Over 17 million Romanians are active on at least one of the social networks. But more and more argue that they have found enough reasons to give up.
Giving up social networks can be a challenge. Photo: freepik.com
The Facebook online platform has over 12.3 million users in Romania, informs Statista.com statistics, up with over 1.2 million users compared to December 2023. Facebook is, from this point of view, that more popular social network used by Romanians.
“Today, social networks serve as a powerful tool to remain connected with friends and family and as an important source of news, providing global information and live streaming. In Romania, social networks, especially among the young generation, not only revolutionized the way we connect, but also had a substantial impact on the political expression. They played a significant role in protests and issues related to elections, modeling the socio-political landscape. By 2024, the country had almost 18.1 million Internet users, of which about 17.3 million are active on social networks ”shows a research published by Statista.com.
In January 2025, in Romania there were 5.78 million Instagram users. Those between the ages of 18 and 24 represented 32.1% of Instagram users in Romania, more than any other age group. The share of Instagram users in the country was 29.2% among those between the ages of 25 and 34, it shows the same site.
In 2023, the number of applications discharges Tiktok reached a historical peak, 5.6 million, and last year, the figure was almost 3.6 million discharges, according to data published by the statist. WhatsApp and Twitter also remain among the social applications downloaded by millions of Romanians.
Tips to remove social media obsession
Although they are considered ways to stay in touch with friends and family or entertainment, specialists point out that it is very easy for their users to become dependent on them.
When the use of social networks becomes obsessive, you must make some serious changes in daily habits before the emotional impact of the problem worsens, informs the DigitalResponsability.org website, made by a group of employees in the Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach technology, which They wanted to share the personal and public consequences of technology to young people.
Technology specialists offer five tips to those who want to get rid of the obsession for social networks:
Eliminate all social media applications from the phone so you can’t check the platforms at work, at school or while socializing in person. Allow yourself to look at home only on your laptop or computer.
Create an hour of dedicated socialization to read, respond and interact.
“For example, you can grant 15 minutes on platforms as part of your morning routine and half an hour to watch the events of the day. If you cannot limit your own obsessive behavior, consider blocking the sites and let someone else control the password to access them. There are applications and programs for both computers and phones that make it impossible to access certain websites ”informs digitalrespensibability.org.
Organize regular meetings with friends and family. Use your home group exits or activities to recover and stay connected. If this is not feasible, come with regular virtual meetings.
Make a list of activities that you must complete before reaching social media.
“The lists can include everything, from daily affairs or themes, to hobbies, removing the pet for a walk or conversations in the real world and friends,” shows the specialists.
To fight an extreme obsession or addiction to social networks, you may need to completely eliminate access to sites.
“There are other ways to keep in touch with the people you care about and other forms of entertainment”the publication shows.
Reasons why some Romanians have given up social networks
Many Romanians reported that they managed to give up some of the social networks they used intensely. I say they did this to have more free time, more productivity, because they do not feel interested in seeing what the virtual friends are posting or people I do not know.
“I keep the connection on WhatsApp or on the phone only with the people I want in my close circle, otherwise I am not interested. Life is much better without social networks, I have more free time and everything is more real ”writes one of the users of the Reddit online platform.
Other Romanians say that they felt an addiction to these platforms and it was extremely difficult to stay at the beginning even a few days without them. But then they got used to it.
“I no longer have an active account of social media for about eight months, but I feel that I have not lost anything”, another Romanian believes.
Some argue that the pursuit of popularity has no sense for them.
“Apparently everyone wants to be a small celebrity, to have followers, to see others the places they have visited, what things they have done and what partners they have with. The problem with this universal attention is that it is not in any case justified ”, writes another Romanian on Reddit.
Others claim that they have not regretted the decision not to make accounts on social networks.
“Now I put myself in the skin of an influencer: how sad it will be to think that you cannot have any moment of privacy, that everything must be documented quickly and shared with your followers. Will this distorted cycle continue up to 60 – 70 years? ”another Romanian asks.
Social networks are a waste of time, considers another Romanian who has given up their use.
“I am tired of claiming that I am interested in why others do, for years. They did not bring me any benefit, they were just a waste of time with the hours on the phone. I noticed that I often compare my life and successes with others on the Internet instead of enjoying why I have the biggest source for this thing was social media. We did not socialize how we socialized before, everyone preferred to give you messages, see yourself in person or looking for you on the phone directly was a rarity and I felt the need to normalize this. I was just missing my brain to rest, “, He writes another Romanian.
