Restore and cultivate your mental health using non-commercial social networks
June 2025. The bizarre effects of commercial social networks on the mental health of their users are well known by now.
In short:
The personal burden of having your worldview distorted in algorithmic bubbles of disinformation and fake news (hitting hard in the fields of politics, public health and also your relationships);
The stress of falling prey to various financial scams at any time (including dating platforms);
The frustration of seeing your ability to concentrate and your performance in your studies and/or work diminish;
Feelings of anxiety, sleep disturbances and depression;
The constant perception of your personal time being wasted on endlessly scrolling through feeds and watching short videos;
The apathy, the lack of interest in your timelines, whose algorithms no longer show the posts of loved ones but favor the posts of “brands” (companies);
Irritation at seeing the incessant parade of bizarre influencers in the monetization jackpot;
Eating disorders and disorders related to body perception (especially if you're a young teenager);
Burnout from the incessant witnessing of extravagant practices of online exhibitionism;
The detached and fragmented experience of seeing “microposts” that are just catchphrases and attempts to go viral.
Now, what if I told you that you can have a healthy, rewarding and enriching online experience using non-commercial social networks?
That's right! Because these networks...
Don't have algorithms to capture you and keep you in bubbles of disinformation (or radicalization);
They are much less targeted by scammers – and offer you many more resources to protect yourself from them;
They have no advertising, no “boosted” posts, no interface design with strategies to capture your attention – so your ability to concentrate is not affected;
They don't provoke feelings of anxiety, since they aren't programmed and built to get you hooked;
They don't hijack your time and attention; they don't have advertisements, they're not selling you anything, so they don't want you to stay there all the time;
They show you all your friends' posts, and in chronological order – there are no “branded” posts. You are in control of your timeline and define what you see!
No influencers, because “brands” can't advertise there;
They don't have viral videos showing eating disorder behaviors or other harmful behaviors; videos are shared only organically: there are no algorithms doing this.
They don't reward exhibitionism (there are no algorithms driving this), and network participants (not users) are generally not interested in this.
They offer genuine encounters and real conversations, not crossed by commercial interests or visibility strategies.
Thus, with these characteristics, non-commercial social networks give you back control and autonomy over your online social experience and free you from abuse and psychological suffering of various kinds.
To continue on this journey of discovery, read Hubzilla – a non-commercial social network. There, as well as getting to know this social network, you'll find out how to open an account – and... you'll see that there's even the possibility of managing one of the many sites on this social network! – for your own use and that of your friends.
After this, we recommend reading the text Non-commercial social networks – characteristics, heterogeneity and threats – which gives a more in-depth overview of the context of non-commercial social networks.
(If you have technical knowledge of computers and the Internet, also read the texts on non-commercial social networks (streams) and Forte).
Welcome to a field of online social experience that respects, preserves and contributes to your mental health!
June, 2025. Updated on: Jun. 01, 2025.