Editor’s note: For the pastthreeyears, Stephen Smith has used Twitter’s API to take a snapshot of what people say they are giving up for Lent. Each year, the list is a mix of the sincere and the sarcastic, the earnest and the anti-religious. But each year, it results in a fascinating look at American spirituality–especially with the recurrent themes of people tweeting how they plan to give up social networking for the 40 day season of fasting.
Congratulations, I guess, go this year to Charlie Sheen, who came in at both #23 and, with “tiger blood,” at #90. Justin Bieber is up several spots this year, so he hasn’t quite crested yet. The next-highest celebrity, who didn’t make the top 100, is British boy band One Direction.
“Trophies,” at #69, refers to the English soccer club Arsenal‘s recent defeat, or something.
The later start to Lent this year means that “snow” doesn’t appear on the list–last year, it was #48. Myspace hangs on at #99, dropping 48 places.
This list draws from 85,000 tweets from March 7-10, 2011, and excludes retweets.
| 1. | 4,297 | 0 | |
| 2. | 4,060 | 0 | |
| 3. | Chocolate | 3,185 | 0 |
| 4. | Swearing | 2,527 | +1 |
| 5. | Alcohol | 2,347 | -1 |
| 6. | Sex | 2,093 | +3 |
| 7. | Soda | 1,959 | -1 |
| 8. | Lent | 1,493 | -1 |
| 9. | Meat | 1,352 | -1 |
| 10. | Fast food | 1,303 | 0 |
| 11. | Sweets | 1,252 | 0 |
| 12. | Giving up things | 778 | +7 |
| 13. | School | 768 | +27 |
| 14. | Religion | 745 | +1 |
| 15. | Coffee | 707 | -3 |
| 16. | You | 675 | +6 |
| 17. | Social networking | 665 | +15 |
| 18. | Chips | 664 | +3 |
| 19. | Junk food | 594 | -1 |
| 20. | Bread | 571 | +6 |
| 21. | Smoking | 555 | -4 |
| 22. | Candy | 541 | -8 |
| 23. | Charlie Sheen | 511 | |
| 24. | Work | 482 | +4 |
| 25. | Stuff | 467 | -2 |
| 26. | Catholicism | 436 | -10 |
| 27. | Food | 395 | +3 |
| 28. | Shopping | 363 | +1 |
| 29. | Marijuana | 358 | +31 |
| 30. | Beer | 346 | -10 |
| 31. | Fried food | 307 | -7 |
| 32. | Homework | 306 | +27 |
| 33. | Cheese | 297 | +4 |
| 34. | Cookies | 293 | +11 |
| 35. | Red meat | 285 | -10 |
| 36. | Masturbation | 285 | +8 |
| 37. | Virginity | 253 | +26 |
| 38. | Pancakes | 252 | +20 |
| 39. | Rice | 236 | -5 |
| 40. | Booze | 235 | +2 |
| 41. | Coke | 234 | -3 |
| 42. | Boys | 229 | +24 |
| 43. | Sugar | 229 | -16 |
| 44. | Sobriety | 226 | +10 |
| 45. | Procrastination | 226 | -10 |
| 46. | Nothing | 219 | +21 |
| 47. | Winning | 219 | |
| 48. | Ice cream | 211 | -7 |
| 49. | Caffeine | 203 | -16 |
| 50. | McDonald’s | 195 | +27 |
| 51. | Church | 188 | +28 |
| 52. | Wine | 188 | -3 |
| 53. | TV | 184 | -7 |
| 54. | Starbucks | 183 | -15 |
| 55. | Texting | 182 | -12 |
| 56. | Liquor | 181 | -1 |
| 57. | Negativity | 180 | +26 |
| 58. | Carbs | 179 | +10 |
| 59. | Christianity | 177 | -12 |
| 60. | Justin Bieber | 176 | +9 |
| 61. | Pizza | 175 | -11 |
| 62. | French fries | 159 | +2 |
| 63. | Me | 157 | +9 |
| 64. | Losing | 155 | |
| 65. | Men | 152 | -13 |
| 66. | Fizzy drinks | 151 | |
| 67. | Porn | 147 | +4 |
| 68. | Lint | 147 | -11 |
| 69. | Trophies | 144 | |
| 70. | Tumblr | 144 | |
| 71. | Desserts | 142 | -15 |
| 72. | Chicken | 140 | +15 |
| 73. | Pork | 139 | -3 |
| 74. | Cake | 132 | +8 |
| 75. | Tea | 127 | +19 |
| 76. | Sarcasm | 127 | +14 |
| 77. | Diet Coke | 119 | -16 |
| 78. | Laziness | 118 | -13 |
| 79. | Sleep | 117 | -6 |
| 80. | Jesus | 115 | -4 |
| 81. | College | 111 | |
| 82. | Internet | 110 | -46 |
| 83. | Complaining | 108 | -9 |
| 84. | Breathing | 103 | |
| 85. | Takeout | 98 | |
| 86. | Beef | 98 | -8 |
| 87. | People | 96 | +11 |
| 88. | New Year’s resolutions | 96 | +1 |
| 89. | Him | 94 | -5 |
| 90. | Tiger blood | 92 | |
| 91. | Makeup | 91 | |
| 92. | Juice | 90 | -7 |
| 93. | Clothes | 89 | |
| 94. | My phone | 88 | |
| 95. | God | 87 | -15 |
| 96. | Abstinence | 85 | -15 |
| 97. | Stress | 84 | |
| 98. | Chipotle | 82 | |
| 99. | Myspace | 81 | -48 |
| 100. | Eating out | 81 | -25 |
This article first appeared at Stephen Smith’s OpenBible.info. Used with permission.
