Delete Instagram and Facebook from your phone. I did and I recommend everyone do it. You can still access via browser, but obviously not as good UX (which may make you less addicted).
I get how people can get addicted to social media apps (I got addicted to FB when I was in college 2005-2007 ish), and I am happy to see articles like this and other media outlets cover social media addiction and spread awareness, its a big problem. I would not blame the apps, though.
I think the real problem is that social media turbo-charges the social dynamics of the real world:
* attention seeking - "likes" are attention, and people love attention
* social presentation - you can present the best picture of your fake life
* envy and fantasy - men and women who think they live boring lives observing the curated, filtered lives of the people they want to be
* social hierarchy - who follows who? Prettier people having more follower / friends
* etc
I fell into those traps, and fb/insta were there to indulge my insecurities - but, critically, it was insecurities that fed the into the addiction. I'm a different guy now - I spend more time on myself than observing others.
I'm poorly articulating all this, but I think there is something to be analyzed there.
Additionally, using Facebook and Instagram from your browser will constantly expose you to their obnoxious "better in the app!" banners that you can never fully dismiss. Just making another one of their dark patterns visible enough to make you (hopefully) question the intent of the company...
Also, Instagram ads are actually blockable in-browser because they haven't bothered to update the site beyond the bare minimum of compatibility updates in years. So my iPhone on a VPN running a pihole made Instagram a little more bearable until I noticed that none of my friends ever posted anything any more.
I started exclusively using Instagram on my phone through mobile Safari and the experience is much better. There are no ads in either stories or the timeline. I don’t have any ad blocking set up on my phone.
The “Discover” section also isn’t as snappy as the app, so I find myself rarely using it. That section is what used to be my largest time sink when I used the app.
I ended up using at least Twitter and Reddit just as much through the browser after deleting the apps. Had to install the NetGuard firewall on my phone to block them.
I get how people can get addicted to social media apps (I got addicted to FB when I was in college 2005-2007 ish), and I am happy to see articles like this and other media outlets cover social media addiction and spread awareness, its a big problem. I would not blame the apps, though.
I think the real problem is that social media turbo-charges the social dynamics of the real world:
* attention seeking - "likes" are attention, and people love attention
* social presentation - you can present the best picture of your fake life
* envy and fantasy - men and women who think they live boring lives observing the curated, filtered lives of the people they want to be
* social hierarchy - who follows who? Prettier people having more follower / friends
* etc
I fell into those traps, and fb/insta were there to indulge my insecurities - but, critically, it was insecurities that fed the into the addiction. I'm a different guy now - I spend more time on myself than observing others.
I'm poorly articulating all this, but I think there is something to be analyzed there.