• by Vanessa Voltolina , September 1, 2005

For generation Y, checking e-mail, the daily Weatherbug report, and friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) Web sites like the TheFaceBook.com have become as routine as getting an iced skim caramel macchiato every morning.

The FOAF sites - also including Student.com - connect students through common social networks, schools, groups, and even parties. Advertisers range from Busted Tees to Vonage.

In a symbiotic relationship, FOAF sites provide the target market and advertisers provide the cash to keep these sites afloat. Without this advertising, FOAF sites fight to stay alive (read: Friendster.com). This begs the question: Will advertisers trash other forms of media in exchange for FOAF?

"The key for success has been to use multiple media formats," notes an advertiser on TheFaceBook.com, Bill Suneson, vice president partnership development of the Collegiate Funding Services. "Community sites are certainly important, but engaging students in the physical world is just as important as being with them online. As a result, traditional media planning works."