Penn State students recently started using a new way to connect with students from other colleges and universities.

Thefacebook.com, a student-based networking site, opened its portal to Penn State students earlier this month.

The new online directory may revolutionize the way more than 200,000 university students meet people from all over the country.

By registering a college e-mail address on the Web site, students can post personal information including address, cell phone number, relationship status, political views, favorite music and special interests on the site.

The network also allows users to list their class schedules and then connects the user to others with the same classes.

Web site spokesman Chris Hughes said the site has attracted about 285,000 students nationwide since it was created and launched last winter, and has increased in popularity since.

Hughes said his roommate Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create an online database of information for Harvard University students that would be fun to use.

"Combining the idea of a directory with an interactive social networking interface seemed like a good idea," Zuckerberg said.

"After days of work and many late-night dorm room conversations with the rest of us -- the four other guys who started out working on this -- the facebook was released," he added.

The site made its debut on Harvard's campus last winter.

Since its launch, the site has premiered on 99 other campuses across the country.

Hughes said more than 2,400 Penn State students have registered since the Web site became available here Sept. 4.

Dani Kukwa (sophomore-political science), who started using the site about a week ago, said it makes it easier to keep in touch with friends.

"I like to see and talk with my friends from other schools," she said. "I started talking to friends I haven't talked to in a while."

Kukwa said she thinks the site would become popular this year, but warned that students should be careful.

"As with anything else on the Internet, you should be cautious, but it is not something like an online dating service," she said.

Hughes said students should feel safe while using the Web site because of the extensive privacy settings, which allow users to have complete control over their information.

"It doesn't seem like random people can get your information," Beth Barsky (freshman-communications) said. "It is more like sharing it among peers and people from your school."

Danielle Pretsfelder (sophomore-theatre arts) said although she has known about the site since it started, she just recently became a registered member.

"You get to see who your friend's friends are," she said. "It is like a big chain of people from all over."

Pretsfelder added that the site is like a "bad addiction."

"It's like the best procrastination tool ever," she said.

Alex Gladd (freshman-computer science) said he believes the site is more popular with freshmen and seniors.

"It is fun to talk to people in the same major or field as you, especially people a year or two ahead of you," he said.

Both Zuckerberg and Hughes have taken this semester off from Harvard University to manage the site. Hughes said they hope to reach more than 1 million students by the end of the year.