NICEVILLE, Fla. — Local tech columnist Jeff Werner tackles reader questions each week in the Niceville.com feature “It’s Geek to Me,” offering practical, easy-to-understand advice about everyday technology challenges. This week’s column looks at social media burnout and whether users are moving toward new platforms.
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Question:
Morris F. from Navarre, Florida, writes:
I’ve used Facebook over the decades to keep up with friends in other places and nearby. Of late my feed has become more political, less interesting. I have begun regularly deleting anything in the feed marked Sponsored.
Additionally, FB has started adding one or two sponsored items to the panel on the right side of my screen. A couple of times I have clicked on one that seemed directed toward me and got a hostage screen, so I have begun automatically deleting any such items without bothering to see what they are selling/spamming.
FB has become virtually worthless to me, but it’s the best social media site I know. Your advice: Is there some other such media that real people are migrating toward? Maybe many of my real friends won’t be there, but maybe they are. I just don’t have the energy to scout all those places.
Answer:
Jeff Werner responds:
What you are experiencing, Morris, is a condition known as “Facebook Fatigue,” where users simply get burned out by excessive content, drama, or overexposure to ads. It gets worse when the excessive content is stuff that one is not interested in, or worse, directly conflicts with one’s beliefs or values.
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It happens to the best of us. You open the app out of muscle memory, scroll past three obviously AI-generated videos, two political rants from a high school acquaintance you haven’t seen since the 1990s, and a dozen “suggested for you” posts from groups you never joined.
You sigh, close the app, and realize that something that used to be useful to you and that you used to enjoy now leaves you bored, and maybe even feeling a little dirty for the experience.
You’re tired of it, but leaving feels impossible, because that’s where your daughter posts pictures of your grandchildren, and where the local neighborhood watch posts the latest bear sightings and reports of misbehaving kids.
We think of Facebook as “best” not because if its quality, but rather its utility.
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I don’t mind sharing my opinion (and it is just my opinion) that Facebook has degraded into a marketplace for scammers to reach and dupe the largest possible number of victims in the shortest amount of time. I recently published a column on Facebook (I.G.T.M. #965, Jan 18, 2026) that talks about this in some detail.
What I didn’t mention in that column is that Facebook appears to be aware of the scams perpetrated on their site and, in my opinion, turns a blind eye to them because shutting these things down would affect their bottom line.
So, you asked about alternate sites that people are migrating toward. While there is no panacea on the horizon that’s set to replace Facebook altogether, there are plenty of other social media sites to choose from, depending on what your primary focus is.
— The “Small Circle” Strategy: WhatsApp and Signal.
The biggest trend among people seeking to flee the noise of their Facebook feed is abandoning broadcast posting entirely. Instead of posting a status update for 500 of their closest friends, they are forming highly active group chats on WhatsApp or Signal.
It works because it’s chronological, there are no algorithms guessing what you want to see, and there are no ads. You know everyone there, so you won’t experience a stranger jumping into the middle of a thread to tell you that your opinion is wrong.
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— The Visual Sanctuary: Instagram.
Yes, it is owned by Meta, the same parent company as Facebook, and yes, it is increasingly full of “Reels” as it tries to be TikTok. But an increasing number of people are using Instagram Stories to get that “real person” experience out there.
Having said that, these so-called “real” posts can get pretty boring, unless you’re super-into what people had for their previous meal, or where they’re walking at the moment.
— The Internet-based Hub: Reddit.
If the thing you miss about Facebook are the themed Groups (gardening, woodworking, animated Christmas lights, etc.) then Reddit may be for you.
It’s not about who you know, it’s about what you love. You won’t find your high school friends here (it’s anonymous), but what you will find are thousands of real people having deep, often helpful conversations about specific topics of interest to you.
The “Anti-Facebook”: Threads. This is Meta’s newest entry, and it was designed specifically for those who are seeking to escape the chaos of X (formerly Twitter) and the clutter of Facebook. The “Following” feed allows you to see only people you actually know or choose to follow.
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The era of the “everything” platform is dying, and it needs to. If you want to find a new platform, pick some of your closest friends, and ask them if they have a preferred group chat or if they’re posting elsewhere. Invite them to join you in a new experience and leave Facebook behind.
To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit my website at ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!)
Jeff Werner, a software engineer based in Niceville, Florida, has been writing his popular “It’s Geek to Me” tech column since 2007. He shares his expertise to help readers solve everyday tech challenges.
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