Colleges like the University of South Florida (USF) and Bryant University are making it a point to request students refrain from taking selfies during the commencement ceremony.

According to the Associated Press, schools specifically do not want graduates taking photos of themselves when they are on stage accepting their degree. USF and Bryant insist their intention with the ban on selfies is to keep the ceremony from getting any lengthier than it already will be.

"Selfie" was Oxford University Press' Word of the Year in 2013. Snapping a photo of oneself has become a phenomenon due to the rise of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Encouraging the selfie even more is its widespread use; from Ellen Degeneres' Oscars shot, to President Obama's at Nelson Mandela's funeral, to selfies from above the Earth, to David Ortiz's White House selfie and the plethora of shots James Franco posts on his Instagram account.

"It put the idea in my head," Anthony Sanchez, a 22-year-old microbiology major at USF, told the AP of his reaction to the school's ban on selfies. "I wouldn't have thought of it until they said don't do it."

While Sanchez admitted to rarely taking any self-portraits, USF mass communication major Kyra Ciotti said she takes selfies for almost any occasion. She planned to take one on stage to share with her sister in Australia, but now will refrain.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," she told the AP. "But I don't want to be disrespectful."

USF and Bryant will not deter students from snapping selfies during the ceremony, just not on stage. Michael Freeman, USF's dean of students, noticed several students taking selfies on stage during the Dec. commencement. He issued the ban for spring since the ceremony would be much larger and longer.

"I don't have an anti-selfie bent," he told the AP. "I would just caution students to think there's a time and place."

Freeman even warned students that taking a selfie on stage could result in their degree being withheld, which he admitted was "basically an empty threat."