[alchemyromcom]

I personally found Facebook hard to quit, but not entirely impossible. I would compare it to giving up cigarettes: not easy, but I got through it. I am coming to terms with the fact that I have have a very serious and damaging internet addiction, however. Like many serious addictions, there's a lot of shame attached to my real addiction, which is 4chan. 4chan is like being addicted to heroin. Every day is a battle to look away from the train wreck, and so far I haven't been able to overcome this addiction in any meaningful way. What's interesting is that the site doesn't use any of the scandalous techniques that facebook is currently getting heat for, yet it has a grip on me that's basically ruined my life as much as a crack addiction could ruin a person's life. It's so bad that I've spent many years of my life living in very close proximity to hard drug users, because of the poverty my addiction has caused me. So, I guess what I'm getting at is we might have a bigger problem than just facebook, or at least I do.

[ryanianian]

This got dark fast. Any behavior that is getting in the way of daily life is an addiction. Doesn't have to be drugs or gambling. Therapists have extensive training in coaching patients out of these behaviors or at least better understanding them. I hope you can find the help you need.

[thegjp210]

Would you mind unpacking what you see as your addiction to 4chan? Are there specific boards you frequent? As an infrequent reader of /fit/ and /biz/, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around your experience.

[pedroma]

Nobody quits that website. I've tried a few times. Meanwhile I was able to quit FB in one evening and haven't been back.

[63]

I quit the website some years ago, though I never posted or commented very often to begin with. Once I managed to get off it for long enough, going back became shocking. Seeing /b/ with fresh eyes made me never want to go back, and I haven't. There are better places.

I have a similar story with Reddit, though that addiction was more recent and harder to break.

Facebook was easy. I refuse to use Twitter or Tiktok because I know what will happen.

I don't think my HN problem is quite bad enough to want to quit entirely, but I do want to read it less. The same goes for Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Moderation is proving to be much harder than quitting entirely.

I think I'm very lucky because my interactions with social media tend to be very reserved. I almost never post anything anywhere, I just passively consume.

[gnicholas]

> I don't think my HN problem is quite bad enough to want to quit entirely, but I do want to read it less

For me, social media is a problem when I'm pulling out my phone to use it when I'm on vacation or in the presence of other people.

I have no problem going weeks without checking HN if I'm on vacation, and I don't think I've ever checked HN while at lunch with friends.

By contrast, I check FB more when I'm around other people — it's as if there's a social element to it, and some popularity signaling. If everyone else around the table is checking their notifications, then it makes me look like I've got nothing going on if I'm not checking my notifications also.

[robocat]

Creating a 4chan support group for ex-users would be very challenging.

How many other 4chan addicts do you know in person?

[jamiek88]

Maybe just internet addiction then? Broaden the tent.