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cardinal biggles

cardinal biggles

Fapstronaut
This weekend has been tough as I've had nothing planned and have spent most of my time stuck at home. I've managed to resist my urges but too often when on social media I keep coming across images and videos that increase them. I've unfollowed accounts that would post anything provocative but I don't want to delete my Instagram, I use the account to promote my photography and it's my main source of communication with many people I know but I can't go on it without coming across what is essentially softcore porn and I've clicked on enough of it that the algorithm just keeps trying to promote it, since they introduced "reels" it's gotten worse.

Does anybody know if there's a way to change the settings? Like a parental block or something?
 
I do not know if there’s a parental block but would be cool! Interesting predicament you have, since you use it for business.

Just as an experiment, what if you clicked on and liked on as many “pg” stuff as you can for a week? Maybe that will retrain the algorithm?
 
ruso said:
I do not know if there’s a parental block but would be cool! Interesting predicament you have, since you use it for business.

Just as an experiment, what if you clicked on and liked on as many “pg” stuff as you can for a week? Maybe that will retrain the algorithm?
Click to expand...
I tried that I'm getting less but "reels" is just softcore porn and they keep trying to promote it and when one does sneak in there I have a habit of impulsively clicking on it :emoji_face_palm:
 
Hmmm... 2 thoughts:

1. Transition to a new Instagram account to reset the algorithms. (If that's even feasible for you...)
2. I've had success with PluckEye (https://www.pluckeye.net/) to limit internet stuff across the board. And it has a feature that would let you block Instagram except for certain hours of the day (ones that you would choose). So, for instance, you could make it so that you only have access to Instagram between 9 am and 12 pm.
 
Ive long ago uninstalled instagram but if I remember correctly isn't there a "not relevant" button/option you could choose? So the feed will display less soft core porn?

Also, would it be an option to create a new account with similar name and add everyone you know plus your content and post a message on the old account about the change so that people don't think it is a fake? Also, remove content from old account and only display on new account so people don't keep visiting dead account. That way the algo isn't aware of previous porn habits.
 
Digital detox is a good app too, it will only let you access Instagram at certain times, if you break the detox you pay the app developer money, it's a great app
 
cardinal biggles said:
This weekend has been tough as I've had nothing planned and have spent most of my time stuck at home. I've managed to resist my urges but too often when on social media I keep coming across images and videos that increase them. I've unfollowed accounts that would post anything provocative but I don't want to delete my Instagram, I use the account to promote my photography and it's my main source of communication with many people I know but I can't go on it without coming across what is essentially softcore porn and I've clicked on enough of it that the algorithm just keeps trying to promote it, since they introduced "reels" it's gotten worse.

Does anybody know if there's a way to change the settings? Like a parental block or something?
Click to expand...
Look, if you really want to beat this addiction, don't simply unfollow accounts that tempt you. Delete the app from your phone. You're allowing the temptation to play with fire and you will get burned.
 
cardinal biggles said:
This weekend has been tough as I've had nothing planned and have spent most of my time stuck at home. I've managed to resist my urges but too often when on social media I keep coming across images and videos that increase them. I've unfollowed accounts that would post anything provocative but I don't want to delete my Instagram, I use the account to promote my photography and it's my main source of communication with many people I know but I can't go on it without coming across what is essentially softcore porn and I've clicked on enough of it that the algorithm just keeps trying to promote it, since they introduced "reels" it's gotten worse.

Does anybody know if there's a way to change the settings? Like a parental block or something?
Click to expand...
Mute all notifications, and unfollow anyone that posts potentially suggestive stuff, even friends. Also, stay away from "discover" or w/e it's called now. The algorithm for that is always pushing up girls dancing and stuff like that to the top. Plus, if you talk to a lot of people on instagram, maybe consider giving them your number or whatsapp type of thing; a direct messaging application with no distractions. (Plus giving someone your number, man or woman, shows that you're giving them more respect rather than just instagram DM's, since social media is more of a public forum.)

In my experience, try limiting smart phone use. It sounds scary and hard (which trust me it can be somewhat difficult) but just be aware of your phone more, as it's a gateway to a lot of triggering stuff. Do stuff like, if your computer is on one side of the room, put your phone on the other side. If you're at work, put your phone in your bag and zip it up, maybe your locker, stuff like that. Get it physically away from you. A little thing for me is that when I get in bed to go to sleep, instead of immediately going to my phone just to browse, I make a conscious decision not to.

