If the creators of thefacebook.com have typed up another online hit, Thefacebook junkies across the nation will soon be clicking to the same tune once again.
Wirehog, a new peer-to-peer file-sharing program, was launched last November by two Harvard University students, Facebook originator Mark Zuckerberg and graphic design head Andrew McCollum, along with Adam D’Angelo at the California Institute of Technology.
Since its release at Harvard, the program has branched out to Stanford University, Columbia University, Yale University and Dartmouth College, with students at other Thefacebook-member schools joining via invitation from members at the current five.
The trio began designing the program over the summer with hopes of adding another social element to thefacebook.com and to file-sharing in general. Unlike other peer-to-peer file-sharing systems, the downloadable program is geared toward connecting files among friends who share interests besides file-sharing itself, on the assumption that Thefacebook friends have common tastes.
“You’re not only likely to find the things that interest you, but you’re much more inclined to share personal media like pictures and music you’ve created yourself,” said McCollum, adding that sharing digital pictures was probably Wirehog’s most popular use so far.
The program also allows users to view thumbnails of photos, download entire music albums at once and recommend files to friends—even those not using Thefacebook—in addition to posting all of their word-processing files on the site.
“For me, the best use [of Wirehog] is sharing my artwork with friends,” Stanford freshman Jacob Arias said. Arias and students at Yale said most students use OurTunes and other similar programs for downloading music and video files.
Duke freshman Cart Weiland, one of a limited number of Duke students familiar with Wirehog, visited the site to listen to a friend’s song and has never returned. “[If Wirehog was available at Duke] I would probably not download it personally because it apparently takes too much time,” he said.
Many other Duke students voiced similar responses and likened the program to a more complicated version of AOL Instant Messenger’s file-sharing feature, which also allows for direct file transfers. But some who have given the program a spin had other things to say.
Junior Connie Leeper, who has almost her entire computer’s content on the site, used the program to download a lab write-up from Perkins Library that she had forgotten in her dorm room. “I found the program pretty easy to understand. And you can totally choose everything to put out there,” Leeper said.
McCollum said a major feature that makes the program worthwhile is its tight security—users access friends’ computers directly rather than through servers. “We realized that this removed entirely the legal morass of traditional file-sharing,” he said.
McCollum added that the direct file-sharing also dramatically cut down on bandwidth use—currently the major concern of college technology officials.
Chris Cramer, information technology security officer, agreed that Wirehog’s closed network setup makes it more favorable for bandwidth usage across college networks. It also reduces the risk tied to downloading copyrighted files since direct sharing makes it harder for queries to penetrate, he said.
When asked when Duke students will have direct access to the secure system, McCollum said the program’s user base will simply grow organically—the creators eventually hope to make it accessible to the general public.
Leeper said the program has the potential to become a technological icon. “At Duke, I can definitely see the program catching on like facebook as a great way to download music,” she said.
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