From Farmville to IRL: How to Give Up Your Favorite Facebook Games Without Actually Giving Them Up (part 2 of 4)

Hello! Welcome to part 2 of "From Farmville to IRL." Today's topic is Petville. 

Confession time: I've never actually played this game. However, I gather that you feed, play games with, and clean up after a cartoon pet. It's a bit like real pet ownership, except without any of the long walks, wrestling matches or belly rubs.

 Why is this game so popular, anyway?

Replacement Activities:

-Play with your pet.

This one should seem obvious, but I'm throwing it in anyway. Has real-life Muffy grown increasingly jealous of her virtual counterpart? Give your cat a massage, take your dog for a jog around the block, or teach your parrot how to swear in Klingon.

-Volunteer at an animal shelter.

Although this option eats up nearly as much time as Petville does, the warm, fuzzy feeling obtained from bottle-feeding an orphaned puppy, playing fetch with frisbee with a grateful golden retriever, or saving an abandoned kitten's life goes way beyond the high of reaching Level 21. (Plus, it looks great on your college applications!)

-Clean your room.

Hey, if you're willing to clean your pet's room...

Do you plan on trying any of these strategies? Do you think they'll work? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

Up next: Sorority Life.

From Farmville to IRL: How to Give Up Your Favorite Facebook Games Without Actually Giving Them Up (part 1 of 4)

As a former Sorority Life "addict," (Hello, my name is Kayla, and I've been sober for more than three months), I know how addicting these games can be. However, I've also played a game with better graphics, more minigames, and cooler rewards than any Facebook game will ever have (at least in our lifetimes).

It's called real life.

Now, I'm not just saying this. I know how it feels to dance that happy mental meringue when your perfect, pouty avatar flaunts a brand new strapless gown, or sit back with a satisfied sigh after Petville has flashed the "All Clean."

Nevertheless, I can't help finding these games somewhat… pointless. Captivating, yeah, but still sort of pointless. So, do you want to give up your drug of choice, but don't know where to start? Help, as always, is (relatively and figuratively)close at hand!

I've compiled a short list of popular Facebook games and the activities that can replace them. (It's like nicotine gum for someone attempting to quit smoking.) My ideas might sound crazy (Kayla, what could possibly be more fun than Farmville?) but try them anyway. You might surprise yourself!

First up: Farmville. Stay tuned...

Contest: Become a Guest Blogger!

While traveling along the internet superhighway in my imaginary car, (which, sadly, doesn't quite measure up to traversing  outer space in a telephone booth) I've noticed that many blogs often have guest bloggers: people who take over a blog for an entry and blab about whatever before the blog's real owner comes to their senses and kicks them out.

And I'm like, "I GOTTA GET ME SOME OF THAT."

Here's the deal: you, too, can become an invasive species- er, guest blogger- for the Facebook-Free Fridays blog. All you have to do is send an email to facebookfreefridays@yahoo.com. In less than a single-spaced page, explain why you want to be a guest blogger, why you would rock at it, and what you would blog about.  If your entry is one of the best, you'll get to stage a temporary take over of the blog!

I'm thinking two winners and one or two honorable mentions, or one winner and two honorable mentions, or perhaps even more. It all depends on how many entries I receive.

"Blogging" may stand for "web log," but it also stands for "awesomeness." So get in there and start writing those contest entries ASAP!

P.S.: The contest will run from now to the first Friday in March, but I'll notify winners along the way.

Facebook Fog Brain

Having a medical condition is no fun. Sure, you might get to miss school- but on the other hand, you're more out of it than Paris Hilton, your nose is more clogged than the New Jersey Turnpike at rush hour, and everything, even your favorite strawberry ice cream, tastes like cafeteria mush. Or you're allergic to the gooey, sugary chocolate chip cookies that your friends swear are OHMIGOSH SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. Or no one has heard of your condition before, and they're all like, "What?" and you have to explain it to them in excruciating detail, which is so very awkward. You then receive Pitying Looks.

The point of this post?

If you've gotten here from Facebook, you probably have a certain medical condition.

 And you don't even know it.

Don't worry, it won't kill you. However, as a fellow sufferer, I can assure you that it will make you miserable as heck.

The name of this insidious pseudo-disease?

Facebook Fog Brain.

To illustrate its nature, here's a little anecdote, mainly drawn from personal experience.

It's 10 PM. You've just finished five minutes of studying for a quiz, so you go on Facebook to check if anyone's replied to your oh-so-clever status. (No one has.)

Three hundred of your 1,029 friends are online. (Unfortunately, the thirty-seven or so that you actually talk to are not among them.)

Oooh, someone liked something! "Zebras are so chill because…" Hey, that looks pretty funny. You'll go on I Like and like it. And then you'll like a few more things… and a few more things… maybe take a quiz, and then refresh to see if the one person you really want to talk to has logged on yet… (Nope, he/she hasn't.) Has anyone posted a status update you want to comment on? (Nope.)

Refresh, refresh… go back to I Like and like a couple more things… refresh… maybe you have something better to be doing? No, you're too zoned out to care...

