[sdflhasjd]

The thing is that shunning WhatsApp and Facebook doesn't put you back to a time before they existed, it cuts you off completely because they've dispaced what used to exist. Before Facebook there was email and SMS, before that there were phone calls, letters, etc. None of those really exist any more. If something happens, it goes into the family WhatsApp group, if you're not in the group then you don't find out. My parents and their generation still answer the phone at least, and I convinced some fairly close people to use Signal, but generally I'm more disconnected from my family than I would have been in another time.

[mcherm]

I truly do not use WhatsApp or Facebook, and I do not find myself cut off from the world in the way you describe. For instance, family groups communicate via text messages and/or email threads.

Maybe my family DOES also communicate via Facebook and I am just missing out on it... I genuinely wouldn't know. But I don't feel disconnected.

[dingnuts]

Sir you just said phone calls and letters don't exist anymore. Do you know how happy your mom would be if you gave her a call or sent her a letter?

Get off Facebook!

[forgetfreeman]

> it cuts you off completely because they've dispaced what used to exist

It really doesn't though. You remove trivial inputs from distant acquaintances, old co-workers, 5th cousins, and all manner of other individuals you'd traditionally have no input from. Meaningful relationships survive bailing on social media.

[jckahn]

This has been my experience after largely leaving social media. I’m much happier with less noise and nonsense in my life. It’s been a significant net benefit.

[sdflhasjd]

The thing is, I'm not talking about my 6th cousin twice removed, it's my literal siblings. At least in the UK, it seems nobody born after 1990 will use anything other than WhatsApp to message people.

[forgetfreeman]

You may well have something there. I'm older, as are all of my friends, and the bulk of my family are non-technical. There may well be some selection bias in effect with folks who remember what the world was like before ubiquitous online bullshit having less difficulty reverting to more "traditional" methods of communication.

[JohnFen]

> it cuts you off completely because they've dispaced what used to exist

That hasn't been my experience at all. All of the other methods of communication still exist. What FB gives is greater convenience, but not using it doesn't cut me out of anything. Not even those things where FB is the primary way people organize.