Students seek Twitter restriction

Diligent students at Bournemouth University want to get their work done

University students are complaining they cannot get enough work done because fellow students are hogging computers to use Facebook and Twitter.

Bournemouth University Student Union has said some computers should be marked for academic use only.

Final year students who need to use university computers have said they cannot access them for important work.

But university officials say social networking sites are also sometimes used for legitimate academic reasons.

The Student Union says it will display polite notices on the computers, asking students not to spend time on social networking sites while others wish to work.

'Be aware'

Miguel Dias, a final-year field archaeology student, told Wire, the university's student paper: "I come into university at 0900 to work on my dissertation thinking I've beaten the crowd to the computers, and I still can't get on them because people are on Facebook."

A university spokesman said it could sometimes be difficult to assess whether these sites were being used for academic or social reasons.

"The use of computers by students to access Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc, is not forbidden or restricted.

"In reality Facebook is now often used as collaborative tool for students and sometimes lecturers to share course-related information.

"Having said that, we do support the Student Union's forthcoming campaign to request or suggest that students using Facebook and other social network sites be aware of the needs of their fellow students and step aside when appropriate to give those with immediate academic needs a priority," the spokesman added.

Bournemouth Student Union will discuss the problem at its general meeting on 28 April.