Before you know it, it's 12:30 at night. You're unbelievably tired, your butt hurts, and you still have to finish studying for your quiz. Oh, and your brain feels like a big bowl of disgusting, gooey-gluey plain oatmeal… in short, not only have you wasted an evening, you feel like… ugh. Just… ugh.

This condition, as mentioned above, is known as Facebook Fog Brain. It's one of the main reasons why I decided to create Facebook Free-Fridays… seriously, who wants to feel like an oatmeal-head? Yeah. Not me.

Of course, by 12:30 at night, it's a bit too late to salvage a wasted day- or my fog brain, for that matter. However, if you catch Fog Brain's warning signs, the best thing to do is to log off ASAP- or pamper your brain by signing up for Facebook-Free Fridays!

(Hint, hint!)

Have you ever suffered from the dreaded Facebook Fog Brain? Any guesses about what its warning signs might be? Or does Facebook give you another sort of made-up medical condition altogether? Questions, suggestions, compliments on my hair… hey, what do you think the "comments" box is for?

Change Your Status, Facebook-Free-Fridays-Style!

Facebook statuses are important. They tell the world what we're up to, what mood we're in, and- in a way- who we are.   You can't pick just any status; it has to be perfect. It's like a prom dress. Okay, you don't actually wear your status, but you want something that fits your unique personality and stands out from the tedious crowd. And if you plan to have the same status for an entire day, the choice can become even more difficult. With that information in mind, here are ten statuses that I'd be proud to rock my friends' homepages with for an entire 24 hours.  Some are serious; some are, well, not.

1. [name] is dead… or is she?
2. I've decided to go back to nature, like in that Spongebob episode, so I'm giving up Facebook for a day. Look for me- I'll be the pantless yodeler sprinting through your backyard.
3. 35 percent of young adults waste too much time on Facebook. SADFACE. Show your support by putting this as your status for 24 hours! (Oh, and by logging off Facebook.)
4. Don't you hate it when adults say that teens have no life apart from Facebook? As part of the grassroots movement Facebook-Free Fridays, I plan on proving them wrong. See you in 24 hours!
5. For the next 24 hours, I'll be on a secret mission with the FBI, so I won't be on Facebook… I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you!
6. Only two people have enough willpower to give up Facebook for 24 hours: Chuck Norris and [name].
7. Hey, adults, guess what? I can give up Facebook any time I want.
8. Texting + Facebook =  textbook, but (-Facebook) + getting off the computer = anything you want.

What will your status be on the first Friday in February? Share your ideas in the comments!

Convince Your Friends!

Hello, reader! I'm guessing that you're enlightened enough to have signed up for Facebook-Free Friday. Congratulations! However, some of your friends might not be as fortunate.  If that's the case, here are some ways to convince your classmates, siblings, and homies to RSVP.

1. Bribery. Everyone likes chocolate cupcakes, don't they? And if someone shuns sugar for health reasons, a dollar bill will seem equally sweet.

Best recommended for: Avid chefs, those with deep pockets.

2. Coercion. Now's the time to put your annoying younger sibling, your supply of portable midget Mafia goons, or your stash of mind-controlling serum to good use!

Best recommended for: Junior mafiosi, budding mad scientists, or anyone with a really annoying younger sibling.

3. Spreading the word! How will your friends sign up for Facebook-Free Friday if they don't even know it exists? Text them, drop a note into their lockers, leave long, rambling messages on their cellphones, or write messages in chalk on your driveways. Even easier: go to our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178217255528515 - yes, we appreciate the irony-) and invite everyone on your friends list. See? Mischief managed, and you didn't even have to leave your chair!

While this list may have been helpful, there are many more methods that you could try.  How will you get your friends to sign up for Facebook-Free Friday? Or have you already tried? Share your stories and tips in the comments! 

15 Things To Do Instead of Going On Facebook

I've noticed that many of my friends don't know what they would possibly do without Facebook to fill their time. With that in mind, I've compiled this helpful list!

1. Blast some music and dance around your room.
2. Buy string and beads. Make a necklace.
3. Cook something you've never eaten before.
4. Teach yourself a new skill, such as juggling or insulting people in Swedish.
5. Teach something you know to someone else.
6. Take a walk around your neighborhood. Say hello to a neighbor to whom you've never spoken.
7. Do volunteer work, or raise money for a favorite charity.
8. Dig out your Halloween costume and go trick-or-treating; alternatively, go around wearing your Halloween costume and give candy to everyone you meet.
9. Play a board game (e.g., Monopoly.) Invent your own rules.
10. Write a song… or a poem… or a short story… or a petition.
11. Take a book out at your local library. Read it. (Don't worry, no one's grading you on your reading comprehension, and you won't have to take notes.)
12. Remember recess? Grab some friends and play a few rounds of old-fashioned Capture The Flag.
13. Decorate all your notebooks and binders with stickers.
14. Write a letter to a random person from the phone book/ a friend you haven't hung out with in a while/a relative who lives far away/the editor of a local newspaper/your congressman/the President/Santa Claus. Doodle on the envelope.
15. Invent- or learn- a new word. Use it as much as possible.

How do you plan to spend your Facebook-Free Friday? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!