Musings from a woman on the edge

By: Katrina Penaflor 
managing editor

I’m convinced my Facebook feed is just an increasing pile of things I never want to read about, but continue to look at on a daily basis.

Facebook, in a sense, is like fast food. It sounds so good at first, it’s super convenient, and it’s absolutely amazing when you first start. Then, as time goes on and you consume more of it, like a lot more of it, it sort of makes you sick.

I’ve definitely hit the side of overconsumption where Facebook is making me sick, or maybe I’m just sick of Facebook.

The other day I saw this post that was shared thousands of times, and at least five times by people I’m friends with on Facebook that talked about splitting up the lottery winnings. Maybe you’re familiar with it; it said something along the lines that if the 1.3 billion dollars was split evenly among all the people in the U.S. then everyone would get four million dollars.

I don’t even know where to start on addressing this. The math, first of all, couldn’t be more inaccurate. And on a second note, when I read the comments beneath this post I was actually convinced that some people will believe anything they read online.

And this madness of believing 1.3 billion divided by 300 million equals four million has actually become the norm for what I see online.

I’m constantly seeing things that leave me shaking my head and wondering why I’m still reading post from people that I never interact with in real life. The “unfollow” or “unfriend” button is continually getting pressed.

I’m finding that the only good things I see on Facebook are those addicting Tasty videos that show me how to make pizza dips and Oreo stuffed donuts. Or pictures my cousin uploads of his new baby.

So why do I keep logging on and reading what everyone has posted and shared? Why can’t I pull myself away from what some would consider internet garbage?

Maybe food videos and baby pictures are enough to keep me logging back on. Or maybe I’m just stuck with the fear of missing out on something that’s actually important.