because it drives engagement, but it also leads to people getting really upset over nothing. Lemmy doesn't have any algorithms driving engagement so it doesn't have that problem.
  
  Lemmy’s a lot better than Reddit for not being an echo chamber because the communities are less interest specific, and most of us are here because we’re the type to seek out a better discussion rather than stick with status quo.
  But as it gets bigger and the communities become more niché it will become a bigger issue.
  
  I strongly disagree.
  I don't think lemmy is necessarily an echochamber per se, rather its just a place where misinformation exists and opinions are manipulated.
  Lemmy does use algorithms to show you the most engaging content, and there are absolutely bots and bad actors manipulating which content is prioritised.
  The genocide Joe / vote abstinence thing was a very clear example.
  
  No, this isn't like that at all. Mods here are actively pwning anyone who slightly disagrees with them. This is very definitely an echo chamber.
  
  Lemmy is definitely an echo chamber, but I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing as long as we recognize it for what it is. There are a large number of people out there that have very different opinions than the majority of users on this platform, we need to keep things respectful even in our disagreements with them instead of tearing them down for their opinions.
- Have you tried Linux, communism, and being gay?
  
  yes, yes, and yes.
  and i no longer like any of those things.

I wish I could get my parents to unplug from Fox for a while
- Parental controls on the cable/satellite box are a two-way street, IMO. 🤷🏻‍♂️
  
  Parent control
- Block Fox and the other right wing news stations, but also a couple liberal news stations like NBC. When they call you for tech support, tell them it's a weird issue happening with cable lately
  
  My dad would figure it out pretty quick, he's no ludite

Platforms like Facebook have an incredible hold on some people. I remember a few years ago when the "Momo" hoax happened, an older coworker arrived at the office and started warning us about the danger of "Momo" they'd seen on Facebook. I'd already heard about the hoax (and was aware of the original creepyasta origins), and brought up a few news articles explaining it, including an official statement from the police. Everyone seemed satisfied by the truth, except for the Facebook addict. They just gave me a blank stare, and a few hours later I heard them telling another group of colleagues to beware of "Momo" getting to their children.
I have family members and longstanding family friends who have succumbed to this. Interestingly almost all of them were decrying the internet as something that couldn't be trusted before the age of social media.
- Damn Momo is like 3 years old now? Lol. My kids were coming home with that shit they knew it was bullshit before my ex lol.
  I miss Oprah and her rainbow parties like sheeit I want me some blowjob parties!
  
  2018 according to Wikipedia, so 6 years ago!
  
  You get a BJ! You get a BJ! EVERYONE GETS A BJ!
  
  3 years? It feels like 6-7 years. Momo was in 2021?

Deleting it for 3 years also improves mental health and keeps toxic family members out of your business. I wish I’d learned that sooner.
- Just never accept the friend requests by family members, it isn't worth it.
  Even aside from politics, the only thing they do is comment dumb annoying gifs on your posts.
- I think I'm closer to 10 years, but I do remember needing to recreate one for a few weeks while I worked with a few Facebook employees on a project.
  Anyway, I don't even know what Facebook looks like these days. My contacts occasionally mention it, but nothing important seems to happen there.
  Just delete your account. It's not a big deal, it's just toxic people showing off for other toxic people.

My mom was permabanned from Facebook in 2020 for constantly posting anti-vax nonsense so she just went to places like Gab and Parlor. 😑
- Yowza. My dad did the same until he died (shockingly, of COVID), so I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know what it's like having a crazy parent and it sucks.
- Truth depends on whoever you're buying it from.
  
  Damn, you're so enlightened.
  
  Truth is truth, how it is described may be subjective. But there is still only one truth.

One of the best decisions I made was deleting my Facebook. I really mean that, one of the best decisions in my entire life. Not getting sucked into the absolute bullshit fest that greedy shit fuckers like Mark Zuckerberg set up for humanity is extremely relieving. Don't compare yourself to other people, you be you, just try to be your best self, it's worth it. Don't let the billionaire leeches of society take everything from you, fuck Facebook.
- The downside is that everyone around you in real life is stuck in that loop, so you can't really escape it anymore.
  
  Eh, someone needs to be the first to exit the matrix.

Can we start some viral alliteration to get people off Facebook for a few weeks? Or maybe get them more mindful of their social media consumption?
Make Memories Matter May?
Just Journal June?
Just Jibe July?
Authentic August?
Send Stamps September?
Offline October?
No Negativity November?
- How about Analogue August or Stop Scrolling September?
  I'll also say, Offline October is pretty dang good.
  
