Online social networks such as Thefacebook.com offer an increasingly popular method for students to reach out to others in a large and often faceless campus population, making the Internet world an even smaller place.
Online networking allows students to post pictures of themselves and to provide contact information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses. It also lets them message each other directly through the Web site.
Thefacebook.com is an online network for college students at over 30 schools. Since it added UCLA last month, Thefacebook.com has generated about 3,500 registered UCLA users.
Although students may only view the profiles of those at the same university, that limitation is eliminated once any student is added and confirmed as a “friend.”
All students are also encouraged to contact those at different colleges with whom they may have lost touch since high school.
“When making the Web site, we wanted to create something cool and fun where one could find others interested in the same things and provide useful information,” said Chris Hughes, one of the site’s founders.
UCLA’s very own
bruinwalk.com is planning to add a similar online function in a couple weeks.
The social network added to bruinwalk.com would be comparable to Thefacebook.com in that it would be “a social networking tool” that would allow students to connect both socially and academically, said Arvli Ward, Student Media director.
Though there are similarities, services that Thefacebook.com lacks are going to be implemented in bruinwalk.com’s program, Ward added.
Student Media is looking to develop an online networking function that is catered for UCLA as part of its efforts to improve service to students.
“There’s heavy demand, and there isn’t a university entity providing it,” Ward said.
Such online networking directories are attractive to UCLA students because they provide a way for students to meet others, said Kaitlyn Lim, a second-year political science and geography student.
“It’s lots of fun, and I like how they create a link for your interests so that you can find other people that way,” Lim said.
By connecting with others of varying backgrounds, students are able to create new bonds with others who they normally wouldn’t have spoken to.
Each of the online networking services is not only a system for meeting people to socialize, but also serve a scholarly function for finding other students in one’s courses.
“It is very beneficial to the students,” Lim said. “If you go to MyUCLA, you can see all your classmates. With this, it’ll be even easier to contact people.”
Some students voiced concern about online services taking up too great a part of people’s lives.
“It’s a good idea provided that people don’t overdo it,” said Eva Poon, a first-year undeclared student. “I’ve heard of people who spend all their time online instead of going out and doing things.”
Online networking may take away opportunities to interact with people in real life, Poon added.
“There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing,” Poon said. “You can meet them online if you’re really afraid of meeting new people, but people need to develop face-to-face skills too.”
Online networking also prevents people from knowing the true identity of those with whom they interact.
The lack of face-to-face interaction allows people to create an online personality different from one’s day-to-day self, said Rachel Tellez, a fifth-year communication studies student.
In addition to using online networks to meet others and forge new friendships, one could also join school organizations and other extracurricular activities, Tellez said.
Even in the face of the limiting aspects of online networking, Hughes emphasized one of the main reasons he helped to create Thefacebook.com.
“We just want people to have fun with it,” Hughes said.