Recently a new addiction has swept across college campuses; it’s called The Facebook and it’s every bit as intoxicating as a drug. Launched February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, The Facebook is an online directory that enables students to connect with their peers as well as students from other colleges. Facebook.com can be accessed 24 hours a day and allows students to send messages, join and create groups, send out party invitations and poke people without apparent reason.The emergence of Xuqa, another college Web site which offers a variety of features, has left students wondering if Facebook’s popularity is dwindling. Xuqa, pronounced “zoo-kah,” was launched on Sept. 16, 2005 by Ali Asghar and Murtaza Hussain. Xuqa allows its members to rate photos, blow kisses, send gifts and see who has been stalking their profile with a tracking feature.
Mallory Hagger, a sophomore majoring in social work, described Xuqa as “an upscale Facebook for the grown and sexy.” Xuqa is packed with new and interesting features that give students the opportunity to virtually date other students online. Xuqa allows greater freedom, providing students with blogs they can write in daily, a gossip section to peruse, and offers them peanuts, the Xuqan equivalent of money, to spend as they choose. In order for students to get more peanuts, more invitations to join the Web site must be sent to friends who are not members. Students are also provided an option of borrowing peanuts from friends, much like everyday life. While some students have complained that the Web site is too invasive and difficult to navigate, others disagree. “It’s easier to find people, especially singles in your field,” says Kevin Edwards, a sophomore majoring in communications.
The rising popularity of Xuqa has given birth to the question of whether or not Facebook can withstand the competition. Each site offers a sister site for high school students intensifying the competition. Facebook launched The High School Facebook and Xuqa, launched Huqa in order to draw in more members of the younger generation. Opinions of the student body about which site is better are mixed. However, Hagger is decisive about the matter. “Give it time,” she says, “nobody will be on Facebook anymore and it will be a thing of the past.