  I'd vote for Anal August for sure!
- legit offline October is great, and works as a grassroots movement. I’m having an “offline October” is akin to when my friends and I do Dry July. I’m going to start doing this (despite the fact that I haven’t used social media in 2 years)
  
  Gotta spin the news so it makes it more appealing. Good way to spin the headline is it "reboots your bullshit detector".
  Has to be fully grassroots though. I don't think many influencers will promote it, they're the most addicted and it's literally their livelihood.
- There's something on the tip of my tongue. Something like ____ Zuck. Something that rhymes, and expresses how I feel about him and his platform. I just can't quite put my finger on it...
  😉

Haven't used facebook in any meaningful way since 2012. Much less anxiety ever since.
- Same sentence but replace it with Instagram for me. I can't help but peek into comments for some funny ones but they are all filled with vile stuff. Tiktok is no better but it's definitely better than Instagram. Even worse half of those comments come from my country :(
- the vast majority of nutbags with low key mental issues i meet are social media addicts who furiously want to bring their 'curated' image into the real world and force others to worship them.
  the others nutbags are homeless folks.

PROPAGANDA. Please use the actual word. Why use two words when one do trick?
- From Wikipedia:
  Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented.
  Propaganda isn’t always fake news, it can also be true stuff presented in a biased way.
  Similarly, fake news isn’t always propaganda. Some is just stuff spread by trolls to make fun of people.
  
  Propaganda isn’t always fake news, it can also be true stuff presented in a biased way.
  It can also be true stuff presented in an unbiased way. There's a disconnect here between the proper definition of the word, which is perfectly neutral, and its connotations because the what secretary for tsunami safety doesn't call their stuff "propaganda" but "public service announcement". Still the same thing, though, the tsunami safety secretary is trying to persuade the audience to not be stupid and get to high ground as soon as the sea recedes. Very much pushing an agenda, they gasp want people to survive and gasp use communication to achieve it.

YouTube is getting particularly bad about this to, unfortunately. They need to do more to remove harmful misinformation, but they don't care because it won't make them money.
- I've had to remove a lot of recommendations. Man, PragerU, Crowder, Shapiro and Joe Rogan were in my feeds. Jeez.
  
  The unfortunate thing is a lot of people won't remove it from their recommendations and will watch it, and the worse thing is there's actually even worse content than those you listed, it's awful.
- For real. Not logged in, on a new PC, just having watched a few gaming videos and got recommended US right wing nonsense. I am not in the US, no VPN, nothing. No ability to tell them to stop showing me that garbage. Hell, just let me disable shorts in general.
  
  It really sucks that YT has such shit "don't show me stuff" controls. Sometimes it feels like asking to not get recommended a certain channel will instead show all the alternatives that feel and look just like it
- Youtube is good as a video hosting website, but bad as anything social-related. I just treat it like a video website and ignore the rest. Private browsing mode, no login used is my preferred way to access youtube videos
  
  Honestly I prefer having an account specifically so I can filter out the garbage fake harmful dangerous content so I don't have to see it.

I got banned for calling someone a pigeon, I left and didn't look back.
- The person reacting to your comment calling them a pigeon:
- You must have really ruffled some feathers!
- Calling people pigeons isn't coo, man.
  
  not coup at all.
- Social media in general is full of people that want to rage or exert control over someone else. I had two of my comments here on Lemmy (not sure what server) under the News community for "Victim Blaming" and "Victim Shaming" for saying that people need to take responsibility for their actions occasionally instead of constantly blaming it on the other party.
  
  Clearly it was your fault, you should be ashamed...
  /S
  The saving grace is Lemmy isn't just algorithms doing the banning.

It’s been since 2020 that I stopped browsing Facebook
- What took you so long? 😉

Replace "for just a few weeks" with "forever", and "reduces" with "gets rid of", and now you have an even better statement.
- Permanently deleting all Facebook accounts and pages could save you even better.
  
  Or even more better: just get rid or all social media that is associated with massive corporate giants (YouTube is still too useful to get rid of, but it dors still have lots of problems)

I'm convinced those who want to be fearful of things will immediately latch onto a new source of misinformation.
This isn't to say Facebook is good, or that we shouldn't try to have stronger punishment for misinformation that leads to public harm, just that "people are dumb, panicky dangerous animals"

The last time I logged on to Facebook was this past fall because there was a death in our fairly tight knit group of high school classmates. It had been three or four years since I'd been in there.
So I went on and said my words.
While I was there, I didn't really notice what was in my feed.
What I noticed was suddenly I was getting notification after notification that my posts from years and years ago were getting deleted because they didn't fit whatever the current terms and conditions of use were.
This amused me.
So I left my words of dead classmate up for a week then sent my account silent again.
I can't see Facebook or any social media being a place I ever hang out again, which is a little bit of a bummer because without any social media, IRL social activities all but come to an immediate and total halt.
Oh well. I'll live.

Don't turn off Facebook! Mark has a Yacht to feed!

I deleted my account back in November when they enforced the 'pay or ok' option. I was not ok with that
Have read a lot of books since !
- What's "pay or ok"?
  
