Lenten Facebook Fast Update

The Lenten Facebook Fast is continuing strong. I have had to make three 1-2 minute exceptions: the first to reply to the Friend Request of a potential business contact (explaining as I accepted it that I wouldn't be back on until after Easter), the second and third to retrieve e-mail addresses and phone numbers of friends whose contact information I could have sworn I had written down *somewhere* already. One was actually church-related so, yes, I am justifying these visits in my own mind.

I have definitely been spending less time on the computer. Of course, some of that may be due to the insane work load I've had over the past three weeks as well as the Facebook Fast, but either way if feels good. I am receiving less e-mails with the Notifications feature turned off, which means it takes me less time to plow through my e-mails each day. In the past, I had thought Notifications were a time saver, as in, "Well, if I read the Notification than I can quickly delete the ones that don't need responses and save the ones that do until I have time to get on Facebook and delete them..." Uh-huh. Guess how many saved Notifications there are in my Inbox? Some from more than six months ago, I'm ashamed to say.

I had a revolutionary thought this week, thanks in large part to Pixie Mama: I can be on Facebook without being all Type A obsessive about it, as I tend to get with many things, especially technology. As Pixie Mama pointed out, Facebook is a social networking site. It's not meant to take the place of all social interaction, nor do you expect every comment you make to be returned/acknowledged. Now, you may be nodding your head in a "well, duh" fashion right now, but to me this was revolutionary. Not to reply to every single birthday wish I receive individually, but to acknowledge them in one big status update? That doesn't seem so bad. Smiling at the funny responses to my posts but not feeling obligated to comment on each one? Okay, yeah, I think I could do that. Responding to an important post on a friend's page via e-mail or even (gasp) telephone so I can really spend some time with them, get the whole scoop and offer my support? Sounds like a great idea!

I am keeping my fast until Easter. I am continuing to spend more time in prayer, at church, and with my family, per my agreement with the Big Guy upstairs. I'm not going to be deleting my account at the end of the 40 days, thought. Instead, I am going to practice Facebook moderation and continue the positive changes this fast has made in my life. Ommmmm :-)