Armed with pizza and paint, a group of students and alumni set up camp outside the Free Expression Tunnel to kick off the year with marketing for The Wolf Web

Ken Warner, alumnus and a site leader for The Wolf Web, said a group was organized to paint the tunnel this year due to the event’s success last year. The N.C. State-specific social network includes message boards, a photo gallery, calendar of events and a book exchange.

“Anything anyone wants to talk about,” Warner said of the type of content featured. “We’ve got sports talk, we’ve got a place for people to talk about cars and we’ve got people who talk about tech stuff. Chit Chat is probably our biggest section, where people just talk about whatever the heck they want to talk about. We’ve got some new stuff coming out. We’ve got a book exchange and School Tool, where people can find teacher reviews. We’re in the process of revamping that.”

Originally created by a student in 2000, ownership has changed hands a few times and is now run by alumni.

“We’re just glad it’s back in our hands instead of some stranger in Wisconsin,” Warner said. “There are enough people on there that it self-regulates. We do have moderators like typical message boards, but for the most part, if people are acting like an idiot other people are going to call them out. If someone really pushes it, we have moderators.”

Evan Kinney, a junior in human biology, said he began using The Wolf Web about two years after he first registered while he was bored at work one day.

“When you start hanging out with people and you get to know people, it’s kind of like a little community. It’s not internet-ish too much because we know each other and we do things like [painting the tunnel]. Honestly, now it’s something to do at work and it’s entertainment,” Kinney said.

Thomas Chase, a graduate student in civil engineering, said during his freshman year a senior friend of his showed him the classifieds section of the website.

“I picked up a computer, an Xbox and games and everything in the classifieds section before I started posting regularly. It’s been a way to keep up with [my friend] because he’s moved to Miami,” Chase said.

Since it has been around for ten years, Chase said it is a good way for alumni to keep in touch with one another and be in-the-know about events at the University.

“That’s why a lot of users are enrolled — they started in 2000 so they don’t really live in Raleigh anymore,” Chase said. “You can also get involved as a student. They put up all the current events on the front page so you can see what’s happening at N.C. State. It’s a way to keep in touch in an unoffi cial way at N.C. State.”