‘What are you doing?’ asks the Church of England this Lent as it connects with people through the social networking site Twitter and a new Facebook application designed to get people to share their top tips for helping each other.

The initiatives are designed to mobilise a viral movement marking Lent with simple acts of generosity and thoughtfulness in the real world.

The new online tools will help users share daily suggestions and encouragement for small actions they can take to do something positive for their friends, neighbours or wider local community, as part of the popular Love Life Live Lent campaign that has captured the imagination of more than a quarter of million people over the past two years.

In 2007, more than 130,000 people joined in with Love Life Live Lent, many of whom opted to receive the daily suggested acts of service by text message. Last year, the suggested actions were available through social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace.

This year, suggested acts of kindness will include having a clear-out of unwanted clothes and toys and donating them to a charity shop, writing to an MP about a global poverty issue, creating a prayer space in the understairs cupboard or giving away a home-made gift.

The Love Life Live Lent campaign, which is marking its third year as a national initiative, argues that such actions can be as transforming and spiritually beneficial as ‘giving something up’ for Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday.

The Facebook application can be added to users’ profiles to keep their friends up-to-date on which actions they have been trying each day. The Twitter profile will see the Church sending out daily ‘tweets’, brief ‘blog’-style messages delivered to subscribers ‘following’ the Church’s profile, explaining that day’s suggested action and asking people to tweet back what they have done and the responses they receive.

Both tools have been developed by thruSITES, a London-based web design and development firm.

James Haycock of thruSITES comments: “We are excited to be working with the Church of England building their presence on Twitter and Facebook. The immediate and social nature of these sites presents the opportunity for a conversation, not just between the Church and their audience, but also amongst the audience.”