UK university in social media blackout - and urges students to do same

A UK university is taking the “unprecedented step” of switching off its social media channels to encourage students to do their own digital detox.

De Montfort University, in Leicester, is going on a social media blackout between Wednesday and Monday.

The university is trying to draw attention to the impact of “unrestrained” social media use on mental health. During the five-day period, it wants students to join in the experiment to see if it makes a difference.

Vice-chancellor Prof Dominic Shellard said: “I have been really struck and shocked by the degree to which their over-engagement with social media is having a negative impact on their mental health.

“The last thing we are doing at night is flicking through our Twitter feeds. We wake up in the middle of the night and we are looking at our Instagram.

“Some of us, me in particular, have lost the ability to sit quietly for three minutes and not be flicking through their phone.”

He added: “We are going to use it [the blackout] as an experiment to see if it makes any difference.”