Hopkins' facebook obsession

It is rare to find a biomedical engineer who is into hip-hop, foreign films and James Joyce. Now, however, with the birth of Thefacebook, you can discover the hidden talents, likes and dislikes of your friends and your friend's friends.

http://www.thefacebook.com, an online directory, allows college students to network with each other and meet students with similar interests, political views, and romantic needs.

"As a Google stalker of five years, Thefacebook opens up a whole new arena of online stalking for me," said senior Dan Raposa.

Here's how it works: first, a student signs up for the Web site, free of charge, by giving their name and school e-mail address. Then, the student readily divulges personal information such as cell phone number, screen name, dorm room, major, sexual preference and home address.

Students can also opt to include information such as their favorite books, movies and music, as well as their entire class schedule. Immediately after registering, the student will begin receiving solicitations from their friends, who in turn require a confirmation of the fact that they are, indeed, the user's friend. A list of all of the user's friends is available under their profile, including a grand tally which makes it possible to immediately discern how many "friends" each person possess.

Since thefacebook became available to Hopkins students on Aug. 21, almost 2,200 users have signed on to the site. Though its appeal is often hard to describe, the site has an addictive quality that has so far roped in over half of the student body.

"I tried to avoid thefacebook for as long as possible -- I even signed up with a fake name because I thought I would never use it," said junior James Covey, who is registered on the site under the name Roger St. Claire. "And then yesterday I gave it a try. I would say that in the last two days, I have probably spent 10 hours on the site."

The site was launched last February by a group of bored Harvard students, and since then has enlisted over 300,000 users at 99 schools across the country.

"It's blossomed from a product of late-night dorm-room conversations into a serious Web site," said Chris Hughes, a spokesman for the Web site.

Though Thefacebook didn't invent the notion of online social networking -- the precedent was set by sites such as Friendster.com and Google's Orkut.com -- the new site is constantly adding features to appeal to its attention-span-starved constituency. One such feature allows users to access their account using their mobile phones, meaning that busy students can leave messages on their friends' accounts without even going near a computer. Registered students can also text message m@thefacebook.com to look up other users' cell phone numbers, dorm rooms, and away messages.

One concern that the Web site has raised is whether it's safe for students to sacrifice their privacy in exchange for the ability to be stalked. However, according to Hughes, it's possible for students to have both.

"Thefacebook is a secure site with a myriad of privacy options. We're confident that our members are intelligent enough not to give out any personal information that they don't want to be public," says Hughes.

Thus, in an age where cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging, just isn't enough ways for students to communicate with each other, Thefacebook has established itself as a cross-campus force to be reckoned with. Besides abetting the relationship between next-door neighbors, the site has also reunited estranged high school friends, and even bridged the overseas gap for students who are studying abroad.

"I like getting messages from friends at home who let me know what's going on back in the States," said junior Bryan Kaminski, who is spending the year in Berlin.

For some, however, the art of online pursuit is one that is best left in its simplest form.

"When I want to stalk people online, I just use the student directory," said sophomore Travis Koh.