Facebook users may feel socially successful in cyberspace¹ but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams, according to new research into the academic impact of the social networking website.

The majority of students who use Facebook every day are underachieving by as much as an entire grade compared with those who shun² the site.

About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-olds are thought to use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social lives.

“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher in the education department at Ohio State University. “Every generation has its distractions³, but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.”

Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study practices and general internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook.

They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in varied⁴ from just a few minutes to more than an hour.

The Ohio report shows that students who used Facebook had a “significantly” lower grade point average - the marking system used in US universities - than those who did not use the site.

“It is the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B,” said Karpinski, who will present her findings this week to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

Some UK students have already spotted⁵ the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate in her final year at Loughborough University, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades - prompting her to deactivate⁶ her account.

“I was in the library trying to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said.

“I couldn’t resist going online, then someone’s photo catches your eye. Before you know it, a couple of minutes has turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a thing.”

Jones is among the few to have recognized the risks. According to Karpinski’s research, 79% of Facebook-using students believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work.

Facebook said: “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students, in consultation⁷ with their parents, to decide how to spend their time.”

一项针对社交网站对学业影响的最新调查显示，Facebook的使用者也许在网络社交中颇为成功，但他们在考试中往往表现很差。

与从不使用该网站的学生相比，每天使用Facebook的大多数学生成绩要低一个等级。

据称，16岁至24岁的英国人中约有83%通过Facebook，Myspace和Bebo等社交网站与朋友保持联系并组织社交活动。

俄亥俄州立大学教育系研究员阿林·卡尔平斯基说：“我们的研究表明，在Facebook网站上消磨时间越长的人，用于学习的时间越少。每代人都会碰到令人分心的东西，但我认为‘Facebook’是个独特现象。”

卡尔平斯基和同事对美国219名本科生和研究生的学业、网络使用习惯以及使用Facebook的情况进行了调查。

研究人员发现，65%的Facebook使用者每天登录个人主页，经常多次刷新页面，唯恐漏掉一条新留言，每次登录后逗留的时间短则几分钟，长则一个多小时。

俄亥俄州立大学的研究报告表明，按照美国大学的评分方法，与从不使用该网站的学生相比，使用Facebook的学生平均分“低得多”。

卡尔平斯基说：“这种差别相当于成绩为A和B的区别。”她将于本周在美国教育研究会年度会议上发表该研究成果。

英国一些学生已经意识到了这一潜在危害。拉夫堡大学的本科毕业生、21岁的戴西·琼斯意识到，在Facebook上消磨时间正威胁到她的成绩，这促使她注销了个人账户。

她说：“我在图书馆里写一篇两千字的论文时，突然意识到自己已经迷上Facebook无法自拔。我忍不住登录网站，接着被某人的照片吸引。在你发觉之前，已经过去了几小时，而不是几分钟，而你的论文还没动笔。”

琼斯仅仅是意识到这些危害的少数学生之一。根据卡尔平斯基的研究，使用 Facebook的学生中有79%确信他们在网站上消磨时间不会影响学业。

Facebook方面称：“也有科学研究证实使用Facebook这类社交服务有益。主动权掌握在学生手里，他们可以和家长商讨，决定如何分配时间。”

Vocabulary:

underachieve: to perform below expectations or achieve less than expected（学习成绩不佳）

shun：to avoid deliberately; keep away from（避开，避免）

deactivate: to cause to be inactive; remove the effectiveness of（撤销，使无效）

out of hand：无法控制