Facebook - a worthy sacrifice during Lent

Addiction to social networks and status updates make Facebook an option to give up during Lent

I've given up red wine and bacon for Lent. I've even promised to not look at text messages during church service. Many give up cookies and sweets.

Now, among addictions to consider giving up: Social networks and status updates. 

One father is actually considering giving up Facebook. 

While this sounds absurd, the reality is that social networks are addictive. According to Quantcast, 62% of people who visit Facebook are considered addicts. This is lower than MySpace, which has 70% of visitors defined as addicts. Nonetheless, the addiction to Facebook has put this social network prominently at the top of one father's list of sacrifices.

Kevin Shine, a 39-year-old electrical contractor said he can give up clams - which he hates, but abstaining from posting "status updates" on his every move and logging on, which is about 20 times a day? Now, that's an option. "It's my candy." 

More from the WSJ, which reported Shine's story: 

But as Christian parents ponder an appropriate sacrifice, they find themselves mulling a choice they'd have once seen as preposterous: A Facebook fast -- not for their teens but for themselves.

Lenten sacrifices are meant to honor and in a small way reenact the 40 days Jesus is said to have wandered the wilderness, fasting and resisting temptation. Abstaining from Facebook for the 40 days of Lent was the rage among college students last year. This Lenten season -- which starts next week on Ash Wednesday -- the cause has been taken up by a surprising number of adults. The digital sacrifice won't be easy, they say, but it may help them reclaim their analog lives.

(Image source: blogs.zdnet)