Throughout all social media platforms, the challenges stay constant, forcing customers towards the largest digital dilemma of our time — quitting social media. The algorithmic grip, fixed comparability, and notifications show to be an excessive amount of, persistently encouraging an addictive person conduct. Now greater than ever, persons are questioning social media and are searching for methods to remain away.
The search information reveals rising unease, with practically two million U.S. customers searching for methods to delete or deactivate certainly one of their social media accounts every month. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Fb, and X account for almost all of searches associated to social media deactivation.
Key takeaways
- Instagram is the primary social community that U.S. customers need to delete or deactivate
- Virtually two million U.S. customers every month need to delete certainly one of their social accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Fb, or X
- Every fifth Fb person who deleted their account regrets their choice and desires to get better it
- Solely 5% of customers who need to delete their Instagram account would think about different choices, like quickly suspending it
- Practically the identical variety of X and Instagram customers are searching for alternate options to deleting their accounts, corresponding to blocking or deactivating
- TikTok customers are 5 occasions extra more likely to reactivate their accounts in comparison with Instagram customers
- Lower than 4% of YouTube customers are prepared to restart their accounts
#1 Instagram
A median American spends greater than 30 minutes per day scrolling by way of Instagram. That’s practically two full working days per thirty days wasted on comparisons and self-presentation. With over 2 billion month-to-month energetic customers, the platform was constructed for connection and creativity, but the true driving power behind its success is the dopamine cycle of validation that it triggers within the human mind. A Journal of Behavioral Addictions examine discovered that one in three Instagram users has a light or extreme dependancy that’s turning into more and more troublesome to interrupt. With statistics like these, it’s arduous to disclaim that customers are struggling to make use of the platform in a sustainable approach.
Practically 600,000 customers every month search for methods to delete or deactivate their Instagram accounts, but solely 5% think about much less everlasting options, corresponding to quickly suspending their accounts. This implies that frustration is deeper than momentary fatigue.
The platform itself admits there’s an issue and even added features to assist individuals spend much less time on it. However regardless of that, the fixed scrolling and self-comparison nonetheless result in burnout, making deleting the account really feel like the one approach out.
#2 TikTok
Whereas staying proper behind Instagram by way of customers seeking to stop social media platforms, TikTok consumes its customers at an unprecedented charge. With over 1.6 billion month-to-month energetic customers worldwide, it has been recognized because the most addictive social media platform, that includes intricate algorithms that hyper-personalize their approach into constant micro-hits of dopamine delivered straight from our telephones. The truth that a mean American spends nearly an hour per day on TikTok makes it arduous to disclaim that TikTok is distorting time notion and stealing away our lives.
In 2020, the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok attributable to considerations about information security and public opinion manipulation. The dialog served as a reminder that our beliefs are closely depending on what we eat on-line. Now, in 2025, the ban risk is again on the desk, as soon as once more elevating questions in regards to the true price of fast leisure.
Regardless of widespread consciousness of TikTok’s psychological and informational prices, the variety of customers seeking to delete their accounts stays smaller than that of Instagram, with practically 460 thousand month-to-month searches. What’s much more fascinating is that just about 70 thousand customers per thirty days wish to restore their accounts, making them 5 occasions extra more likely to reactivate their accounts in comparison with Instagram customers.
#3 Snapchat
With its distinctive strategy to displaying content material that disappears after viewing, augmented actuality filters, and peer-to-peer messaging, Snapchat is primarily interesting to youthful audiences. The platform has now attracted greater than 900 million customers, however the social media pressures stay the identical. Privateness considerations, algorithmic hooking, and the customers’ tendency to submit for the sake of impressing slightly than expressing themselves.
Snapchat’s viral recognition amongst youthful generations didn’t go unnoticed. Within the first a part of 2025, the state of Florida filed a lawsuit towards Snap Inc., accusing the platform of deliberately pushing options that hooked kids into obsessive platform use. Nevertheless, regardless of these considerations, its person base continued to develop, with the month-to-month search curiosity for deleting accounts steadily declining since 2024. The newest information reveals global stagnation within the person base, so additional account deletions would point out a turning level, exhibiting that even youthful customers are beginning to lose curiosity and break away from the app’s grip.
#4 Fb
For years, Fb has remained the second most popular social media platform, with 3.07 billion month-to-month energetic customers. In contrast to with different platforms, sentiment is the driving power for the platform’s stability. Used primarily by older demographics, it usually serves as a digital reminiscence field and an area to take care of household and friendship ties from a distance.
