Sharing common and uncommon interests has become easier with the arrival of thefacebook.com, a Web site that allows students at select colleges and universities to instantly connect to thousands of other students through common friends, classes and interests.

Kyley Makanani, University College freshman, said she spends an average of four hours a day on the site.

"It's very addictive," Makanani said. "It helps me keep in touch with friends who went to other colleges."

Chris Hughes, co-founder of thefacebook.com, said that currently there are 3,376 registered facebook users at OU.

Since Feb. 6, when Mark Zuckerberg of Harvard University first launched the site, The Facebook has expanded to include students from across the country. The current collection of participating universities runs the gamut from American University to Yale University. Some of the most recently added schools include the University of Arkansas, Bowling Green State University, Louisiana State University and San Diego State University.

Hughes said thefacebook.com became available to OU students on Sept. 5. He said efforts will be made to add as many schools as possible.

"Right now, we're shooting for a million users and we're not far off, so we'll see," Hughes said. "It'll probably be around 300 [schools added] by year's end."

The Facebook allows registered members to create a profile which, depending on the member's discretion, may include contact information, class schedule, interests and friends he or she is connected to via the Web site.

Members must have a university or college e-mail address of a school that is connected to The Facebook. By confirming a friendship with another student, one has entrance into the friend's social network. For example, by having confirmed a friendship with 47 other Facebook users, Makanani is connected to 718 people through friends.

Self-described as "an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities," The Facebook has proved to be habit-forming.

"I don't do homework-I do Facebook stuff," Makanani said.

While logged on to the site, Makanani checks the postings of the 35 groups she has joined. These include the Adrian Peterson for Heisman group of 369 members and the Couch 4 group, which Makanani founded Monday night.

"It was really easy [to start the group]," she said. "It took me two seconds."

The Couch 4 group currently has four members, all of whom are girls on Makanani's wing of Couch Center. Makanani said she began the group as a way for students on the fourth floor to get to know each other.

For other students, The Facebook allows them to reconnect with high school friends whose college paths might otherwise remain a mystery.

Scott Frame, University College freshman, said he lost touch with several of his classmates after graduating from Jenks High School. Without the connection The Facebook provides, Frame said he would not know where some of his high school classmates go to college.

"A lot of people who I thought would go out of state ended up here at the University of Oklahoma," Frame said.

While The Facebook allowed Frame to reconnect with his friends, it is not the best way to meet new people, he said.

"I don't think [a person's Facebook profile] is very descriptive of the person, if they're the one typing it," Frame said.

Aside from connecting to pre-existing friends, students can meet others with common interests by joining groups on the Web site. Groups abound from the Eagle Scout group to the more outrageous Napoleon Freakin' Dynamite or Chinchilla Fan Club.

At Knitters Anonymous, the group claims to welcome "anyone who loves a good 'stitch-n-bitch.'"

Emily Thorsen, University College freshman and creator of Knitters Anonymous, started the group at the beginning of November. Like Makanani, Thorsen said The Facebook's group creation option is extremely easy.

"It is really easy to create groups," Thorsen said. "That's why there are almost 700 now. I remember back in the day when there were only five."

Thorsen said Knitters Anonymous receives new members almost every day, with a current count of 32 members.

"The Facebook is so addicting," Thorsen said. "Having groups is just another way to meet people with the same interests as you."

Joey Berry, University College freshman, joined The Facebook last month and has since created the group John Mayer Me, which has attracted 80 members since it opened a couple weeks ago.

"I'm probably the biggest fan here [at OU],so I figured who better to make the group but me," Berry said.

While Berry said he spends relatively little time on The Facebook-about five minutes a day-he said sees it as a possibility to connect with other fans of his idol.

Berry said if the group found out about a show, they "could talk about driving there together."
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