A few weeks ago, I decided to significantly reduce my time on social media. I would just avoid looking at it if I could, and so far I’ve done a decent job. I rarely look at Facebook and I think I’m better for it. Twitter is still a problem for me but it’s been less of one thanks to me no longer keeping Tweetdeck in my pinned tabs. I still have issues with it on my phone, but I’m better.

Not Better Enough

I’m going to do an experiment through the month of March where I completely blackout Twitter and Facebook from my life. I’m not going to be able to use them. How?! you ask. Well, I’m a computer nerd so I have a few tricks that will help. They won’t keep me from finding ways or even reversing what I’ve done, but the goal is to at least put a roadblock in the way. I’m going to add these lines to my hosts file:

<code>127.0.0.1 twitter.com
127.0.0.1 facebook.com
</code>

From there I’m just going to hope for the best. That’ll keep any requests to Twitter or Facebook from finding their way to the servers at the end of the line. I can always remove one or both of those lines from the hosts file and be back to square one, but at least this will put a logical barrier in the way.

In terms of phone usage, I’m just going to remove the apps from my phone. I could put a block in my router at home, but that will effect everyone, and frankly, I’m not out to impose my life choices on everyone else.

We’re just going to have to see how it goes! If you primarily contact me through either of these means, you’re just going to have to find another way. Leave a comment on this post, come find me in our 2Dorks Discord Server, or email me. If you’re a good friend, I hope you at least have my phone number.

If you’d like to join me in my social experiment, comment below and let’s do it together!