\I'M NOT DOING FACEBOOK!!!"" UW-Madison junior Allison Vertovec screams.
Vertovec knows all about www.thefacebook.com. Too much, if you ask her.
From checking out the political views of classmates, to finding out the screen name of a random crush, thefacebook serves as the one of the most expansive interactive database to hit universities nationwide.
And Vertovec will have nothing to do with it.
While she calls the site both ""addictive"" and ""ingenious,"" Vertovec refuses to participate, stating matter-of-factly that joining such a database would consume too much of her already precious time.
""I will not do thefacebook because it will take up my whole life and I can see myself becoming easily obsessed with it. It's like AIM only way cooler,"" she says.
If UW-Madison student participation is any indication, Vertovec is right.
Nearly 4,000 (approximately 10 percent) UW-Madison students have entered themselves into thefacebook database that became available at UW Sept. 5, according to an e-mail response from thefacebook Press Manager Chris Hughes.
And what began last winter as an interactive catalog for Harvard students now includes 167 colleges and more than 400,000 users. Hughes said the site adds between 5,000 and 10,000 students per day.
While Vertovec playfully describes the site as ""a fun little way to stalk people,"" her roommate, UW-Madison junior Brooke Mountford, takes the seemingly endless features a bit more seriously.
""When you first sign up, you need to have at least two hours of your time free,"" Mountford explains.
To register, UW-Madison students simply need to provide their e-mail address and a password to thefacebook. Once they confirm registration, users fill out a personal profile that includes basic information like name, gender, year and major. Putting a photo with one's profile is also a popular feature.
""The pictures are the coolest part,"" Mountford says.
A more advanced profile allows users to list favorite music, books, instant messaging screen name, organizations, jobs, political views and more.
Once users have developed their profiles, they can use the search button to find their friends on the database. Then they can invite their friends onto their ""friend"" list.
This is when the addiction begins.
""[The founder] wanted to combine an idea for a universal online database with an interactive social networking interface,"" Hughes explained.
Because users can click on any part of a profile to find others with the same responses, curious students can spend hours finding others with common interests.
Additionally, upon viewing someone's profile, the site tells users how many friends they have in common. So a user may view a random profile to find out their degrees of separation from a fellow student.
They can also find old high school friends on databases at other universities or look for fellow students by searching hometowns or fraternity and sorority houses.
Thefacebook asks users to list their class schedule too. This allows the site to produce a list of classmates that users can click on and leave messages.
Or, if flirtation seems more appealing, computer romancers can actually cyber ""poke"" another.
While the possibilities may overwhelm users, Hughes said thefacebook fans tend to find a niche.
""Different students use the site in different ways, but in general, our users return to thefacebook to find information on their peers, to make connections with friends and acquaintances and to communicate with one another. It's a reference tool and a means for communication,"" Hughes said.
Hughes added that veteran users of thefacebook are often surprised at the changing features. Thefacebook staff proactively seeks suggestions from friends and users to update the site almost constantly.
Recently, the site has incorporated voter registration opportunities, more profile questions about politics and the upcoming presidential election, birthday announcements and text messaging capabilities.
Thefacebook also allows users to form online organizations and appoint group officers, thus creating little niches for themselves and friends.
It's true.
You cannot, in fact, poke yourself.
And according to Mountford and Vertovec, there are some other drawbacks too.
Vertovec half-seriously admits if she registered, she'd feel stressed about people not ""confirming friendship"" through an e-mail sent by the site, thus refusing to be added to her friend list.
""What if someone you expect to be your friend isn't your friend? There's this whole element of drama,"" she says with a smile.
Mountford says she's worried about thefacebook replacing her precious AOL Instant Messenger.
""That's the thing,"" Mountford says, ""It's going to make AIM extinct. What if they start charging for AIM?""
But Hughes claims the creators of thefacebook had no intention of replacing previously existing programs.
""I think people use it as a complement to e-mail and instant messaging rather than replacing them,"" he wrote.
Also, similar sites to thefacebook have failed in the past. But founders of thefacebook are confident about the site, and were surprised at how fast it grew.
And with the first batch of senior thefacebook users around the nation graduated last spring, the site has expanded to include alumni. Although alumni may be seeking resources tailored to their needs as young professionals, thefacebook still remains strictly college-oriented.
With an uncertain future, the fate of thefacebook rests in the hands of college students nationwide. While site creators have no projection about how much the site will continue to grow, it is safe to say it will probably get one new member by January.
""Maybe next semester,"" Vertovec reveals. ""When I'm taking less credits.""
