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at non-Greek Harvard University since the site became a national student addiction.
Launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard, Facebook was set up as an online, updatable replacement for the paper directories that freshman often receive their first week of school. Those directories often featured low-quality (or absent) mug shots and basic profile information of students.
"At the outset, Facebook was a project by and for Harvard students, but because over 6,000 Harvard kids signed up within the first three weeks, it seemed ridiculous not to open it up to a few other schools," Hughes said.
After opening membership to almost anyone with a .edu e-mail address, Facebook gained more than 4 million registered profiles, spanning upwards of 1,500 colleges nationwide. In addition to photos, personal interests and quotes, member profiles are often stacked with digital-dorm "whiteboard" messages from friends and acquaintances, whether on-campus or remote. The latest fad in Facebook "wall" hangings is to post large old-style digital drawings, often of a somewhat sexy figure, made of typed characters (such as ^^ for cat ears).
Now backed by Peter Thiel, a co-founder of eBay's PayPal division, and by Accel Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, Zuckerberg on Sept. 2 launched a high-school version of Facebook that could catch on as quickly as its college-centric big brother.
"College users are inviting high schoolers to seed the networks. From there, high schoolers can invite their friends, and the network expands," Hughes said. Viral marketing like this has proven successful for programs such as Friendster and Google's Gmail.
Given how many people use the site as a regular means of communication, Greeks aren't the only ones learning to be mindful of what they post on Facebook. At Boston College, some freshmen were warned by their resident assistants that using the site as a dorm party announcement vehicle isn't such a great idea.
"Before school started, a bunch of guys on the first floor were planning this party for the first night and did it via Facebook," freshman Tori Buerschaper said in an instant-message interview. "In the message board on the invite, there were people talking about how they were getting alcohol and why it might be BYOB (bring your own beer)...but it ended up not happening because the RAs caught wind of it," she said.
The Boston College frosh quickly learned to spread party plans by word-of-mouth. Meanwhile, most Facebook members nationwide are staying out of trouble in their profiles and using the site for what it's worth. "The whole point" of Facebook, according to Buerschaper, "is to find people with the same general interests as you or who are in the same classes. It's not like a personal ad."
Buerschaper advises not posting anything "too personal--and preferably no alcohol pics." One of her hallmates took her dorm room number down from her profile after "random people came to our room...Maybe they were drunk and bored?" Or maybe worse.
Facebook's Hughes agreed that "students should share only as much information as they feel comfortable," though he emphasized one site feature designed to make members feel safe about keeping their profiles candid.
"Facebook, unlike most Web sites, works similar to a gated community: Only other students at your school (as well as those whose profiles are linked to yours) can see your profile," he said. "When signing up and putting up information, you're not giving that info out to millions of random people but instead only (to) the members of your own collegiate community."
Still, there's such a thing as Facebook etiquette. In an August column for Bowling Green State University's BG News, D.J. Johnson advised fellow students to "not put any information that you don't want computer geeks to take advantage of. In reality, just by having your e-mail address and a picture online makes the rest of your life pretty accessible to the entire school. Don't make it any easier by putting (up) your phone number."
Johnson also recommended that his readers not "create or join groups of which you wouldn't be proud to tell your mother you're an 'active' member. Being a member of 'Drink Irresponsibly...or Don't Drink at All' or 'I Like to Put My Hands Down My Pants' isn't going to help you pick up any women. It's just gross."
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all free no advertising site devoted to the study of Greek / Homeric
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