  In EU you were given an option by META to pay for adfree experience or accept targeted ads
  Problem 1: if you paid, they would not stop tracking you. They would just stop showing ads. They would still be able to suggest content from commercial accounts.
  Problem 2: the price was unreasonable. It depended on how many accounts you have across the platforms but i believe that the price for my profile and a couple of pages was €32 every month
  Problem 3: these two options replaced the option to accept untargeted ads. I was ok with untargeted but they removed the option
  Their solution has since been deemed as 'not ok' by the EU data protection board
  https://www.euractiv.com/section/platforms/news/eu-data-protection-body-says-metas-pay-or-ok-model-is-not-ok/

- I envy you. In my country (Hungary), I just cannot really live without it.
- I just created an account a couple of months ago after never using it. It's easy to filter out the dummies.

No shit? Why didn’t anybody tell us?

I want to quit Facebook so badly, but I NEED to use WhatsApp. Family, friends, work even. All informal and semi-formal chats go through WhatsApp where I live.
- You can quit Facebook, just not Meta as an entity.
  
  Right. I’m still used to the parent company being named Facebook.
  
  I have no Facebook, I want no Facebook. When I got my now job a few years back they said "we couldn't find you on Facebook." That's right, you can't.
  And yes I get left out of that communication stream, but absolutely don't care. Like, not even a little bit.
  I'm waiting it out. Already my kids see it as "boomer shit".
- I hate Facebook. Marketplace is unfortunately the only place a lot of stuff is listed, even though it also sucks. I said I wanted stuff within 85 miles, why are you showing me stuff that's 400 miles away??? Craigslist is genuinely a better experience (via the mobile app) these days, but no one uses it.
  
  I guess I’m at least lucky that marketplace isn’t used here primarily.
  
  I just use Craigslist anyway and accept that I'm missing out on selection.
  
  This.
  I buy and sell heaps of stuff on Facebook.
  We have young kids. It must have saved us thousands buying everything second hand and flipping it later.
- You don't need Facebook to use WhatsApp.
  
  Meta
- I haven't viewed the actual Facebook app/feed in probably 7 or 8 years, but I have a Facebook for messenger. There are just too many people that rely on it as a sole form of communication, I was just getting left out of shit.
  I don't really see the problem though, do you not have the self control not to browse?
  
  I do, luckily. But I’d rather not use any Meta apps.
- You're not required to go on Facebook just to use WhatsApp 😉

I still don't think this would save my mom from whichever TV source she watches, Fox News, News Max, or OAN.
- Can you get into her parental controls? Someone on Reddit did that with their parents and it actually got them somewhere.
  
  I blocked fox news at my parents house for years until my dad died. probably saved the remaining years we had together.

Shut it down like Tiktok. Those platforms are brainwashing people into believing far right and far left ideas.
- Damn those far left ideals like liveable wages!
- But, but I like far left ideas. The pictures about people dancing in circles, living in communities without the need of money, make me giggle.
  Time to start a Facebook account. /s
  
  That isn't far left though.
  More like overthrowing governments, disbanding corporations, abolishing personal properties, completely removing currency, controlling speech, ...
  I myself am a socialist, but what you describe is closer to centre left than far left.
- I think Tiktok can often be creative and informative, which Facebook is definitely not though. I don't use Tiktok but what people have sent me have usually been funny.
- I've seen quite a few commies on Lemmy. Just saying.

Given how FB's algorithm stacks their feed and hides real information, that's not surprising.

Facebook is 100% shitposts. Most of my friends on it have aged out of posting every little thing and so it’s mostly shitposts and soft core porn disguised as short form videos on the Facebook feed and not any of my friends that I actually wanted to follow when I made my account in the 00s.
I really want to delete my account but I still have to use it to organize class reunions and alumni events for my old high school. I’m going to try to float the idea that we move to a mailing list instead. I’d rather buy a domain and maintain a website for that than continue using Facebook for free
- My mother in law entered some contest where the votes had to be verified through Facebook. It was the first time I logged in since 2016 or so. The majority of my feed was AI pics of kids missing limbs, or chicks with impossibly large tits/body proportions with the description "Please wish me a happy birthday no one else did" with 40 hashtags of celeb names or movies/shows that came out around then. Mixed in was fake news bullshit or videos that had 4 different watermarks on it. Maybe if I used it more I would see somewhat relevant things, but its worse than I thought if that's a normal feed.
- Start a signal group and people may start switching their messenger altogether.

