Caving to Thefacebook phenomenon

By Meghan Donovan

Every night before she goes to bed, Megan spends a full hour reading her facebook profile and other peoples' online bios. Though the sophomore knows the web site is a distraction, she and other Santa Clara students are hooked.

Thefacebook.com, an online directory, provides a site where college students can post personal profiles and list information like favorite movies, instant message screen names, and the classes in which they are enrolled. Students can collect facebook "friends" by requesting permission to add that person to their online buddy list, but only if that person "confirms" the friendship.

"The idea was to make Thefacebook a resource for both information and communication, but at the same time, it's fun to use," said Chris Hughes, co-founder and spokesperson for Thefacebook.com, in an e-mail. He and four of his Harvard friends created the Web site after a late-night dorm-room conversation discussing the print facebooks traditionally given to incoming freshman students.

The site now boasts over two million users at 430 schools both in the United States and abroad since going online last winter. Students find the site both useful and entertaining, which is what has contributed to Thefacebook's great success in the past few months.

And while its popularity continues to grow on Santa Clara's campus, so do concerns about its potential safety risks.

"Unfortunately (Thefacebook) has been used nationwide for a much more sinister and troubling phenomenon," said Phil Beltran, assistant director of Campus Safety.

After receiving complaints from students regarding Thefacebook allowing people to get in contact with them, Beltran and other administrators are urging school communities to remove, or at least rethink, its presence.

"It's not the best feeling when people you don't know can have access to your profiles and personal information," sophomore Erica Barnes said.

"I know it's important to beware of random people requesting me to be their friend, but it's scary at the same time."

But simply refraining from posting certain personal contact information on their profiles won't necessarily solve this problem. The system still tracks where students login on campus by cross-referencing an Internet Protocol (IP) address with a residence hall.

"It is important to be aware of what some of the possible implications are for posting a profile," said Tim Haskell, assistant director for the Center for Student Leadership. "It concerns me that the Web site will list where you last logged in. Putting your class schedule and other regular obligations on the site could increase the risk of harm, especially for women as well."

Haskell has a faculty account on Thefacebook and has done personal research on the site.

Though the directory may provide a means of unwanted spying, it also provides a different kind of security. Kathy Long, a professor in the communication department, attributes much of the site's popularity to the safety it provides from public rejection or embarrassment that students fear. Long says shy students who don't attend the party scene may especially like using Thefacebook for this reason.

"The online aspect of Thefacebook certainly has some social advantages for users," she said. Long teaches courses in interpersonal communication and communication and technology.

"It's a great way to put names with faces of people you've met," said freshman Meg McCormick, who enjoys being able to stay in touch with friends from high school through Thefacebook.

Others refuse to join the Web site because they say it fails to engender real relationships.

"I do not need a Web site to tell me how many friends I have or to show me other people with the same interests," sophomore Jonathan Joe said.

Long is also wary of the relationships made through the site.

"Just because you have a connection with someone doesn't mean you are connected," she said. "We may share some common attributes, but that doesn't mean we have a relationship. We have to do the relational work to build a friendship or partnership with someone else."

But using Thefacebook's 'groups' feature seems to bypass this process. Students can create groups based on common interests like campus organizations or fraternities. Common interests can range anywhere from "10 Dollar a Bottle Habit" to "Blonde People Unite" to "Anti-Popped Collars." Santa Clara's network includes over a thousand groups.

Administrators aren't pleased with the promotion of underage drinking and other illegal habits some groups boast as their common interests.

"For students who practice healthy and responsible technology use, I imagine that Thefacebook improves the quality of their life in some way," Haskell said. But, whether it be video games, television, or online chatting, Haskell believes that all technology being used by college students has the potential to lead to negative academic consequences.

Among students, the biggest complaint is that Thefacebook is distracting.

Despite security issues and doubts of quality communication, Thefacebook's popularity cannot be ignored as it has noticeably changed interaction on campus. Students have adopted it into their vocabularies, using words like "facebooked" and "facebooking."

"I think the site is great and while sure, maybe I was more productive than before I joined, I don't see any real dangers that the site presents," said junior Ross Nelson, co-president of Ruff Riders. "In-fact, it's helped the Ruff Riders come together to create a group and make announcements about school spirit related activities."

Students can learn more about the site at www.thefacebook.com.