The university conducted a study into the effects of the internet on 200 students in the US between February and March this year. The students experienced anxiety and felt they were losing the ability to function well without their regular internet dose.

The study found that the most difficult part of giving up online media was being deprived from emailing, instant messaging, text messaging and Facebook.

The students in the study also showed no loyalty to news programmes, a news personality or news platform. They did not maintain a serious relationship to news brands and did not know the difference between news and general information.

One respondent said that he felt lonely and secluded when he was deprived of texting and instant messaging online. Susan Moeller, the study's project director, said many students wrote about how they hated losing their media connections.