One need look no further than the words of this Minnesota State University freshman to see the impact of something called Facebook, the online site that is state of the art of college socializing:

“I don’t know where I’d be without Facebook,” said Amanda Puckett. “I’d be so bored.”

That may be stretching it. Take one look at her Facebook page and you’ll see she has plenty to keep her busy. But her point is well taken, and its spirit is undeniable.

It is almost its own world. A world full of information and scandal and, most of all, faces.

Faces of young women. Faces of young men. Faces of college guys having just vomited in house-party trash cans, faces of girls mugging it up for the camera, making out for the camera, posing seductively.

But unless you’re already in, or already know about it, chances are you’ll never get in. Facebook is the online phenomenon — where friends are made, personal information is shared and party photos are posted — that has become the center of the social scene at many colleges and universities, including Minnesota State, Gustavus Adolphus College and Bethany Lutheran College.

Pair that with the meteoric rise of the Internet site MySpace.com, and the host of other online sites that cater to the average

young person’s tendency to kill time via the Internet, and one thing is crystal clear: Whatever rules you thought governed the social structure of youth are very much obsolete.

Face time

How popular is Facebook? Facebook spokesman Chris Hughes says there are 9,536 students signed up for the MSU Facebook site, nearly 70 percent of the university’s student body of 14,000. The numbers at in St. Peter at Gustavus are, proportionately, even more staggering. They boast 2,700 students, yet there are 3,137 Gustie members of Facebook. Astonishingly, 94 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen at the University of North Carolina signed up.

The Free Press, using a student’s account, took a spin through Facebook and found that of the several dozen student names we plugged in, only a few didn’t have Facebook pages. That informal survey included well-known athletes, student leaders, student rebels and randomly selected names from the student directory.

But don’t try getting in. You need to register with a valid college e-mail address.

MySpace.com is even bigger. In terms of sheer numbers, its 54 million dwarfs Facebook’s 12 million. But there are no restrictions at MySpace.com. Anyone with an Internet connection and some free time can set up their own MySpace account and start meeting people all over the world.

Originally started as a place for independent musicians to post their music, it since has exploded into the world’s largest free-for-all social scene, and there really aren’t any rules. Just like Facebook, MySpace allows you to post information and photos about yourself, engage in online discussion groups, send instant messages, etc. Most college students say, however, they typically ditch their MySpace account once they can get in to Facebook.

Beyond the two big ones, there are a host of other risqué Web sites — which cater almost exclusively to male hormones — that merely offer content, and this content ain’t for kids. Collegedowntime.com is popular, as is KillMyDay.com and Kontraband.com.