I have 176 buddies and 44 friends. Some of them overlap, but not many.

My number of buddies is fairly stagnant, but friends -- well, I just get more of those every day, it seems. It could be because I'm so fun and cute. The picture on my Facebook profile is pretty hot, especially when compared to my Daily Collegian mug shot.

The entirely more likely explanation for my surging popularity, however, is that people are striving to become more connected to one another.

We all know American Online Instant Messenger. It's the program that runs constantly on your computer and allows you to stay in touch with the people from high school who signed your yearbook with a simple, "Good luck in life."

You haven't talked to many of them since graduation, but your computer still beeps when they sign on and off. Furthermore, you still check their profiles regularly enough to know who is in a relationship, who joined a fraternity or sorority, who listens to way too much Pink Floyd -- hey, anything to avoid that lab report, right?

And now, The Facebook is emerging as the new way to count your friends and keep an eye on those you've long stopped talking to.

The Facebook, for those of you who have ignored the masses of e-mails that have undoubtedly appeared in your in-box, is "an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities," according to its founders. It's available at 167 colleges in America and Canada, with more schools added regularly. It lets you find students you went to high school with and people in your classes.

You can "visualize your friends" by seeing their pictures and you can see your friend's friends. You can even adjust your profile to say whether you're already attached, looking for a serious relationship or just hunting for "random play."

It's Instant Messenger plus Daily Jolt, to the Match.comth power.

For those of us who completed our quantification general education requirement with Statistics 100, that equation adds up to a special value of the creepiness quotient.

At a school as large as Penn State, it's easy to feel lost. As I walk around campus between classes, I look for familiar faces. As a junior-year transfer student in high school, I prized "hellos" in the hallway, too. The night before my first day at the new school, I created a new folder on my Buddy list, for all the friends I was worried I would not make.

I was thrilled when the list became populated. The same scenario replayed itself during my first years at Penn State. The anonymity and casualness of Instant Messenger allowed my shy self to make friends, without having to pick up the phone or go down the hall.

The Facebook picks up where Instant Messenger left off. To meet people now, you don't have to bother joining new clubs, participating in activities or even going to class. You can just search for people with similar interests (apparently, only 24 other students here share my passion for indie movie Igby Goes Down).

It removes the "getting to know you" awkward process that inevitably follows the standard "Major-hometown-year-dorm/apartment building" exchange.

At the risk of sounding like an anti-technology purist, this trend concerns me. Making new friends is awkward and difficult for me, as my right cheek inevitably blushes more quickly than the other and I stutter over my words. But it's a skill that I'll need one day, as I attempt to forge connections for my future career.

By limiting our opportunities to develop those buzzword-killer "people skills," the simplicity of The Facebook could backfire in its networking capabilities. Sure, it's always good for me to know that 127 other Penn State boys and girls (yes, boys too) share my nostalgia for Hanson and the era of "Mmmbop."

But the shocking thing is that one of my good friends listed that on her profile too, and I never knew that about her before Facebook.

These new networks ease social interaction. But the inherent challenge of forming bonds is what makes relationships strong. An easy rapport online does not constitute a real connection, but instead gives a false sense of security and contentment.

Am I telling you to rip your Ethernet cable out of the wall, run through the flowers and run up to hug the first random stranger you come across?

Of course not. That would be dangerous.

But as you continue to stalk your ex-girlfriend from ninth grade's profile, think about whether the connection is real. Is she your friend, or just a "buddy"?

The already fuzzy line between acquaintance and friend is continuing to smudge.

But at least that means that my number of friends is continuing to rise.