Boston University students have grown accustomed to conversations about the increasingly popular web service, thefacebook.com, a site that has sparked much interest, disgust and competition across campus.
More than 6,300 students, faculty and administrators – even Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore and several student groups promoting events – have signed up on the site from Boston University alone, and there are more than 70,000 people on it from the 19 schools on the site, according to site officials.
BU was added to the site a month ago, and it has inspired avid support and passionate opposition ever since.
“I think it’s a great way to recognize people on campus,” College of Engineering senior Joe Rollin said. “I’ve gotten two dates out of it. We went out for coffee. It was nice.”
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Kara Vaneck said the website has helped her meet people, though it could become dangerous for some.
“I think it is a good thing,” she said. “I know it’s really hard to meet people. But when it becomes an obsession, it’s not so good.”
Georgetown University freshman Greg Pope said he was impressed by the website and its effect on students.
“I was surprised – I didn’t know this could happen,” he said. “The phenomenon is down here, everyone is talking about it or on it … although I don’t really understand it.”
But apart from the thefacebook.com’s advantages, CAS sophomore Nora Rasman said the site can become a major waste of students’ time.
“I wish people would spend the same amount of time doing social justice work as they do on the facebook,” she said.
The website seems innocent, but putting personal information on the internet can have frightening side effects, School of Management freshman Crystal Bates said.
Bates said a friend of hers feared that a member of thefacebook.com from Harvard University was stalking her after messages from him criticized who she was dating. The friend decided to ignore the student and fortunately nothing came of the incident, she said.
“I think it’s kind of weird keeping track of friends,” Bates said. “I don’t need that.”
In addition to meeting people, thefacebook.com has proven to be a competitive game for some. Now well-known College of General Studies freshman John McGuinness used the site to gain more than 1,000 friends. Other members have reacted differently to his work.
“I think [McGuinness is] just trying to mock the website,” Rollin said.
School of Education sophomore Amanda Lord was annoyed at McGuinness and decided to retaliate.
“I added [McGuinness] as my friend and then I found out what he was up to and deleted him just to spite him,” she said.
McGuinness, who was unavailable for comment, did send his “friends” an email recently saying he would remove himself from the site.
“Thefacebook.com is a fabulous website, and I encourage its growth so it becomes the best way for people to meet each other. You know, become real, genuine friends … just like we all have already,” he said in the email obtained by The Daily Free Press.
Thefacebook.com Press Relation Manager Chris Hughes said he believes the site serves a definite purpose. Many students are enjoying it, he said.
“We have received a good deal of positive feedback about the site,” he said in an email. “Most people are saying they are having a lot of fun using it. We’ve also heard quite a lot that people are thankful for the site because of its ability to provide useful information.”