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What To Give Up for Lent? Twitter Reveals Top 100 Choices

What almost 500,000 tweets tell us people gave up in recent years.
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Update (Mar. 4, 2014): The 2014 tally of top Lenten tweets has begun.

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Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 days of Lent. But if you haven't decided what to forego during the Lenten season, it's not too late.

To help, look at what 141,000 Twitter messages (so far) suggest people are giving up this year.

The trendiest thing to forego in 2013? "Being pope."

On a more serious note, if past years are any indication, it's likely that social media, chocolate, swearing, and alcohol will take top honors among the Top 100 most frequently sacrificed personal vices.

Ironically, the analysis came from Twitter's API, which Stephen Smith analyzes each year to provide a look at what people say they plan to give up for Lent. In 2012, the analysis looked at a series of 300,000 tweets. The complete list based on that analysis follows at the bottom of this post.

CT previously reported the Top 100 vices that Twitter users gave up in 2012 as well as in 2011. In addition, CT's Mark Galli offered his thoughts on "giving up self discipline" for Lent last year.

CT has regularly reported on Lent, including three views on why bother celebrating Lent, what neuroscience tells us about Lent, Lent in Narnia, and the argument for lengthening Lent.

The complete list of the top 100 most-mentioned Lenten sacrifices (both serious and cynical) in 2012 is as follows:

1. Twitter

2. Chocolate

3. Swearing

4. Alcohol

5. Soda

6. Facebook

7. Fast food

8. Sex

9. Sweets

10. Meat

11. Lent

12. School

13. Junk food

14. Chips

15. Coffee

16. Candy

17. Bread

18. You

19. Smoking

20. Giving up things

21. Homework

22. Food

23. Social networking

24. Religion

25. Marijuana

26. Beer

27. Work

28. Stuff

29. McDonald's

30. Virginity

31. Cookies

32. Masturbation

33. Ice cream

34. Shopping

35. Fried food

36. Boys

37. Sobriety

38. Coke

39. Catholicism

40. Cheese

41. Nothing

42. Carbs

43. Red meat

44. Procrastination

45. Desserts

46. Pizza

47. Pancakes

48. Sugar

49. Rice

50. Breathing

51. Me

52. Texting

53. Starbucks

54. Fizzy drinks

55. French fries

56. Diet Coke

57. Porn

58. Tumblr

59. Wine

60. Makeup

61. Liquor

62. Booze

63. College

64. My phone

65. Life

66. Caffeine

67. Laziness

68. Chipotle

69. Tea

70. Chicken

71. Cake

72. Sarcasm

73. New Year's resolutions

74. Takeout

75. Men

76. Pork

77. Christianity

78. Sleep

79. People

80. Caring

81. Juice

82. Snacking

83. Lying

84. TV

85. Complaining

86. Church

87. Him

88. Sweet tea

89. Lint

90. Vegetables

91. Talking

92. Bacon

93. Being mean

94. Pasta

95. Eating out

96. Negativity

97. Eating

98. Biting my nails

99. Nutella

100. Being nice

March
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