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Facebook - unholy?

The other day we were discussing Lent, what with today being Shrove Tuesday and all – with tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, the official start date for the whole pre-easter fasting affair.

Not being religious in any one direction or other, I thought I’d take the most middle class option: instead of fasting – literally going without food or water for around a month – I’d give up something much more non-essential; a luxury item, like chocolate, or champagne.

So that left me in a quandry: I don’t eat much chocolate, have quit smoking altogether and am still managing to run between 3 and 6 miles a day as I prepare for the 2010 Olympics (well, the Great Edinburgh Run first, but obviously I’ll get scouted for London 2010) – how to find a luxury that I haven’t already given up?

I needed something totally non-essential, easy to give up, and which wouldn’t be missed from my already ridiculously presbiterian lifestyle. Then it struck me as I was flicking through some photos of a group of people I don’t know (because they’d tagged one of my friends seemingly completely at random): Facebook!

Give up Facebook for lent!

So I have. And you can too. Just click on deactivate account – then Facebook gives you the option to explain why. I suggest hitting “I don’t find Facebook useful anymore”. I did, then entered the following information:

After several years of effort, I feel I’ve given Facebook every chance: I just don’t see the point.

You can do this too – the great thing is, at the end of Lent (i.e. at Easter) you can just login again and your account will be restored as if nothing happened – so a Facebook fast rather than a complete cold-turket style give-up. However, you might be able to stay away forever, which would ultimately do much for your spare time and your work ethic, who knows…