How did we ever survive without thefacebook.com? With only email, AIM, and the Rutgers' online search function, we were the dark ages of stalking. Groups, such as "College Is Making Me Fat And Stupid," used to be unheard of. Since February 4, 2004, thefacebook has changed the way college students communicate.
The site allows users to create profiles, connect with people in their classes and even reunite with friends from high school. To date, thefacebook has managed to take 370 colleges by storm.
"Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard, had the idea last winter," says Chris Hughes, thefacebook.com co-founder. "He wanted to combine an idea for a universal online database with an interactive social interface. The idea was sort of an extension of the traditional college facebooks with terrible freshman ID photos and boring information."
Hughes says the creation of the site took only a few short weeks - and a lot of late-night conversations -- with the four other co-founders.
thefacebook has over 1.6 million members, many of whom find themselves addicted to the site. "It is a new-age stalking tool that catches you by surprise as the hours go by," says Douglass College senior Genevieve Kelly. "All the stalking actually comes in handy when you are trying to find someone in your class."
In actuality, thefacebook creators have had very few complaints about stalking. "We attribute this primarily to two things," Hughes says, "the extensive privacy options our users have and the fact that in general; they're pretty savvy about what information they want to put on the web." For most, connecting with friends, as many as possible, is the strongest draw to the site."
The average number of friends per person is less than 100 at most schools," Hughes says.
Molly Sperduto, Rutgers College first-year, has managed to surpass the average with a whopping 257 facebook buddies. "Usually when I am at my procrastinating best, I'll search for people I know through clubs, classes, dorm, etc.," she says.
With so many friends, Sperduto has a difficult time keeping a name to a face. "My memory of names is selective, sop at times I can be really bad with them," Sperduto says. "As far as people I've facebooked though, I was able to commit their names to my memory fairly easily."
Should a facebooker profile be looking for quality or quantity? Maybe a little bit of both. Although she has so many friends, Sperduto has managed to keep in touch with many of her friends while away from the computer.
"Generally I have a soft spot for popularity," Sperduto says. "I like people and I love knowing a lot of them."
Some students seem to be collecting groups in the same way they collect friends. There seems to be a place for everyone. Rutgers College senior Angie Linares has 95 groups listed on her profile. "I got really bored at work," Linares says. "I have a computer and they don't let me do homework, so I just joined all the groups I found interesting."
And some are pretty interesting. Linares bypassed the "Booger and Rock Collection Group" for one about pirates. "I think the point is just to share an interest with people," she says, "even if its barbeque sauce or drinking during the week."
Fun and games aside, there are some aspects of the facebook that will irk you more than your high school yearbook picture. There is a fine line between keeping tabs on your friends and compulsively tracking down every attractive person you have ever bumped into on a Rutgers bus. Some online actions that can threaten to end your precious friendships. Luckily, there are some unspoken guidelines to keep obsessive facebooking in check.
Messaging is one of the site's most misused features. Douglass College senior Sarah Levine has received her fair share of odd mail. "A random guy from Mississippi State sent me a facebook message asking if I'd ever lived in Hawaii," Levine says. The Boston resident didn't respond to her foreign messenger because it was "just too weird."
The wall feature has also gained a great deal of notoriety. Each member has a message board on his or her profile where other members can post comments, i.e. "Jaime is the coolest girl I know! Love you babe!!" With time, it has become a forum to embarrass and harass fellow facebook-ers. The site does offer the option of removing your wall to prevent some online annoyances.
The ability to post pictures on the site gives members a chance to express themselves. Thefacebook does not allow any pornographic pictures to be posted on their site, but there are other forms of profile photos that will cause your friends to overheat. If there are other people with you or in the background, you should check to make sure they're looking their best.
Even the creators are taken aback by their site. "I feel like these days there's a group on thefacebook for just about everything," Hughes says. "We never imagined it would blow up like this. We've definitely been surprised."
The creators have also launched a new site, wirehog.com, where students can share pictures and media files with their friends. The site is not yet available at Rutgers, but in the same way as thefacebook, will soon branch out to accommodate as many schools as possible.
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