Many students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have a Facebook account, which they use to connect with friends, family and other people with similar interests.
They are not alone. Over one hundred millions users also communicate on Facebook and other social-networking Web sites, such as MySpace.
Some employers have started checking these sites for profiles of the people they plan to employ - and some colleges are starting to do the same.
A survey by Kaplan, an education company, found that of 500 colleges, 10 percent of admissions officers acknowledged using social-networking sites in deciding whether to accept an applicant.
Amber Hunter, associate director of admissions at UNL, said her office looks at the core academic requirements, which are an ACT score of 20 or higher or students graduating in the top half of their class. Students also need to meet the core number of classes taken in high school.
This means whatever is on students' Facebook or MySpace profiles is not a factor in their acceptance to the university.
"We're more focused on their academic performance," Hunter said.
The university has an open admissions policy, which means anyone who meets the requirements is accepted.
Other colleges and universities in the state, such as Nebraska Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, also do not check profiles on social networking sites either.
David Duzik, director of admissions at Nebraska Wesleyan University, said Wesleyan is not planning on using those sites in accepting students. If they were to do that, the university would have to look at all of the applicants' profiles, and the resources for that are not available, he said.
Duzik said Wesleyan considers the same academic performance factors as UNL.
"We want to see them as students," he said.
The main "outside source" that influences admissions is a sheet filled out by counselors that evaluates students' extracurricular activities, character, academic potential and leadership capabilities.
Hunter said students should still be careful about the things they post on social networking sites.
"One (reason) is to protect them personally," she said.
Another reason is potential internships or jobs.
"Some employers may be looking at those sites as well," Hunter said.
Ashley McDonald, a junior psychology major, learned this when a member of her sorority did a presentation on the effect of social networking sites and jobs.
"I haven't really heard a lot through the university," she said.
The colleges that check Facebook and MySpace pages may be more selective, looking for certain characteristics of applicants, Hunter said.
McDonald said it would be unfortunate if UNL started to look at online profiles because some people might not be accepted because of a few photos.
"People sometimes make up stuff and pictures can be taken the wrong way," she said.
kimbuckley@dailynebraskan.com
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