I've been in the same boat, because social media is very addictive and suggestive, but unfortunately for a lot of us it isn't something we can realistically cut out of our lives. We can at least trim the fat though. Maybe uninstall the apps in the morning / at night, or on the weekends?
 
cardinal biggles said:
This weekend has been tough as I've had nothing planned and have spent most of my time stuck at home. I've managed to resist my urges but too often when on social media I keep coming across images and videos that increase them. I've unfollowed accounts that would post anything provocative but I don't want to delete my Instagram, I use the account to promote my photography and it's my main source of communication with many people I know but I can't go on it without coming across what is essentially softcore porn and I've clicked on enough of it that the algorithm just keeps trying to promote it, since they introduced "reels" it's gotten worse.

Does anybody know if there's a way to change the settings? Like a parental block or something?
Click to expand...
Instagram is the work of the Porn Devil. Delete it or relapse.
 
So quick update I'm not deleting my Instagram, I've been focussing more on photography since I quit porn and it's been really therapeutic and I quite enjoy the community of other photographers I interact with. I have other accounts but Instagram is where I get most interactions and is the best platform to promote myself. I've also found clients for prints and people looking to collab so more reason to keep it.

I tried @The Passenger idea of finding all the softcore porn and pressing "not interested" but Instagram won't stop promoting "reels" and all it is (from my perspective) is softcore porn and the odd movie clip (like five of the six of the videos are some kind of softcore porn) so yeah I just got to deal with it and it's only gonna get worse before it gets better (especially considering with what's going on with TikTok)

I've blocked my account from 22:30 - 07:00 but besides that I gotta get used to going through life with it, if I want to truly cleanse myself from porn I got to learn to live in the highly sex charged culture I live in. Hopefully some day society can move on from this but till then we gotta be ahead of the curve.

Take care guys!
 
cardinal biggles said:
So quick update I'm not deleting my Instagram, I've been focussing more on photography since I quit porn and it's been really therapeutic and I quite enjoy the community of other photographers I interact with. I have other accounts but Instagram is where I get most interactions and is the best platform to promote myself. I've also found clients for prints and people looking to collab so more reason to keep it.

I tried @The Passenger idea of finding all the softcore porn and pressing "not interested" but Instagram won't stop promoting "reels" and all it is (from my perspective) is softcore porn and the odd movie clip (like five of the six of the videos are some kind of softcore porn) so yeah I just got to deal with it and it's only gonna get worse before it gets better (especially considering with what's going on with TikTok)

I've blocked my account from 22:30 - 07:00 but besides that I gotta get used to going through life with it, if I want to truly cleanse myself from porn I got to learn to live in the highly sex charged culture I live in. Hopefully some day society can move on from this but till then we gotta be ahead of the curve.

Take care guys!
Click to expand...

Would creating a new account be too much hassle?
 
I would recommend to harden your mindset by simple exposure.
Ofc dont actively seek for that stuff but once you came across it, your urges will get less intense with time.

I think in our era its impossible to avoid sex content.
You watch documentary about Rome and yeah soft porn everywhere.

Exposure theory is the way imo
 
sorry m8 stopped reading the second you made excuses for keeping instagram
 
I can only reaffirm what others have said. These apps, let's be honest, are softcore porn with a clear goal of making you hooked on scrolling for the next hot picture. It's the exact same mechanism that is at work on porn websites. To quit cold turkey, apps will help (incidentally one of the popular apps for this is called "Cold Turkey"). If you cannot yet quit cold turkey, feed your urges for scrolling via an app that is safe-for-work, whatever it might be -- a news app, useful content app (like Medium, the Conversation) etc. Cheers and good luck.
 
I use Instagram almost daily and I really don't get pictures that turn me on often. I used to save certain posts so I could PMO but now that I'm attempting to go clean I've removed all of those and blocked accounts that I worry about. Other than that my insta is full of memes n shit. Only way I could get something that turns me on is from someone who I really can't unfollow (family friends, people that i know irl, etc). Not even sure if just deleting my instagram is a possibility seeing as my parents might be suspicious about it.
 
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