Liu Yu has felt like a “fish out of water” for the past few days.

This 26-year-old Beijing clerk* was just one of millions of netizens coping with life without access to the MSN instant messaging service since the severing* of undersea cables* as a result of two earthquakes* that rocked Taiwan on December 26.

“The breakdown* of the MSN service since last Tuesday brought a sudden end to my familiar cyber* world, making my life dull* and boring,” said Liu.

An online survey* by Sina.com, the country’s leading news Web site, found that at least half of the country’s 15 million MSN users were affected by the breakdown.

The syndrome* has been so widespread* that a blog essay competition on the theme of “days without MSN” held by Sohu.com attracted hundreds of netizens within a few hours on Friday.

“Days without MSN are simply so unbearable*,” wrote most of the netizens, many of whom asked online for ideas to kill time.

They also said that a symptom* of the syndrome was that they clicked every 10 minutes to check whether the MSN service had been restored* and could not concentrate* on their work.

In addition to a dull life, office workers also complain that the Internet breakdown had made their work less efficient, making online communication with their overseas business partners impossible.

“The breakdown clearly shows that the world is so closely linked together,” said Zhou Jia, a businessman in Shanghai.

According to experts, the main reason for the syndrome is that many people’s lives have become dependent* on the Internet.

“For many people, frustrated* interpersonal* relationships in reality have led them to choose the cyber world for consolation*,” said Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor at Beijing University.

“When one channel is cut off, they will feel greatly uneasy and try to find alternatives*,” said Xia.

(SD-Agencies)