Antisocial networking? Pa. college blacks out Twitter, Facebook, other media for a week

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A week without Facebook? Pa. college tries it out

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A tiny university in central Pennsylvania is making waves with a bold experiment: blacking out social media for a week.

That means students and staff at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology can’t access Facebook, Twitter or a host of other social networks while on campus.

Provost Eric Darr says the blackout that began Monday is not a punishment or an effort to ban the sites. He says it’s a way to evaluate the role of social media in people’s lives.

Some students say the exercise is helping them focus in class. Others say they text-message instead or use the blocked sites off campus.

The experiment has drawn both praise and derision from the Twitterverse, blogosphere and academia.