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School bans Facebook for a week: five lessons students learned

Considering a New Year’s Resolution to cut back on Facebook time in favor of real face time with friends and family? A one-week blackout of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and instant messaging at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania prompted students and faculty to reflect on – and in some cases, change – their usage habits.

1. Stress of the 'Facebook twitch'

Nam Y. Huh/AP
Must ... update ... Facebook.

  • By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo Staff writer

One-third of the Harrisburg students responding to a survey said they felt less stressed during the blackout week this fall. Some realized that they normally feel compelled to check and update their Facebook pages, and the week felt like a vacation.

“They jokingly called it the Facebook twitch,” says new-media professor Charles Palmer, but by the end of the week a number of students felt relieved from that itch to go online constantly.

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