I'll admit it—I'm a boomer. And I still use social media the way many people originally imagined it: as a way to stay connected. My feeds have always been a mix of far-flung relatives, old friends, and high school band chums (because, let’s be honest, band buddies are the best buddies). Most days, I carve out a little time after work to catch up with the people who matter.
But somewhere along the way, that simple ritual changed. The algorithms started filling my feed with so much irrelevant content, sponsored posts, and suggested videos that the updates from actual friends were getting buried. I eventually developed a workaround: I'd hold my hand over the screen, covering everything except the name of the person or group that posted. If it wasn't from a real human connection, I kept scrolling.
Eventually, I left almost all my groups behind, keeping only the ones tied to genuine relationships. And as it turns out, I may have been ahead of a much bigger shift. A new study from Incogni suggests that millions of Americans are rethinking how they use social media—and many are choosing to post less, share less, and step back from the noise.
Why Incogni Took a Closer Look at Social Media
Incogni is a personal data removal service that spun off from the well-regarded Surfshark VPN in 2022. The Incogni app, a PCMag Editors’ Choice winner, scans hundreds of people-search websites and personal data aggregators and automates the process of opting your data out of their collections. It’s a never-ending battle, since the brokers constantly scrape publicly available information from the web to build more profiles.
Social media provides a major source of raw data for these aggregators. If you broadcast your thoughts on X/Twitter, send your Instagram reels out for the world to love, or leave your Facebook profile open to public view, you’re handing the brokers a delicious smörgåsbord of personal information. It’s only natural that Incogni’s researchers would take an interest in this ongoing leakage of personal data.
a delicious smörgåsbord of personal information
Who Took the Survey?
While anyone in the world can be the victim of personal data harvesting by brokers and aggregators, Americans are by far the most affected. According to Incogni, Canada and the Netherlands rank second and third, but America, with millions of netizens and few data protection controls, ranks first.
Americans are by far the most affected
That being the case, it’s not surprising that Incogni turned to the US market for this survey. It used a statistically balanced sample of 1,000 Americans, dividing the results into four groups: Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Gen Y (1981-1996), and Gen Z (1997-2012). The respondent pool was also balanced geographically, and the study took place from June 1 through 9, 2026.
Social Media Feels More Like Work Than Fun
I mentioned earlier that I like to check my socials after work. The last thing I’d want is for doing so to be...just more work. And yet, more than half of respondents agreed with the statement “Maintaining an online presence feels like work,” with about a third of those checking the “strongly agree” box. Only 16% disagreed, with the rest remaining neutral.
For some influencers and aspiring influencers, maintaining a social presence truly is their work. But that’s not me, nor (probably) you. If it feels like work rather than fun, you’re doing it wrong.
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As the chart shows, there’s also a clear correlation with age. A full 60% of Gen Z respondents feel the pain of maintaining a social presence. Perhaps they have a niggling hope that they might still be discovered as an influencer? Those of us in the Boomer category are clearly more relaxed about it, with just 38% saying that maintaining a social presence feels like work.
Why People Want to Quit—But Don't
The survey quizzed respondents about how they feel when they don’t keep up with checking their socials and, by extension, how they’d feel if they just plain quit. They were given choices, both positive (peace, relaxation, and relief) and negative (anxiety, fear of missing out, and discomfort).
Overall, positive reactions held slightly greater sway, with an average of about 21% compared with 19% for negative reactions. The Gen Y contingent accentuated that split, with 25% positive and 21% negative, while Gen X went even further, with 20% positive and just 13% negative. But the Gen Z group flipped the results, identifying 27% negative and 26% positive reactions to going without social media.
There’s another force pushing folks away from the socials: increasing politicization. Of the survey’s respondents, 44% agreed that political content is driving people away from social media, and only 20% disagreed. Among Gen Z respondents, the impetus was stronger: 48% agreed, and just 13% disagreed. These negative feelings associated with politics only serve to highlight the positive reactions to deleting your social media.
What Would Finally Make You Delete Your Account?
Are you posting less on social media than you did five years ago, and are you being more selective about who can see what you post? Then you’re with the majority. More than half of the respondents answered yes to each of those questions. But would you ever parlay fewer posts into no posts (aka quit posting entirely)?
When asked what it would take to finally get them to terminate a social media account, a die-hard group of one in six respondents said there’s nothing that could make them quit. But more than half could picture quitting due to security concerns, and almost half accepted the possibility that harassment or hate speech could send them packing. Others cited the amount of time wasted on scrolling through social media and the mental health threats of doomscrolling.
The full study (which you can read here) concludes that there’s been a significant shift in public attitudes toward social media. Where it was once fun and relaxing, it’s now growing dark and angsty. But you can buck the trend.
You can absolutely use social media as much as you want: Just make sure it’s a fun and positive experience. If it feels like a grind, or if you get anxious or unhappy, look at your habits and make some changes. Cut out toxic connections. Focus on your actual friends. While you’re at it, enlist the help of an antivirus or security suite that includes help for detecting scams on your social media. Or, if you feel so inspired, put social media aside entirely and go take a walk in nature.