I've never quit Twitter for more than a week, but I don't hesitate to unfollow people when I decide I am tired of their tweets, and I don't engage in silly behaviors like following back indiscriminately. I do similar pruning of the RSS feeds I read.
For example, I decided to go on a "politics detox" the week before the Republican primary and unfollowed all but one political reporter and unsubbed from all but one political blog. I didn't miss the content at all, and I daresay I was a happier person for it.
Anyway, my point is, you don't necessarily have to quit the whole platform, sometimes all you need to do is manage your use of it. Know yourself and know your limits, then adjust accordingly. It seems to me like a lot of people just accept the firehose of input into their lives without considering the impact it will have on them. I always wonder how people who follow hundreds of other accounts keep up with it (well, I guess they're using something like TweetDeck to focus on the accounts they care about most). Interestingly, the number of accounts I follow on Twitter tends to hover around Dunbar's Number.
This. During the primaries I unfollowed several obnoxious tweeters (all left, since I can't find anyone on the right in the tech sector), and did the same for Facebook.
My rule of thumb is, if we interact or you're in my phone book, we stay connected. If not, or you simply generate noise that doesn't help me utilize the platform for my specific needs, then you're removed/filtered.
When Facebook isn't used as a public ledger of who you're friends with, there's freedom to use it for productive purposes rather than e-stalking.
For example, I decided to go on a "politics detox" the week before the Republican primary and unfollowed all but one political reporter and unsubbed from all but one political blog. I didn't miss the content at all, and I daresay I was a happier person for it.
Anyway, my point is, you don't necessarily have to quit the whole platform, sometimes all you need to do is manage your use of it. Know yourself and know your limits, then adjust accordingly. It seems to me like a lot of people just accept the firehose of input into their lives without considering the impact it will have on them. I always wonder how people who follow hundreds of other accounts keep up with it (well, I guess they're using something like TweetDeck to focus on the accounts they care about most). Interestingly, the number of accounts I follow on Twitter tends to hover around Dunbar's Number.