Facebook.com, a Web site that began as an online social network for college students, has gradually shifted its focus. In its latest and lamest change, it will allow politicians running for office to have limited profiles on the Web site.

The idea aims to get the site's young users, who include the prized 18- to 24-year-old demographic, more interested in politics, but its effectiveness is doubtful. The politicians who choose to register for a profile won't even be able to add friends, "poke" or send messages to other users.

Their profiles will appear in the advertising space on every users Facebook.com homepage. With all of these limitations on the profiles in place, how are they supposed to reach out to Facebook's young users?

Most likely, the only people who are going to be looking at these profiles will be those who already have an interest in politics.

This means that the whole aim of branching out to students who don't usually vote just won't work. The problem is that this plan doesn't look like it will influence anyone to vote at all. Sure, any effort to get young people interested in politics and out to the voting booth is commendable. The 18 to 24 year olds have traditionally shown a low turnout at the ballot box. If this initiative is successful, then Facebook is to be applauded.

However, Facebook started as a site for college students exclusively and should remain that way.

Facebook's latest change indicates that they are selling out by continuing to dilute their site with extraneous non-student profiles.

When Facebook first came into existence, it was something that just college students used, which made it fun. Advertisements were not widely used.

When the politician's profiles become available on Facebook in September, we encourage all Penn State students to check them out. However, it is doubtful that these online profiles are going to be swinging any elections, but students might learn something about the politicians by checking out their profiles.