Sameer Halai, a student in the School of Information, said he checks his Facebook.com account between seven and eight times each day.

Halai is a first-year graduate student who plans to join the School of Information's social computing program. For Halai, Facebook isn't just a way to keep in touch with friends. It's also his homework.

With social networking websites like Facebook, myspace.com and secondlife.com growing in popularity, the School of Information has created a master's program in social computing for students to study the social impact and technological design of the sites.

The University is one of the first colleges in the country to create such a program.

Students in the program will study the social trends that have led to the popularity of the websites, their design features and what makes them successful, said Judy Lawson, the School of Information's director of academic services.

School of Information prof. Paul Resnick said the School of Information is trying to create an interdisciplinary undergraduate major that would include social computing.

Although no official announcement has been made, the school hopes to have a program ready by fall of 2008, he said.

The school already offers several classes about social computing, Lawson said.

"We feel like it's an important statement," she said. "It exemplifies the school as being out on the forefront."

Halai said he's interested in learning how people use the Internet to express themselves and interact in part because of the differences he sees between communities in India and the United States.

Halai was raised in India where community is based largely on family and religious beliefs, he said.

American society is becoming increasingly centered on online communities, he said.

Halai said social networking sites are important to understand because an increase in online communication will lead to a decrease in personal interaction. He said that's not necessarily a bad thing, though.

Social computing brings together people from across the world and gives users a better understanding of other cultures, Resnick said.

"It is inevitable - it's happening, we can not stop it," he said.

The program is one of six new specializations offered by the School of Information.

Like undergraduate majors, the specializations allow students to focus their studies on one or two specific areas while fulfilling the requirements of a master's degree.

Resnick said college students today are more connected with old friends because of social networking websites.

When Resnick was in college, he didn't have much contact with friends from his hometown between the end of the summer and the time he returned for Thanksgiving break, he said. Now, students can always keep in touch with faraway friends through online networks, he said.

Resnick said the specialization will train people to work for information technology companies like Yahoo and Google.

"(Social networking) is a trend that will continue for a while," he said. "There is going to be a demand from employers."

Lawson said social networking is proving to be important in marketing and educational fields as well.

Although courses are already being offered, master's students in the School of Information will be able to declare their specialization in social computing within a few weeks, Lawson said.