multimedia by Michael Goodin - audio by Tara Sumrall - edited by Aaron Thesing - story by Rachel Shallenberg - photos courtesy of participants

Place mouse over images to see how students are connected and click photos for audio clip.

According the their faq section, "The facebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities." Simply put, it is a very well-connected network of message boards and student profiles. Currently Ball State is among a growing list of more than 200 colleges and universities with "social networks" available on thefacebook.com. Since its introduction to Ball State less than a month ago over 1,000 students have joined with and that number is growing every day.

To join Thefacebook, you need a valid student email address. Once you are registered, your student e-mail will indicate which social network you belong to (i.e. Ball State students belong to the Ball State social network). You can then create a profile and start facebooking.

There are several ways to locate people. Facebookers commonly join several “common interest groups” ranging from “Miller College of Business” to “”Drunk Dialers Anonymous.” You can also search for a specific person’s name or look up facebookers from your high school.Once you find people you can add them as “friends.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes created Thefacebook on February 4, 2004. Membership is strictly voluntary and the university does not provide any information about the students.