By Brittney Bruner

It’s the only place that you can throw a sheep at an enemy, send a bumper sticker to a friend, invite an entire group to play hobo wars and tag someone in a Friday night photo album. Most students can instantly recognize where these acts take place; those who cannot are part of the minority that are not connected to the phenomenon known as Facebook.

Facebook was launched on Feb. 4, 2004 and was the creation of Mark Zuckerberg , a student at Harvard University. Since then, it has undergone many changes. Initially only available to students at Harvard, Facebook soon expanded to all university students, then high school students, and now is accessible to anyone 13 years or older.

However, besides these expansive alterations, Facebook has grown as a networking community which not only allows people to connect, but to play games with one another, join campaigns, and take personality evaluations.

Erica Klimchak, a senior communications major, loves Facebook and said she believes it is “a great way to stay connected to friends and family that might go to other schools.”

A double major in political science and psychology, junior Andrew Murphy recently abstained from Facebook; without access to the network, he had a difficult time staying connected to other students.

“During Lent I suffered withdrawals and felt really disconnected to campus,” said Murphy.

On campus, it isn’t uncommon to find computers with the classic royal blue template plastered across the screen almost anywhere. However, don’t be so quick to assume that everyone is addicted to Facebook.

Jacqueline Massade, a freshman sociology major at U of L, is a member of the minority that doesn’t have Facebook on her “My Favorites” list for Internet Explorer.

Massade believes that Facebook not only disconnects people, but can keep relationships from growing and prevent people from truly coming to know one another.

“Facebook is not necessary for strong relationships; in fact I think it clouds our perceptions of other people,” said Massade.

History Professor Michael Redman offers a similar opinion. “If Facebook promotes real human interactions-students falling in love with one another, for example-then that’s great,” said Redman. “On the other hand, if students are falling in love with their computers-losing sleep and missing out on other important experiences like chatting with a friend or reading a book in the library-well, that’s a problem.”

Furthermore, many observers note Facebook use can easily get out of hand.

“Although Facebook can be a lot of fun, it can be a distracting activity, because it’s available 24/7 and students can get caught up in ‘cruising’ other people’s Facebooks,” said communications Professor Muffy Sinclair. “They never have to turn it off. Just as videos games tempt people to keep on playing, so does Facebook invite a similar kind of addictive behavior.”

Molly Woods, a freshman biology major, is also a member of the minority who do not partake in Facebook.

“I have enough trouble studying as it is, so knowing I would sit on the computer for hours just looking, makes me feel like I would waste valuable study time,” said Woods. “My roommate has Facebook though, so I’m not completely out of the loop.”

Over the past four years, Facebook has grown into a communication system that gives students opportunities to do more than connect. On one single site, users can poke a friend, root for their favorite sports team while booing their most despised, discover their “movie compatibility” with other users, compare friend’s personalities and join a group devoted to their favorite television series.

Whether this could be considered negative or positive is not apparent; however, it is obvious many students are embracing both the advantages and disadvantages Facebook provides.

And because of its insane popularity, the Facebook phase doesn’t appear to be phasing out anytime soon.