Why I Deleted Almost Every Social Media App Off My Phone
Do you want to be at your best mental health ever? Do you want to remove distractions? Are you tired of feeling frustrated over something you saw on social media? Me too. I just made a change that has really helped me, and that is why I am sharing it here with you. Very recently I deleted the Facebook app, Twitter, Twitch, Instagram, and TikTok. I deleted all of those apps off my phone, and the only app I am using now is YouTube. My mental health is so much better. I am so much more focused. This happened after the umpteenth time that I went on one of these platforms, saw some aggravating post, got all irritated at it, and thought, why am I even on here? How did I even get on here? Well, I am uploading a video so that I can get views.
My biggest opportunity and challenge has been to focus my energy. Our world is so full of so many different things you can do. How do you pick the best place to put your time and energy? What I have asked is, number one, for work, how can I do work that I love so much that I would do it for free, that other people will love so much that they will demand I get paid well to do it? That is question number one. The answer to that for me is: make videos. I made over $2 million online, and the number one thing I have done is make videos.
From there, the next question I ask is, where is the one place that if I create videos, it will make everything else I do with my business online easier or unnecessary? That is called a focusing question. If you have read The One Thing by Gary Keller, that question will sound very familiar. For me, it is not any of these other platforms. It is YouTube.
Why the Apps Were the First Drink
What I have struggled with over the years is trying to show up and be everywhere. I multi-stream. I have literally streamed on all of these platforms at once. And what I find, maybe it is because I identify as an alcoholic, is this: I go to Alcoholics Anonymous every day, and in some things it is just like drinking. I do not have one drink, one sip. It is the first drink that sets me in motion to have a drunk and to have all the other problems, which is why I am eight years sober now. I do not have that first drink. For me, having these apps on my phone is the first step I take that leads to all the other distraction and problems. In my experience, these apps overall seem to have a negative effect on my overall mental health.
It is kind of sneaky. It is not so direct sometimes. Sometimes it is direct. The last time I used Instagram, I saw some stories. I saw a story of blatant hate speech, but it goes along with the political leanings of the people who own Instagram, so they allow it. I left that app feeling very aggravated, because it was by someone I respect as a creator who is out there posting this crap. And I am thinking, why was I even on there? Well, I was on there trying to get views for myself. I uploaded my video to Instagram, even though I was not using Instagram much as a regular person. I was uploading my videos.
Here is the thing. If you use these apps as a regular user, from what I see, it is almost a complete waste of time. I get almost nothing useful in my life out of being on Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, or Instagram on my phone. Now, if I need something for my videos, I can darn sure go on one of these on desktop. When I am on desktop, that is a different environment. My phone is a sacred place, because this thing is everywhere. It is in my pocket. It is in my house. Thankfully, it is not next to my bed anymore. What is on my phone needs to be carefully considered. What I find is that if the app is just a click away, I am tempted to go screw around on it. I am tempted to comment, to share, to watch somebody's livestream. And you know what? I do not need to be pissing my life away watching somebody's livestream that I did not carefully consider. If I show up for a livestream, it should be for a very specific reason.
Why YouTube Is the One Place I Stayed
With YouTube, I find the energy is different. There is a ton of great learning content. I realize YouTube is not perfect. I realize YouTube has some censorship issues. But I have been on YouTube as a creator for 11 years, and to me it seems like the most stable platform. As someone who specializes in making videos and doing livestreams, this is the place. I think this is where we are headed for streaming. I think Twitch is going downhill. TikTok has just been promoted so much that it is big now, but it is going to fade away just like Vine. Vine is gone, it is out the door already. Instagram, to me, is almost a completely negative experience. I never got into it or understood what people get out of it. Twitter I would lump in pretty closely with that. Facebook, I got sucked into making money on Facebook, and now I am out. I am done. Thankfully, Facebook demonetized me. I do not need them anymore. YouTube is the best place if you are creating.
What I have noticed is that all the time you are spending posting on Facebook and Twitter, doing these videos on TikTok and Instagram, doing your livestream on Twitch, they are making more money off of you. In most cases, you are making nothing off of what you are contributing. The best you are hoping for is some views while they are making big profits selling ad revenue off the content you created. When you put your family pictures up on Facebook, they are selling ads on content before and after your picture. They are selling sponsored posts. You are getting Mark Zuckerberg rich by posting your family photos on Facebook. By posting all these little one-liners, you are getting whoever owns Twitter rich. By streaming on Twitch as an affiliate, they are getting most of the opportunities and most of the benefit of you streaming there. Instagram, another complete waste. TikTok, same thing. And yet I felt compelled, like I had to be on all these apps.
What I have noticed in reflection, in being quiet and taking time to consider the big picture, is that the main place I have made money online and given my gift and helped people has been on YouTube. Now, yes, over the last year and a half, my reach on other platforms certainly went out there. I have had 27 million views on Facebook since 2017. Yeah, I got out a lot on Facebook. But look, people on Facebook, if they really want to watch, will come over to YouTube. If they do not, they can stay on Facebook, and that is cool. For me, I have found my daily life and my mental health are way better not having these on my phone. Occasionally I will share or put up a YouTube video I just did. I will share a post link on Facebook and Twitter to help the people already following me come over and remember to go back to my YouTube. It is a very low investment activity I can do, and I am still up. Maybe one day I will not even do that anymore. But not having these apps on my phone has made a massive positive difference in my life. It simplified things greatly for me as a creator.
Only Create Where You Love Being a User
Now I am a full time YouTuber, and it is so nice. The only policies I need to be aware of and pay clear attention to are the YouTube policies. And I love using YouTube as a regular user. I would suggest that if you want to be a creator like me, do not create anywhere that you do not also love being a user. For example, if you do not love watching TikTok videos, why are you going to try and make your own TikTok videos? I love watching YouTube videos. I spend an hour or two a day on YouTube learning, listening to podcasts that are educational, getting inspired, watching old Wayne Dyer videos, and watching my own videos. I am so grateful for the chance to just show up and create for you here.
I hope this is useful for you, and I hope it gives you the courage to make the same kind of cut. I know sometimes your mind has suggested things like getting rid of these apps, and you have deleted them, deactivated them, and then relapsed on it like me. I deleted these off my phone several times before I finally kept them off, and now I have distanced myself from them more than ever. It feels better than ever. I am putting this up as an example, partly so that I do not have as much to remember, in case I get a bright idea in the future that maybe I should just upload my videos to Facebook too. Maybe I should get some shorts and put those on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok. Maybe there is some money for me on Facebook. Maybe I should start multi-streaming again. No, no. What I have often found that really helps in my life, if you are feeling busy and overwhelmed, is that the solution is to cut things. These things have been drains on my energy. This phone is a work of art. That endless feed is bullshit. This is a work of art, and that is bullshit.
If this way of focusing everything into one place speaks to you, and you want to keep learning how I build a life and a business around YouTube, the best next step is to join the Jerry Banfield Family community, where we can really get to know each other and I can help you day by day. You can also dig into more of what I have shared in my YouTube Coaching playlist.
Thank you, my friends, very much for supporting me as a full time YouTuber. Your minutes watched here, your likes, and your comments support me in being able to show up in just one place and do whatever I can to help you each day. So thank you for that. I love you. You are awesome. Maybe I will see you on that next video.