Quitting social media isn’t for everyone, but for some, it’s life-changing. Success requires a strategic and personalized plan – let’s break down how to do it in a way that works for you.
What’s Coming Up
- Why You Might Want to Quit Social Media
- 3 Big Benefits of Quitting Social Media
- How to Quit Social Media: A 4-Step Plan
- Understanding Your Personality Can Help You Quit
- Thriving Without Social Media in a Digital Age
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Further Reading
Why You Might Want to Quit Social Media
Have you ever come close to deleting a social media account only to stop yourself at the last second?
If so, you’re among the growing percentage of people who want to pull back from social media. Unlike a temporary social media detox, opting out of social media altogether is about permanent digital freedom – a complete exit from the platforms that have woven themselves into your daily routine.
For many people, the decision to leave social media isn’t sudden. It’s the result of a gradual realization that the costs outweigh the benefits. For others, it comes as a gut-punch moment.
However you got to this point, here you are. And you’re ready to make a change.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through every step of the process – from how to delete all your social media accounts to dealing with social media withdrawal to creating a fulfilling post-social-media life. What makes this guide truly useful is that it is built around our personality framework.
The thing is, you have very specific motivations, needs, and ways of operating in the world that are fundamentally shaped by your personality type. And all those little personality-related details about you play a big role in what strategies for quitting social media will be most effective.
So, grab a pen and your notebook – and let’s get started.
Ready to uncover the truth about who you really are? Take our free personality test and gain deep insights into your strengths, challenges, and more in just 10 minutes.
3 Big Benefits of Quitting Social Media
Before we talk about how to quit social media, let’s take a moment to think about the ‘why.’
Research shows that even short breaks from social media can significantly improve mental health. But permanently quitting can lead to real transformation.
1. Mental Health Improvements
Without the constant comparison triggers, your anxiety levels are very likely to drop. You stop measuring your worth in likes. You’ll start to remember what makes you feel valuable in the real world.
Your attention span will also return. Before too long, you’ll probably realize that you can read entire books again, have conversations without checking your phone, and focus deeply on work that matters. The mental fog will lift, and you’ll realize how much cognitive energy you were spending on social media and maintaining your digital persona.
2. Getting Your Time Back
The time you’ll get back after quitting social media is impressive. According to recent data published by Statista, the average person spends more than two hours a day on social platforms. That’s 14 hours weekly, 60 hours monthly, and 730 hours a year.
If you think about it, that’s enough time to learn a new language, write a novel, or get in the best shape of your life.
Maybe you won’t become fluent in Italian or run a marathon (though you could), but you will be more present – really present – for the small moments that make up your life.
3. Deeper Real-World Connections
When you quit social media, your relationships transform too. Without the digital barrier, you’re more present with loved ones – yes, even those who live far away.
Conversations deepen, and you’ll start to notice the little things that give nuance and meaning to relationships – like the way someone’s eyes crinkle when they really laugh or the excitement in their voice when they talk about their passion project.
And when long-distance relationships are kept alive through more old-fashioned formats like phone calls, letters, or emails, you’ll feel more fully connected. There’s a certain amount of intentionality that goes into maintaining these bonds that adds real depth and dimension to the relationship.
How to Quit Social Media: A 4-Step Plan
As we share our plan for quitting social media, it’s important to first acknowledge that quitting it altogether might feel impossible for some.
What if your career genuinely depends on it? If you get clients through Instagram or your employer requires LinkedIn activity, it might be impossible to close those accounts. Or maybe these platforms are your primary connection to distant loved ones or essential support groups. In that case, quitting might not be the best idea.
If you’re in this type of situation, consider these alternatives:
- Keeping selective platforms: Keep the one platform that serves a real purpose, and delete the rest. That might mean keeping LinkedIn but ditching TikTok, or keeping WhatsApp for family but deleting Instagram.
- Reducing usage significantly: Set hard limits and learn to use social media in a healthy way. Remove apps from your phone but keep desktop access for intentional use.
- Taking periodic long breaks: Take three to six months completely offline, then reassess. Sometimes distance provides the clarity to make a permanent decision.
It might also feel impossible to quit social media if you’re dealing with severe mental health challenges. Complete isolation without offline support can sometimes make things worse before you start to feel the benefits. If this is the case, please seek professional support before making major changes in your social media use.
With those considerations in mind, here’s a four-phase plan for leaving social media that gives you a basic framework to freedom. Feel free to adapt it based on your natural tendencies and preferences.
Phase 1: Preparing to Quit
This preparation phase might be the most important part of the entire process. You need to build the mental and practical foundation for success, gather your resources and set up support systems before you take the leap of permanently deleting your social media accounts.
This should be done in two steps:
Assessment
- Track your actual social media usage (prepare to be shocked)
- Note emotional triggers for each platform
- Write down what you’re really seeking online
- Document your specific reasons for quitting
- Take our free personality test to learn about underlying personality preferences
Practical Preparation
- Download important photos and videos
- Collect contact info for people you want to keep in touch with
- Research official deletion processes (not just deactivation)
- Inform important people about your decision
- Plan specific activities for replacing social media
Phase 2: The Quitting Process
This is where intention becomes action. The approach you choose here should align with your personality type – fighting against your natural tendencies will only make this harder. Figure out what will likely work best for you, and go with it.
