Wendy Trosclair, cytotechnology senior from Thibodaux, has spent a busy day at rush practice for her sorority, Phi Mu. “They have been talking about it all day,” Trosclair says. “I have to get on there because it is all everyone is talking about.”

What they are all talking about is Facebook, what some may consider the biggest thing to hit Nicholls since Hurricane Ivan, and Trosclair knows tonight is the night for her to join the crowd.

After typing www.facebook.com into the navigation bar and a quick verification of her Nicholls E-mail address, her journey begins.

Trosclair starts filling in the necessary information to create her profile, but she soon hits her first stumbling block while locating her major.

“I knew they would not have cytotechnology,” she says. “I am just going to go with health sciences.”

Her next dilemma comes when she has to decide what contact information to include on her profile.

“I do not want everyone to know where I live,” she says. “And I am not going to put my phone number down because I do not want people calling me that I don’t know.”

With a satisfactory profile and appropriate contact information listed, Trosclair is on her way to what she believes is her primary objective, adding friends. First, she searches for all entries that list E.D. White as an alma mater in hopes of finding some old high school buddies. Two hundred seventy-seven faces pop up on the screen, but she only notices the first one.

“Big D,” she shrieks.

A quick click on Big D’s “add as a friend” option and she has her first friend on Facebook. A satisfied and relieved look falls over her face.

Her eyes then scan down the list of faces.

“Don’t know her,” she says, scrolling down. “Ew, don’t like her. Oh my God, it’s Beau’s picture. It’s Kevin, aww. I haven’t seen all of these people in a long time.”

She scrolls through the faces for several minutes, adding a few friends to her list and thoroughly enjoying her newfound toy.

“I have got to see if there is a group for Phi Mu,” she says, after remembering what brought her to Facebook in the first place.

Her search brings her to a group titled “The Beautiful Ladies of Phi Mu.”

“I am definitely joining this group,” she said, while double clicking the “join this group” icon.

She soon joins another Phi Mu group.

“This is so cool,” she says, impressed with Phi Mu’s presence on Facebook. “I love these officer names. ‘The Ice in my Tea,’ that is so funny.”

“Wow,” she says, scrolling through group. “I cannot believe all this is just at Nicholls. This looks like a good group, ‘Addicted to Sushi.’ I need to see if I know any of those people.”

“Wait,” she says. “How come that girl has more information on her profile? I need to add more.”

Back at her own profile, Trosclair begins filling in more information.

She adds that she is in a relationship, but no boyfriend is listed.

“What could I put as interests?” she asks. “I have to pick carefully.”

She includes Phi Mu, hanging out with friends, playing volleyball, horseback riding and softball under “Interests.” She lists her favorite music as anything that sounds good, but says she also loves country and Aerosmith. She is through listing her interests, but she has not included everything she wants to be known by Facebook public.

She begins the “Personal Information” section by listing her loves: “Phi Mu, my boyfriend, my friends, my little brothers, my dog (Tucker) and hanging out at Rene’s!!!” She completes the section by informing all potential friends of her future plans: “I am moving out of state in a year, so I am trying to make the best out of my last year!!!”

Several hours after beginning her journey, Trosclair decides she has had enough, at least for tonight.

“I guess I am done,” she says, shutting down the computer. “I should stop because I could stay on here all night.”

A week later, with 11 groups and 52 friends under her belt, Trosclair reflects on her Facebook experiences and her future on the website.

She has sent and received numerous messages and contacted old friends.

“This is going to be a great way to keep in touch after graduation,” she says. “I am really surprised at who I have found on there. I really like the walls too. It is a cute way to leave messages.”

Trosclair says Facebook has become part of her daily ritual in the past week.

“I try to check it as often as I can,” she says, trying to downplay her usage. “I check it once a day, usually when I get home.”

She pauses a moment and then the truth comes out, “I am possibly addicted.