How about you, how long into the day before you go online?
It’s the first thing I do after I make a bathroom stop.

What is the correct answer for maximum virtue?

Gosh, I would say probably the first thing I do when I wake up, if my wife is already up and in the living room, is check my incoming text messages and mobile email. My phone is my alarm clock, so I have the volume set on silent except for the alarm so I don’t keep getting woke up by tones from Super Mario Bros. (the original NES game, it’s my message theme). So it’s a-short-step-to-no-step-at-all from turning my alarm off to checking for messages.
If my wife is still in bed with me, I put the phone down after turning off the alarm – and that’s all you need to know!
I manage my blog, email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts from my BlackBerry, sometimes I feel almost like it’s a cyborg implant or something (especially when I wear my Bluetooth) – Cyberdine Systems couldn’t have done better.

I’m sorry to have to admit that I am one that checks that stuff before any biological function, too. It’s kinda strange since there usually isn’t anything urgent to deal with, it’s really more habit than anything else.

During the week, I bathe and get dressed for work while watching the Today Show. I only go online after I get to work which is about an hour after I get up. On the weekends, I usually check Facebook, Twitter and e-mail before or while having my breakfast. There are days though that I can see it’s a mindless distraction and so I pull myself away from it and do something more constructive.
In the NYTimes article, I found it interesting that the writer said there were good reason for families going online so early. They then cited adults checking e-mail from co-workers in other time zones and kids checking for messages from friends with different bedtimes. The adults I understand, but the kids?? That’s a good reason or even important? What is that important for a teen or younger that early in the day? Let’s just call it what it is–entertainment.

Not from bed (usually) but with coffee before breakfast.
I have thus far managed to avoid getting sucked into facebook or twitter, but defenses are weakening.

Pat, I don’t think that it is “just entertainment” for kids, teenagers anyway – it is often connection, and with real people.

My husband is the early bird and the more serious coffee addict, so he’s the first one out of bed and making coffee. This dear sweet man brings me my coffee in bed. So how does this relate to the story? On Sunday mornings, the coffee was accompanied by a section or two from the Sunday NY Times. Since we are now living in recession retirement mode, and are in a widespread cost-cutting mode, we canceled the Sunday Times. Now on Sunday mornings, he brings to me my coffee accompanied by my iPhone… where I read the Times online. All before my feet hit the floor. But only on Sundays… so far. Slippery slope? Maybe….

I noticed how getting online was the first thing I did every, and something felt not right… So I try to start the day with prayer before I check mails and whatever, but it doesn’t always work… I would be a really bad new monastic I guess…
Bram

With newborn twins in the house, it’s hard to define when I first get up anymore. It’s usually several hours into the day before I get online. The challenge for me is more evening – staying online maybe instead of going to bed; any others?
In an ironic twist, I was just reading a part of CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity, in which he writes, “That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.”

take care of biological necessities, gather breakfast, head to recliner, take morning pills, turn on computer and read sites while eating breakfast, which includes drinking beverages.

I’ve also recently started getting online in the morning.

Well, actually, I don’t get on-line here first–
I get my coffee first, then I read my Bible and then maybe and other book with the second cup.
But, I do get on-line next after that.

Up at 5:30am Coffee, shower, 30 minutes doing yoga, water my garden, fix breakfast for myself and sometimes my 4 kids, try to unload the dishwasher, and leave for work by 8:10am. On the weekends, usually sleep to 6:30-7:00am, coffee, meditation/prayer It’s a rhythm that works for me right now. I love the early mornings!

oh yeah, I forgot I usually check my email and sometimes read the headlines during breakfast, especially during the summer when the kids aren’t up.

If I don’t get my devotional time in first, it doesn’t happen. So, even though my Scripture reading is mainly via a computer program, I avoid internet browsers until that time is completed. Coffee, smoothie, and devotions – connect w/ God… then connectivity to people!

It’s rare that I don’t get online after my bathroom stop (like Wayne).

I generally get up at 5:00 and immediately turn on the coffee pot. I collect my journal, Bible, and pen and then turn on the computer. I will check mail for a moment and then begin reading, journaling, etc.
Afterward, I usually read the newspaper, eat cereal, yogurt or something else. I often watch about ten minutes of a morning news show–usually Morning Joe (MSNBC)