MLC students are not strangers to rivalry. Your first experience with campus rivalry probably occurred when you were a freshman and you noticed the incongruity of the public school graduates and prep school alumnae. Perhaps you have observed a certain clash between pastor track and teacher track guys. If you participate in intercollegiate athletics, maybe you view Bethany or St. Scholastica as a big rival. As you can see, MLC students are split on many issues, and whether or not you took notice, there is a new rivalry on campus: Stalkernet vs. Facebook.

Stalkernet, known to some as the MLC Directory, is a service available on the Portal. It was probably created by someone in Network Services. Stalkernet enables the user to look for a student or faculty member by fi rst name, last name, or dorm residence. Stalkernet then provides the user with information such as email address, permanent address, advisor, major, emphasis, class, and room number.

Facebook, Stalkernet’s biggest competition, was created by 21-year-old Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg in his dorm room. Like Stalkernet, Facebook is also an online directory. It connects people to other college students in their school through courses, groups and friends. Once a user has created an account with Facebook, he or she can also locate students from other colleges (who have Facebook) through the “search” feature and may view their photos and profi les.

Both of the online directories available to MLC students have their own pros and cons. For example, some students prefer Stalkernet because MLC’s entire enrollment, including faculty and staff, may be found on the Portal, whereas only about 300 MLC students currently have Facebook. Another nice thing about Stalkernet is, even if the picture on the directory is mildly unattractive, it at least matches the name. A Facebook user will often fi nd a “wanna-be” picture on a profi le; that is, a picture of someone who is better-looking, or a different race, or even someone of the opposite sex. Sometimes, clip art may be found instead of a picture. Superfi cial tendencies aside, this is just not very useful when one is trying to decide if a person would be good dating material.

Another problem with Facebook is its addictive nature. Because of its messaging capabilities and “wall” feature, Facebook can easily consume even the casual Facebooker’s day. It is doubtful that anyone could use Stalkernet to procrastinate for more than ten minutes. Some people also worry that Facebook instills a false sense of popularity in its users. Sure, Sue may have 208 Facebook “friends,” but are they intimate, high-quality friendships? Sadly, this is not the case. In fact, Sue probably doesn’t even talk to most of her Facebook “friends,” because communication would just be too awkward outside of the sanctuary known as cyber-space.

Last, all Facebook enthusiasts should be aware of the recent concerns regarding Facebook use. In addition to potential problems with identity theft and actual stalking, users should be warned that employers are using Facebook for background checks on employees. Obviously, each MLC student will want to make sure that his or her Facebook profi le contains only appropriate material.

Of course, Facebook does have its fair share of benefi ts. Probably the most superior feature of Facebook is that it extends beyond MLC’s humble campus. In fact, Facebook boasts over 9 million users. Facebook is close to claiming representation at every college in the nation, with 80% membership among the registered colleges. According to the Web-traffi cking site comScore Media Matrix, Facebook is the 11th most visited site on the web. As for Stalkernet, well, apparently the Portal did not make the Top 25 list this year. Facebook, with all of its advertising opportunities, is valued at $100 million. While Network services will not at this time disclose Stalkernet’s net worth, resident fi nancial advisors have suggested that this fi gure could be signifi cantly lower than $100 million.

Another perk of Facebook is each user’s personal profi le. Should you choose to look up on Stalkernet, for example, Barry Hinkleman, the most interesting fact you would learn about him is his home address. Hypothetically, by viewing Barry’s Facebook profi le, you could learn about his favorite music, hobbies, political views, and most importantly, his relationship status. Additionally, every fi eld in a profi le can be searched and cross-referenced, or hyperlinked, making it easy for students to fi nd people who share their taste in movies or who graduated from their high school. With Facebook, it is also possible to make cool groups, such as “The Anne of Green Gables” group or the “Cheeze-it Crackers” group.

Now that you are aware of this latest (not to mention fi erce) rivalry on campus, to which internet directory do you pledge your allegiance? In a campus poll, 54% of participants said that they preferred Facebook to Stalkernet, not because Facebook does a better job of satisfying the college student’s insatiable obsession with who’s who, but mostly because of the elusive “poke” feature: is it just an option for the lazy student who can’t be bothered to write a note? Or is it something more?

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