http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/03/29/no.facebook.lent/

Every year for lent, Catholics and other people who celebrate lent are adding new vices to their list of things to give up. Instead of the usual foods, drinks, or cigarettes, people are forfeiting their online social networks for the Lenten season. Online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook and Instant Messaging Services provided by AOL, MSN, and Yahoo, have been booming in the past 5-10 years, and a lot of people have been finding themselves spending too much time on these websites and services. With features such as listing interests and personal information, global and private chatting, and sharing other types of information, people can spend hours updating their own profiles or viewing others.

People who celebrate lent like to try to give up something that is really important in their everyday life and online social networks certainly falls into this category for many people. A lot of people who participate on these websites find themselves subconsciously visiting these sites when they open an internet browser, even if it wasn’t their original intent to go online. The choice of giving up online social networks may prove to be very beneficial when they find out how much more free time they have to allocate into other areas such as school or jobs. Nonetheless, these online services continue to attract and keep many people entertained with their ability to connect people from as far as around the world or as close as to the next room over.