Porn addiction and social media

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to quit using social media (primarily Facebookand 9gag) along with yet another attempt to quit PMO. This attempt has easily been my most succesful attempt yet, which made me wonder about the role of social media.

The straightforward answer would be the removal of triggers but I have this sense that quitting social media plays a bigger role.
Does anyone else have experience with quitting both PMO and social media?

Cheers, NfN

I don't have exprience about that but I have also thought about the role of social media, especially 9gag since I find myself constantly on "NSFW" section.. If i only had the guts to do it...

For me, Social Media is bad news. I've gotten rid of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook I keep an active account only to see if someone is trying to contact me for an event in the physical world.

I've noticed that because these sites allow you to endlessly scroll through updated feeds, it begins to feel like an empty dopamine rush. I still debate whether I should just get rid of Facebook altogether.

As a motto, I like to keep the idea, "avoid the buffets in life" in my head in whatever activities I'm engaging in. Social Media, for me, is a buffet of endless (useless) information based on artificial connection with other human beings.

So I try to avoid it.

-B

I can totally see this point. Social media is supposed to be a tool to stay in touch with each other. But it has also become a speaking tube for everyone, so we are confronted daily with the needs and urges of other people. Sure it's the triggers that make it hard for you to stay clean - and they are latently there in many of the posts. Take Facebook's video previews for example. They are all set up in such a way that they get shared by as many people as possible. The video can contain a nice little kitten playing with a ball of wool, but the preview catches that one half of a second where the 17yo daughter walks through the scene wearing only a little tank top. The "eroticization" of our generation is in full progress, yet not evident to the creduluos user. Even if such videos or posts do not contain erotic stuff, there is a high chance we look into another guilty pleasure like eating, smoking, alcohol, car races, adrenalin-kicks. No one posts a picture of his dented car or his degenerated appartment building. It's all about pimped BMWs, beautiful villas and lofts and newest technology...facebook is a fake world just like porn is.

Besides, there are many technical similarities:
- high clicking frequency (always chasing new fantasies and more dary news/vids/pic, not watching a video to the finish, fast-forwarding etc)
- colorful preview that attracts your attention
- updated at least hourly
- a possibility to act out on voyeuristic fantasies (stalking hot friends, searching for more semi-racy pictures in their albums, ...)

For me it had been enough to avoid certain content. I used to watch those videos that caught my interest in the first place. Now I think twice and read through the description before viewing. When it says something like "at first I didn't believe it, but then I was shocked" or even "...see for yourself what this hot girl is able to do" I simply don't click on it. Just like the "click" gives you a mental reward, you can be rewarded you for not-clicking - when you are in a serious recovery and happy with your choice and motivation. Also I used to like to browse through pictures of some beautiful friends of mine. Now I don't comment on their pictures anymore and don't even look at them in full-size mode. I stick to messages and political information, band tour information etc.

Same for 9Gag by the way. Know the content, stay away from what your mind seems to like too much. Stick to the funny things if you are up for some entertainment and ignore all the rest. If that does not work for you then be honest to yourself, admit that you can't do it and quit those sites for good.

Yes, i think had to shut it down too. One of my biggest fetish are girls wearing thongs. Even if i stop watching porn and searching for them, i often see them accidentally. My cravings using the internet are stronger than my porn addiction. Doing good don't watching porn, but can't stay away from the computer and internet.

Wow guys, thanks for the input! Interesting points Chaos Mind, especially the technical similarities you mentioned.

I have deleted my Facebook account, and it sure does limit the amount of time I spent in a trigger heavy envirnoment which appears to help a ton! I can recommend it to others who are frequently triggered through social media. Also, I was have not felt as if I was missing out on anything yet. One of the best decisions I?ve made!

Spot on stuff, Chaos Mind.

Two thumbs up - I'm not sure if the behavioural similarity (clicking, scrolling, few tabs open at a time...) is not even a bigger issue with Facebook than the fact that you can come across racy stuff there. Sure the latter thing can trigger and send you to a downward spiral. But sticking to SFW stuff still makes you exposed to the former issue - a thing I reckon can spike dopamine.