I disabled my account four years ago when I realized how much plague stupidity and election stupidity on there was harming my mental health.
I doubt I will ever formally delete my account, as it’s the only source for pictures of some now-deceased family members. If hell freezes over and there’s a legit unavoidable need for me to be on there, I’m using desktop+web browser only, and probably in a browser that only gets used for the monthly visit to FB.
- it’s the only source for pictures of some now-deceased family members
  Download them ASAP. You can never trust an external service like that to keep them available in perpetuity.
- Can't you download those pictures locally? It would be good practice anyway to not rely on Facebook of all places to host your beloved photos indefinitely
- Be careful, I logged out for too long and forgot my password and they wanted a copy of my driver's license before letting me have access to my account.

Deactivated my Facebook for 2 years now. Zero regrets.

Deleting Facebook forever reduces stress and desinformation long-term.

That is not surprising at all. That’s like saying laying off the conspiracy theory conventions for a while reduces your belief in conspiracy theories.

I just 'deactivate' people that share news on facebook. I use FB to give my family (who don't live near me) and friends a small slice of what's going on in my world. I don't post daily/weekly but I only post stuff I create. I also use it for groups/market place since most forums went to FB groups.
I expect the same from my connections, and unfollow anyone that just forwards things (news, memes, other posts). This little bit of management has made my FB feed 'ok'

I still have Facebook but pretty much just for messaging.. and honestly I don't even check it.
I had 6 unread messages and 30 plus notifications when I checked a moment ago.
Pretty happy with the results.

Can confirm giving up popular social media has made my life a lot better. You don't need to know half the shit your friends are up to. It's just going to hurt you. Go outside. Take part in trivia night. Make new friends. Feel the grass beneath your feet.

See, I'm not real big on facebook, but I have an account because I live a considerable distance from when I am from. (Also because marketplace is nice.)
Lately those cockballs have been refollowing people I have unfollowed and it is a clusterfuck on there now. I just have to ignore the feed because it's full of trump shit and religious shit yet again.

Meh. I have facebook but don't really use it much. my condo has a page so its like a semi public chat and sometimes have communication with folks. Certainly never use the feed though and I hate checking it every few weeks. I certainly don't want anyone im connected to to think they will get a faster response if they hit me up there. I bet other things besides facebook spreads bs though. I see it with youtube users. I use youtube but I don't really chase my feed.

For me social media in general is best at a minimum.

So I was right when I thought social media is propelling us to collapse and that it is analogous to cigarettes on a collective scale.
Small solace though, it already permeated every corner of civilization changing us in mostly bad ways.
I think we really need to choose our social media carefully knowing that every type has their own mental illness flavour risks from body dysmorphia to groupthink. We need to be self aware of our shortcomings and tricks employed by corps for harvesting engagement.
Nowadays you turn off your brain and browse social media to relax but you should rather do the opposite. Focus the brain knowing the site was purposefully made to trick you to spend as much time on it as possible and invest as much emotions as possible. This isn’t some harmless casual leisure activity, you become a cog in a corporation war for information when you open the site. On unfriendly territory, a battlefield of digital war, you ought to wear a helmet at least.

This title is ambiguous: reduces belief in the fake news topics themselves, vs. that fake news exists.
Anyway, yes, it does wonders for mental health and sanity to unplug from that cesspit of human "alternative knowledge"!:-P

I left FB back in 2020 among other social media accounts.
The problem with people, just in general.. regardless of who they are, what they believe in, what part of the world they live in... they just read headlines and quickly post it for attention. They don't take the time to read it, ingest it, question it, find other sources to provide more details or to counter the story. People don't care to have a holistic view of an issue and that's sad. At the same time I also blame the chitty producers of said news and the titles they decide to go with and how they love to bury the more important information 4-5-6-7 paragraphs or more down the page.. you have to read all this bs fluff to finally get to the meat and potatoes of the issue.
I'm hoping that some how, some way, an unbiased AI is created just for internet search purposes, where it can gather all the data, analyze it, then present its findings into a summary with all the sources listed.

Never had a facebook, still won't have a facebook

Left it long ago in 2017. Never looked back.
It's a mental addiction itself. those who may try to detox themselves obviously will have to go through the withdrawal symptoms.

It'll make you feel infinitely better all around. I got rid of mine almost a year ago.

Deleting it all together is better.

For my relatives Facebook's not the problem, it's all the far right wing propaganda on YouTube that makes claims without backing them up with any sort of evidence. The more they watch, the more they believe it, and the less they believe evidence to the contrary.

disconnecting lowers users political participation and also their propensity to believe misinformation
OP buried the wider point: People gotta be completely brainwashed and delusional to believe in political participation.
- irrational belief based on fantasy fuels people to action a lot more than rational belief based in reality.
  because the former is exciting and meaningful, the latter is boring and mundane.
  hence why the crazies tend to believe in cabal conspiracies of evil people whom they must fight against. whereas your average voter is like 'who do i want to have a beer with and make me feel like i'm doing better financially... i'll vote him'

All news is fake news.
- All comments are fake comments.
  
  I made this one up!
- no.