Decided to bump this topic again because I’ve had another bad online incident, and on the same app too. There was this user that seemed nice and he even invited me to their group chat with other lighting enthusiasts (mostly European ones) and he used to message me quite regularly and ask how I was doing. He even supported me through when I was being bullied. However one day I was messaging him and he told me he couldn’t be with me anymore. I asked why and he just kept ignoring me. Then later I found out that he was apparently “being used” so he decided to block me completely.

I am honestly so close to quitting social media. It’s taken a toll on my mental health and I don’t think I can cope being on Instagram anymore. I’ve discovered that the lighting community is toxic, even the non-UK ones. Why does this keep happening to me? Every time I think I’ve found someone that seems nice and supportive, they decide to throw me under the bus for no reason. I’m thinking of privatising my photos and deactivating my account for good cause there’s no point in being on that site anymore.

Yep, dump it!

 LG is about the only social media I use !  I use Facebook ONLY for Marketplace , a group for one of my old cars and to keep up with a friend of mine as it's the easiest way .

 Social media , even YouTube is a cesspool of keyboard warriors who like to hide behind the internet in order to be assholes !

 Eric is correct , dump all of it !!!

I now deactivated my Instagram account and I have no plans of returning anytime soon. I’ll only stick to Lighting-Gallery to upload my photos from now on. Currently have none but I plan to upload them soon.

Yeah, get rid of Instagram.

Social media , even YouTube is a cesspool of keyboard warriors who like to hide behind the internet in order to be assholes !

That sure is true, along with disinformation that preys on the gullible.  (Its also a great waste of time.)

 Yep !

My Instagram account has been deactivated for a couple of days now and honestly I think my mental health is improving. I’m actually finding other interests and I’m not constantly relying on one thing. My other hobbies include drawing (either digitally or on paper) and reviewing episodes from shows I watch. I’ve also met some pretty supportive people on other sites too.

With that being said, I fell out with another Instagram user (not saying names for obv reasons) which I don’t feel comfortable explaining the full situation because of how stupid and petty it is. This was actually what got me to deactivate my account. I honestly feel so ashamed and remorseful about what I did. I’m thinking of apologising to them and owning up to my actions but I don’t want to do it too soon because I need to give them space, and I need a break from that site for the reasons I mentioned earlier. That same user shares the same interests as me and has actually helped me develop my knowledge on lighting even more, so the fact that I tried to hurt that user’s feelings over something petty just makes me feel like a selfish and horrible person, which is not my intention.

If I do reactivate my Instagram account, I won’t be using it that often. I’ll only use it to upload photos, but I will very rarely use it to communicate with people on there because I don’t want drama to happen again.