It seems the habit of going online and checking your Facebook or MySpace page has become second nature to teens and twenty-somethings alike. However, there remains a crop of people among the masses who refuse to buy into the hype. It may appear as if they are the minority, but they have good reasons for not signing up.

“The reason I don’t use these Web sites is because I feel they become an addiction and students have become beyond obsessed with them,” said Jen Fiske, senior psychology major.

This web obsession adds up to a lot of wasted time and procrastination on the part of today’s college students.

“People just use them to keep tabs on friends, and also strangers,” Fiske said.

Arthur Jackson, a senior political science major, said, “The biggest turn-off to these sites is how they create a disconnection with reality.”

The virtual hangout created by these networking sites may be putting a damper on how people interact in modern society.

“It causes people to dehumanize means of communication,” Jackson said.

Refusing to be pressured into creating a MySpace or Facebook account, non-users seem to share a similar attitude toward connecting with friends.

“I will keep in touch with the people I want to keep in touch with the way I feel fit,” said Jenna Shoup, a senior physical therapy major.

Due to the modern nature and practice of using these sites, statistical data is either scarce or non-existent on the number and behaviors of people who do not use them.

TechCrunch, a weblog founded in 2005 which profiles and reviews new web products and companies, conducted a study of the popular profile-based site www.facebook.com. It showed “about 85 percent of students in supported colleges have a profile [on the site]. [Of those who are signed up,] 60 percent log in daily.” These numbers reflect the networking Web site phenomena shared by MySpace, which according to Alexa Internet, has become the eighth most popular Web site in the world.

Assistant Professor of sociology, Suzanne Hudd, Ph. D., rationalized the trends and behavior of college students in our consumer culture.

“Young people have been raised in an era characterized by material, short-term rewards,” Hudd said.

Hudd feels consumerism and naivet