Thefacebook.com spread like an epidemic last semester. Now that thousands of students have gotten involved, Thefacebook is more than just an online social network.

Students are sending mass messages via Thefacebook concerning many things like publicizing bands and campaigning for UOSA president.

However, new technology usually comes at a price, and Thefacebook is no exception. Members have the option to provide personal information on their profile, giving anyone with an account access to information like their addresses and phone numbers.

"It scares me that people are providing personal information like addresses and phone numbers to anyone that has Thefacebook," said Ashley Lengen, international business and marketing junior. "It leaves you very vulnerable."

The information fields that most members fill out disclose their birth date, phone number, address and room number or mailbox.

"You probably have to be careful with the info you do give because there are freaks staring at your picture and looking at your information. But you can get a lot of the same information from searching someone's name on ou.edu," said Todd Milligan, advertising senior.

For Katie Brandon, health and exercise science junior, the plethora of information available on Thefacebook turned out to be convenient. After she lost her cell phone in December, she realized Thefacebook was the place to get lost phone numbers.

Because of her experience, Brandon added her cell phone number to her member profile. A fellow facebooker from Irving, Texas, began sending her messages through Thefacebook. Brandon responded to his messages on several occasions.

"He sent me a message asking me if I knew someone who graduated from my high school," Brandon said. "When I said that I didn't know the girl, he continued sending me messages."

Eventually, he began sending Brandon text messages on her cell phone and even asking her friends to become his friends via Thefacebook.

"Because I was a friendly person, I kept talking to him, even though I probably shouldn't have," Brandon said.

Some members are taking precautions by using answers like "2 Scared 2 List, E-town, OK" for their personal address.

Other members of Thefacebook are joining groups like "I've had a stalker through facebook," "Anti-stalker alliance" and "Thefacebook is for Internet stalkers, but I joined anyway to be cool."

Lindsay Smith, business management junior, takes the idea of stalking through Thefacebook lightly.

"I'm kind of a facebook stalker. It's fun to stalk people for about a week, and then it gets old," she said. "If you don't want to be stalked, don't be a member of facebook. That is all it's for and you're asking for it."

For those more concerned about protecting their privacy when using Thefacebook, the Web site offers certain opportunities to be cautious.

Members are able to adjust their privacy settings to allow only people within certain divisions of certain schools to see their profile. Also, another setting limits profile viewing to only people who share something in common with that person, such as a greek house, college course or mutual friend.

To go even further, a member can create different privacy settings for the four different parts of the profile-contact information, personal information, courses and friends.

The "frequently asked questions" section of Thefacebook.com provides more specific instructions on activating privacy settings.
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