Facing the Facts About Facebook (and Stalkers)

Around 3:30 a.m in a dimly lit room, Andrew Manters found his perfect girl. As his jaw dropped and his eyes became saucers, he pinched his best friend and whispered, "Dude, she is so hot!" For the next five minutes, Manters did not avert his gaze from the well-tanned, blond gazelle with enticingly sapphire eyes.

To his amazement, the object of his attention shared his love of soccer and Beatles music.

The only problem was that they never met.

Instead of seeing this perfect girl in class, at a party, or around campus, Manters spotted her on a popular college site called Facebook. By just gazing at her profile, Manters learned not only what she looked like and some of her hobbies, but also her name, exact residence, cell phone number, screen name, and class schedule.

Ironically, he might have learned more about her from this site than he would have learned in a face-to-face interaction.

"I wouldn't tell some random guy exactly where I lived and I hardly ever give out my phone number," said Virginia Tech junior Christen Campbell. College girls like Campbell might not be verbally divulging their private information, but, according to Facebook spokesperson Chris Hughes, females from 863 colleges and universities nationwide have Facebook accounts displaying some or all of the aforementioned information.

Unfortunately, the widely popular Facebook has become a potential paradise for harassment and stalking.
Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard University student who invented Facebook, said that his site now has 12.4 million users and is one of the most trafficked Internet spots. "Facebook has revolutionized college life," said Radford University senior Chinwe Etoh. "Everyone's business is pretty much on there."