Going into winter break, I had a basic idea of what was in store for me during my time away from the 38152 ZIP code. My break was going to be spent working at the office, watching Seinfeld on DVD and eating my fair share of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes.
I did not expect that I would be bombarded by friends about how great it was for them to be a part of thefacebook.com.
Yes, I was constantly told how great a Web site was. I was told by many different people from many different schools.
To me, that meant one of two things:
1. Thefacebook.com is something I should check out.
2. All my friends are dorks.
I went with all of the above. And, I think I was right. Though, it is not just dorks who are obsessed with this "book."
Founded last February by Harvard students, thefacebook.com calls itself a free "online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges." It is a new Internet venue where you can meet and interact with friends. From what I have seen of it, the site is basically a place where you create a profile and use it to build a list of friends who have similar interests at your school. All you need to sign up is a university e-mail address.
After looking at the site, I came to the conclusion that thefacebook.com may be the greatest thing since the tagless tee. Unfortunately, The University of Memphis is not yet a part of the Facebook. Therefore the more than 20,000 students at The U of M are not a part of it either.
We are left out of what has become a huge word-of-mouth craze at college campuses across the country.
Almost every respectable higher institution of learning is a part of thefacebook.com. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Mississippi State all have thousands of people "facebooking" each day. Nine Conference USA schools including DePaul, TCU, South Florida, Tulane, UAB, Cincinnati, Marquette, St. Louis and East Carolina are a part of it. Not to mention, the Facebook is available at every school the Tigers have played against in a bowl game the last 30 years. So, why is The U of M not included?
We would have been one of the first universities on Facebook if the site added colleges based on the school's number of plasma screen TVs. Instead, the site says it adds colleges based on the number of requests they receive.
You can request that our university be added to the Facebook by going to thefacebook.com/contact.php and simply typing The University of Memphis in the box next to "new school."
Even if the idea of having the Facebook does not intrigue you, the thought of beating Louisville to the list should be motivation enough for you to log on your computer and suggest The U of M be added.