Option A: Cold Turkey
For some people, the best approach is to quit immediately, without easing in. This works especially well for Judging and Assertive personality types, who tend to take more concrete and decisive action. This approach includes:
- Deleting all accounts simultaneously (use official deletion, not deactivation)
- Removing all apps immediately
- Clearing all bookmarks and saved passwords
- Blocking social media sites on all browsers
- Diving straight into new activities
Option B: Gradual Elimination
The best approach for others is to cut back slowly rather than all at once. This method works particularly well for Prospecting or Turbulent personalities, who may need some trial and error to discover the strategies that suit them best. This approach includes:
- Starting with your most problematic platform
- Deleting one platform per week
- Decreasing time on remaining platforms gradually
- Using the extra time to build offline habits
- Aiming to completely delete all your social media accounts within four to six weeks
Phase 3: Managing Withdrawal
A hard truth about quitting social media is that withdrawal is uncomfortable and nearly inevitable. Your brain has been getting regular doses of dopamine from social media for a long time, and it’s going to protest when you cut off the supply. This phase is about riding out the discomfort while building new, healthier patterns. Think of it as your brain recalibrating to find satisfaction in real-world experiences again.
Common symptoms of withdrawal mirror social media addiction, and include:
- Phantom notifications (your brain playing tricks)
- Restlessness and boredom
- FOMO (fear of missing out)
- Compulsive phone checking
These peak in the first few weeks but significantly decrease after that.
You can manage withdrawal symptoms by intentionally creating new routines that not only put space between you and social media but also give you the same sense of novelty, validation, and surprise (all sources of dopamine) that makes life inspiring and enjoyable.
Some dopamine-inducing activities that you can incorporate into key parts of your day include:
- Morning: listening to the birds or upbeat music, exercising, or reading
- Breaks: completing brain-teasing puzzles like Sudoku or crosswords, dancing, or stretching
- Evening: watching your favorite series or discovering a new one, watching the sunset, or going for a walk
- Weekends: planning social activities, engaging in hobbies, or calling distant friends and family
Managing withdrawal symptoms might require more than simple dopamine-inducing activities, however. You might also find it helpful to learn mindfulness and grounding techniques, prioritize your sleep, and simply accept the fact that it might be a bumpy road until you find your new normal without social media.
Phase 4: Long-Term Success
After the acute withdrawal phase ends, staying off social media requires ongoing intention. This phase is about creating a life so fulfilling that social media just feels unnecessary.
To assess your progress toward this broader goal, you should periodically take the time to:
- Remember your reasons for quitting
- Recognize and celebrate the improvements in your life
- Contemplate if your offline activities are fulfilling your needs (and adjust accordingly)
- Connect with others who have also quit social media
Understanding Your Personality Can Help You Quit
Remember how we’ve mentioned that your personality type affects whether you should quit cold turkey or gradually? That’s just the beginning. Your personality shapes everything about quitting social media – from the specific challenges you’ll face to what motivates you to stick with it.
Emotional vs. Practical Challenges
Some personality types face emotional hurdles. Turbulent types are more likely to experience higher anxiety but often gain the most from quitting. They need:
- Strong support systems built before quitting
- Small victory celebrations
- Patience with the process
Others wrestle with practical challenges. Extraverts, for example, may struggle with the social aspects of quitting social media. They’ll likely need immediate real-world replacements to fill the void, like volunteer roles, accountability partnerships, and regular gatherings with friends. Observant types often need tangible motivators like tracking time saved or creating “wins lists" of real achievements.
Finding Your Why
Successfully quitting social media has a lot to do with your internal motivations – and even that varies by personality.
Intuitive types are often driven to quit by realizing how their participation with social media fits into the bigger picture of their life and society. Observant types, on the other hand, are often motivated by practical benefits they can readily experience upon quitting. Thinking types are often convinced to delete their accounts by data about manipulation algorithms, while Feeling personalities are driven by the emotional relief and genuine connections that replace digital validation.
Defining your underlying “why" will help you stay on track, even through the hardest moments of withdrawal.
Bottom line: There’s no universal approach to quitting social media. Success comes from understanding your personality-driven needs and choosing strategies that work with your natural tendencies, not against them.
Thriving Without Social Media in a Digital Age
Around month three of your post-social-media life, something remarkable shifts. You’ll stop mentally composing captions for moments you’re no longer documenting. The sunset becomes just a sunset. Life becomes yours to savor privately.
You’ll discover the joys of real boredom – and it’s brilliant. Not the restless scrolling kind, but the kind that makes you pick up that guitar or finally start that project. The kind that used to spark your best ideas before you learned to fill every empty moment with other people’s content.
Your opinions become more nuanced when they’re not designed for engagement. You become more yourself when you’re not constantly editing that self for others.
Quitting social media in today’s world feels radical, maybe even antisocial. But opting out isn’t about rejecting connection – it’s about choosing quality over quantity. You’ll find ways to stay in contact with the friends who matter, and they will find ways to reach you. The opportunities worth pursuing don’t require a verified checkmark. And that validation you were seeking? It was never meant to come from strangers on the internet anyway.
Will you miss some things? Absolutely. Will you regret reclaiming your time, attention, and authentic self? Most people who make this choice realize they don’t.
Your life is so much more than content. It always was. And when you quit social media, you get to experience every magnificent, messy, unfiltered moment of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I quit social media permanently or just take a break?
If you’ve tried reducing screen time or multiple social media detoxes but keep returning to problematic usage patterns, permanently quitting social media might be necessary. Consider a longer break (three to six months) first to experience life without social media before making a permanent decision.
How can I stay connected without social media?
To stay connected with your friends, family, and broader community without social media, consider regular phone calls, text messages, email, and in-person meetups. Many people find their relationships actually improve when they have to be more intentional about connection.
Will quitting social media hurt my career?
Whether quitting social media will hurt your career or not depends on your field. Many professionals thrive without social media by focusing on direct networking, industry publications, and in-person events. Consider keeping only professional platforms if necessary.
How do I handle social pressure to rejoin?
Take a stand against the pressure to rejoin social media by being clear and calm about your decision. “I’m happier without it" is a complete answer. If pressed, share one specific benefit you’ve experienced. Most people respect the decision once they understand it’s improving your life.