Facebook Me: The new way to make friends
Ashley Winseck
Issue date: 12/1/05 Section: News
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Forget about meeting new people on campus, these days students are using online directories to make new friends. They call it "friending on facebook."
The days of looking up a fellow student in the phonebook are behind us. Students are using the internet in a new way to stay in touch and meet new people.
Last year a new phenomenon washed over the life of college students. Facebook became a highly popular "online directory that connects people through social networks at school," states Facebook's homepage.
"I started Facebook because all of my friends were," said Maegan Warner, sophomore, Alford, Mass. "Everyone was talking about 'friending on facebook', so I wanted to see what it was all about."
Facebook's online directory allows users to fill out a profile of personal information which includes everything from email or mailing addresses, part time jobs, favorite books and movies, and multiple pictures.
Once registered, users can search through their school's facebook network for users who have similar interests, attended the same high school, or enjoy the same movies.
It is also possible to search for users "globally", or outside their particular school network. However, these profiles cannot be viewed until they have been added to the user's "Friends" list.
This online directory became so popular that the majority of Sacred Heart's students can be found with a facebook profile. A quick browse of the site determined that 2,046 females and 1,334 males from all four classes as well as grad students and alumni make up the SHU facebook network.
With more than 3,000 of Sacred Heart's students using the site, opportunities to meet people are endless. The Facebook website boasts that the directory can be used to "look up people at your school, see how people know each other, [and] find people in your classes..."
Students say that Facebook has made getting in touch with classmates easier.
"I used it the other night because I needed help with an assignment, so I looked up one of the people in my class and was able to get in touch with them," said Warner.
The days of looking up a fellow student in the phonebook are behind us. Students are using the internet in a new way to stay in touch and meet new people.
Last year a new phenomenon washed over the life of college students. Facebook became a highly popular "online directory that connects people through social networks at school," states Facebook's homepage.
"I started Facebook because all of my friends were," said Maegan Warner, sophomore, Alford, Mass. "Everyone was talking about 'friending on facebook', so I wanted to see what it was all about."
Facebook's online directory allows users to fill out a profile of personal information which includes everything from email or mailing addresses, part time jobs, favorite books and movies, and multiple pictures.
Once registered, users can search through their school's facebook network for users who have similar interests, attended the same high school, or enjoy the same movies.
It is also possible to search for users "globally", or outside their particular school network. However, these profiles cannot be viewed until they have been added to the user's "Friends" list.
This online directory became so popular that the majority of Sacred Heart's students can be found with a facebook profile. A quick browse of the site determined that 2,046 females and 1,334 males from all four classes as well as grad students and alumni make up the SHU facebook network.
With more than 3,000 of Sacred Heart's students using the site, opportunities to meet people are endless. The Facebook website boasts that the directory can be used to "look up people at your school, see how people know each other, [and] find people in your classes..."
Students say that Facebook has made getting in touch with classmates easier.
"I used it the other night because I needed help with an assignment, so I looked up one of the people in my class and was able to get in touch with them," said Warner.