I was in college when Facebook came out and I signed up right away, so I've had it my whole adult life. I found myself mindlessly scrolling and getting into political arguments with acquaintances and strangers, so I deleted my account for a year. This was also the year I was pregnant and gave birth, and it was really nice to keep these personal events off social media. My family and friends respected my wishes not to post about my pregnancy on social media, as I was at risk of being laid off if my work found out before I signed my next annual contract.
I filled my Facebook void with Twitter and Instagram, neither of which I find addicting and I only check them a few times a week. But I never had the same level of engagement. I enjoy writing reviews of movies, books, and TV shows to make recommendations my friends, and never got the same level of engagement on Twitter as Facebook. I also started reading MMM and hung out on a forum for AirBnB hosts (they told me about MMM actually, when I asked for some financial advise!).
I used Facebook to curate open-ended discussions about pop culture and just general life topics; I'm a professor in the humanities so I enjoy bringing friends together to talk through their ideas. A lot of people missed my posts and begged me to come back, so I did with more discipline. I hid or unfriended the people whose posts I didn't enjoy seeing or I felt tempted to just reply to argue. I made a point of not mindlessly scrolling.
I am also part of a small fandom (community of fans of an old TV show) that has an annual gathering, and I missed keeping in touch with people in between our yearly convergence.
When I returned to Facebook, I made a point to reform my ways: no oversharing, no engaging in arguments, no no mindless scrolling. However, I've been back a little over a year on Facebook, and am back to some of my bad habits. The toxic people are gone from my feed, and I don't post many status updates anymore, but I still read Facebook for a half hour before bed instead of reading books. I think I need to learn some intentionality/mindfulness techniques to kick my Facebook habit so I can have an account without being on it all the time. This is really my only "vice." My other vices (videogames, social drinking, recreational pot) I have no problem using moderately and they don't interfere with my productivity or self-improvement.