Alcohol is harmful, but I have a glass of wine or whiskey from time to time. HN is my glass of whiskey.
I create an account, and delete it once I start feeling invested. If I can downvote people, I've probably ridden that account too long.
Once I start seeing the number next to my name and think "I should make that number bigger! This is fun!" then I've hit the point that I'm too invested. I'm letting the number make decisions, not me.
Then I delete it. I'll leave it deleted until I find a comment I simply cannot not respond to, and deal with being a green text person again for awhile. I'll get irritated at being blocked by default for most folks, and engage less.
It helps me self-moderate a slightly toxic experience so it's something I enjoy without it becoming a problem.
I think it's about tracking and profiling? Not wanting to be part of that is a valid choice and shouldn't be punished in any way.
Forcing a certain behavior or else you're considered suspicious is pretty twisted and dystopian. Not my problem whoever is doing this can't find a better way of separating threats from certain privacy conscious mental profiles.
I don't know that "resetting my account" is the solution to "harmful and I want to avoid". I get why you're doing it in your mind (and there's validity to some parts), but to me "I see social media as harmful" means "I don't go on social media", not "I keep going on it, just with different credentials every so often".