Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Campus

"We want to start as a Facebook application because it's an easy and quick way to reach 50 million people instantly," Osit said.

Osit said Sparkker could one day expand into a Web site of its own, but for now it's relying on word of mouth to spread interest.

"Facebook in general is very viral," Sachs said. "You tell somebody and they tell somebody. Information travels very quickly."

Because Sachs and Osit have little experience in designing and maintaining Web content, they brought Peter Kamali, a co-founder of Meetup.com, on board as Sparkker's chief technical officer.

"Through a friend of a friend, we had him as an adviser," Sachs said. "He kind of fell in love with our idea."

Sparkker is different from typical online dating Web sites because most of the interaction will take place away from the computer screen, Sachs said.

"We want to emphasize people meeting in real life," he said.

But some NU students said they are wary of online dating in any form.

Communication sophomore Eric Choi said he used Facebook to meet eventual friends before coming to NU based on their listed interests, but he wasn't a fan of the recent flood of applications on the Web site.

"There's a lot of random stuff," Choi said. "I really don't bother with them because they're pointless. (Sparkker) would be useful for a particular demographic, but not for me."

Kristen Sun said she has never entered the online dating scene but said that might change if Sparkker is successful.

"It sounds interesting," the SESP freshman said. "I might try it out."

Reach Sam Kirkland at samkirkland@u.northwestern.edu.

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