The perseverance, nevertheless, gained’t final eternally, with Fb customers turning into more and more annoyed with Meta’s privateness insurance policies. In early 2025, a backlash towards the discontinuation of the third-party fact-checking program was adopted by a rise in Google search curiosity in “the way to delete Fb” and related queries. But one in 5 customers who deleted their Fb accounts later tried account recoveries, as revealed by sentiment behind search engine searches.
#5 X
X as soon as served as an outlet for exchanging public concepts and opinions, nevertheless it has successfully transitioned right into a platform that promotes disagreements slightly than concepts, reaching 586 million month-to-month energetic customers. The anger that X provokes stimulates the identical neural circuits as pleasure, resulting in addictive person conduct. This basic reward mechanism is exploited, resulting in annoyed customers looking for a break from the platform’s grip.
The strain to maintain up with public opinion on politics additional strengthens the algorithmic grip over its customers, with three out of five customers claiming they use the platform to remain knowledgeable about politics. But the fixed publicity to outrage feeds a compulsion that greater than 1 / 4 of one million customers search to interrupt free from each month. The urge to depart grew stronger after Elon Musk’s 2022 takeover, when deregulation and declining belief turned the platform into an area of ongoing chaos.
Apparently, practically the identical share of X and Instagram customers search for much less drastic choices than account deletion, corresponding to blocking or non permanent deactivation.
#6 YouTube
YouTube stays the most popular social media platform, and its reign reveals no indicators of ending. Arguably, the explanation behind its consistency in recognition is the aim it serves. Used each for leisure and training, YouTube is favored by greater than 2.7 billion month-to-month energetic customers. You may even eat its content material with out ever logging in, demonstrating the profound integration into the day by day infrastructure that we use.
Towards its huge person base, the curiosity in account deletion stays comparatively low, with a month-to-month curiosity of 185 thousand. Regardless of rising frustration with AI-generated content material flooding the platform, the person base has remained constant since 2022.
#7 LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the one social media platform the place productiveness disguises its addictiveness. With roughly 310 million month-to-month energetic customers, the platform has advanced into an area the place resume archives have been changed by private branding. Customers are hooked on measuring self-growth by way of the efficiency of others, titles, and generally misrepresented efficiency metrics. This dynamic of ambition and insecurity retains a gradual strain on customers to stay energetic. Regardless of the strain, customers’ curiosity in deleting their accounts stays low, with solely 15 thousand month-to-month searches.
#8 Reddit
Neighborhood serves as the largest driving power behind Reddit, with an estimated 110.4 million day by day energetic customers. In contrast to different platforms, the vast majority of Reddit customers stay nameless, contributing to extremely specialised “subreddits” that in the end create a really intimate really feel to the area. The reward mechanism stays balanced, with upvotes highlighting probably the most significant contributions and feedback permitting customers to precise their opinions. Reddit’s worth lies in its neighborhood, so leaving the platform is commonly perceived as abandoning a neighborhood. The low exit numbers affirm that, with solely 8 thousand month-to-month searches for deleting accounts.
#9 Pinterest
Pinterest has earned its place in customers’ hearts by serving as a visible search engine and a planning instrument. With 578 million energetic month-to-month customers, its person base is closely skewed in direction of feminine customers. The DIY, dwelling decor, trend, and mood-board attraction stays unmatched by some other platform, so the excessive person retention charge comes as no shock, with solely 7,120 month-to-month searches indicating a want to stop.
#10 Threads
Launched in 2023, Threads is the youngest social media addition to probably the most used platforms. Owned by Meta Platforms, it serves as a micro-blogging area. Due to its integration into Instagram, the platform gained vital momentum, reaching 400 million energetic month-to-month customers in simply two years. The algorithmic solutions feed real-time conversations, so every submit has the potential to spark a public dialog instantly. The flip facet is its integration with Meta, making the choice to depart harder attributable to cross-platform connections. In the intervening time, curiosity in exit stays low, with 6,480 complete month-to-month searches.
Methodology
This examine reveals the person intent behind Google search throughout the ten hottest social media platforms in the US, as recognized within the Pew Research Center report.
To measure person intent to stop or deactivate social media, we used Semrush Key phrase Analytics to gather and group all related Google search variations associated to account deletion, deactivation, or restoration for every platform. Queries included phrases corresponding to “delete Instagram account,” “deactivate Fb,” “the way to disable YouTube,” and related user-intent phrases.
We then compiled month-to-month U.S. search volumes for these phrases to estimate the size of curiosity in leaving every platform. The total dataset displays common month-to-month search conduct as of 2025, revealing which social media platforms customers are most desirous to stop.
You may entry the full dataset right here.
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