Did you find yourself sneaking away from the family hearth to post about your attempts at making figgy pudding or to see what Santa had brought your friends for Christmas?

You weren’t alone. First of all, there was Sarah Palin, who posted a brief holiday note to her 1-million-plus supporters.

And then there was Craig “Lazie” Lynch, a brassy British criminal on the run who has been taunting police by posting photos and updates on his Facebook, such as this corker: a shot of him in his skivvies wearing tinsel, holding a turkey and flipping the bird. Might wanna set your profile to private, mate.

But in all seriousness, this is big news: For the first time ever, Facebook was the #1 trafficked site over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the U.S. (It’s worth noting that the site was #2 behind Google last year.)

Cynics will say that we’ve become a race of Internet-addicts who have forgotten how to connect with each other in person. And if you ignored your family in favor of the computer over the holiday, that’s obviously no good, whether you’re Facebooking, Twittering or playing computer solitaire like it’s 1999.

But I think most people who contributed to FB’s rise to no. 1, myself included, used the social networking site as a way of spreading the holiday cheer. As I do basically every day on the service, I used Facebook over X-mas to interact with friends and acquaintances I wouldn’t have communicated with otherwise. When it didn’t interfere with family time, of course.

Surely Baby Jesus will understand.

Now, looking for a belated Christmas gift for anyone? Here’s a suggestion for ya: