CHICAGO MAROON — Jan 13 — If you haven’t heard of either site yet, you’re probably outside their target demographic (35 and under). Friendster and The Facebook channel a spirit similar to the one that fueled Howard Dean’s groundbreaking campaign Meet-ups. Strangers united by a common cause, interest, or acquaintance use the Internet to interact with one another. For many users, Friendster and The Facebook are simply modern-day work-ups of the classic “Kevin Bacon” game: Users get the cheap thrill of seeing how many degrees separate one life from another. And as addicts are prone to do, it’s easy to scapegoat such sites for the social ills of urban alienation.
