Why Adults (and Teens) Are Leaving Social Media

This past weekend, I had the rare opportunity to gather with nearly my entire extended family to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. We converged at my sister’s house in Wayland—about 50 of us in total. My father, 91 and still sharp as ever, was there too. It was heartwarming to see so many familiar faces, from my cousins and their kids to the babies making their debut appearances.

As is my habit at gatherings like this, I asked a few informal questions—not out of nosiness, but because I’m genuinely curious about how people communicate these days. One of the questions I asked was: “What social media platform do you use the most?”

The answers surprised me.

Of the 50 or so adults in attendance, only one person said they still used Facebook. One. That’s a pretty stark contrast to ten years ago when Facebook was a default communication tool, especially among Gen X and Boomers. The rest? They weren’t using any social media at all. A few mentioned using WhatsApp (Meta’s encrypted messaging app), but primarily for group chats and keeping in touch with family.

Among the 12 teenagers, I got a mix of answers that felt less like social media and more like hybrid entertainment-chat tools. One teen said they use Snapchat. Three said they regularly watched YouTube Shorts. But the most common response? Roblox. Not for games, necessarily—but for the chat feature.

That caught my attention. The teens weren’t posting photos or scrolling feeds; they were hanging out in digital spaces where they could talk, interact, and play all at once. It reminded me of AIM chatrooms from the early 2000s, but with avatars and shared virtual environments.

So what does this mean?

It means we’re watching the end of social media as we’ve known it—or at least the beginning of its major fragmentation.

What's Trending Now

Social Media Fatigue is Real. The grownups at this party have largely opted out. Some told me outright that they were tired of the drama, the ads, the algorithms, and the doomscrolling.

Messaging > Broadcasting. People still want to stay in touch—but they want privacy and control. WhatsApp, Signal, and text threads are becoming the preferred way to connect, not posting to a wall for all to see.

Digital Spaces, Not Platforms. The teens aren’t necessarily “using social media” the way we define it. They’re gathering in hybrid spaces like Roblox or watching bite-sized content on YouTube Shorts. Passive consumption and active engagement blur.

The Algorithm Is Losing Its Grip. Personalized feeds built to maximize “engagement” (read: addiction) are being met with increasing skepticism. People want fewer suggestions, fewer “trending” manipulations, and more organic interaction—or none at all.

Where It’s Going

If this family gathering was a microcosm, I’d wager we’re moving toward a post-platform world. Not in the sense that digital life is going away—far from it—but in the sense that users are no longer willing to be the product.

We’ll still share, talk, connect. But it will look different. Smaller circles. More privacy. Less performance. Maybe even more time offline.

For creators like me, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. If people aren’t on Facebook or Instagram, where do we meet them? Where do we share new songs or invite them into the creative process? These are real questions I’m sitting with—and I suspect I’m not alone.

In years past, I kept up with every new social network that came to the internet, creating an account and setting up a profile page.  But increasingly myself I am feeling awkward about the interactions on those networks, mostly negative if any at all.  I'm finding myself using them less both personally, and professionally as I feel they are actively working against me and my efforts to grow my business.  To that end, I plan to stop using them eventually.

For now, I’ll keep writing and sharing here to this blog that I've maintained for almost 15 years.

Thanks for reading.

Adam