Here’s an evergreen take: There has never been a better time to get off social media. Social services have evolved even further into becoming sticky traps for doomscrolling and AI-generated slop, and are hitherto unprecedented frontiers for rage bait. Bummed out about all the misinformation and being part of a profit machine that funds one increasingly unhinged billionaire or another? Well, there’s a way out. Unfortunately, social media companies don’t always make it very easy to rescind their grips on your attention. They bury deletion and deactivation options deep in their sidebars and menus and do everything in their power to keep you engaged and scrolling. It’s not always easy, but if you’re eager to exorcise the demons of social media from your life, here’s how to carry out those cleansing rituals. Meta’s Accounts Center Meta always seems to be in the midst of one controversy or another. Whether it be the company’s history of a wanton approach to user privacy, criticism over its addictive nature, or its tendency to foster misinformation, you’ve got your pick of reasons to feel sketchy about having Meta plugged into your life. Before its rebrand from Facebook to Meta, the different sites in the Zuckerberg empire were siloed, and if you wanted to leave one network, you had to cancel your account from within that app or website. Now, your accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Meta’s AI app can be deleted from a central hub, called Meta Accounts Center. Tap that link. Log in, then you should see all your Meta profiles tied to that account. To actually start deleting things, look at the Account Settings sidebar and select Personal Details. Then pick Account ownership and control. You’ll see a pop-up window that gives you options for Memorialization or Deactivation or deletion. Select the Deactivation or deletion option. From there, you will get the option to choose which service to deactivate or delete. Pick the account and hit Delete account and then Continue. If you’re quitting Meta’s ecosystem entirely, you’ll have to do this process again for every service. Deleting Facebook won’t also delete Instagram at the same time, you’ll have to go back and do each service separately. Facebook To get to your Accounts Center directly from Facebook, click your profile picture in the corner on desktop, or tap into your profile on mobile. Select Settings & Privacy. Then Settings. In the sidebar to the left, look for Accounts Center then click See more in Accounts Center. On the next page, look for that Personal Details tab in the sidebar. Go into Account ownership and control and then Deactivation or deletion. You’ll then have to click through several pages of Continue prompts in which Meta tries to beg you to please not leave its service and to leave feedback about why you’re leaving. Ignore that guilt trip and finally you'll be asked to verify your account password and continue on to the actual confirmation of deleting. Do that, and you’re free. Sort of. For now your account is just deactivated—no one can see it, and you can’t interact with it, but the actual deletion of all your data and information can take longer to complete. Yes, you read that right—the above steps just initiate a request to leave. Facebook delays the deletion process for 30 days after you submit your request, and it will cancel your request if you log in to your account during that time. You know, just in case you change your mind. Facebook even says that time might take as long as 90 days. It's crucial that you don't visit Facebook during this waiting period. Delete the app from your phone.