Who: Registration is open to those 16 or older with the average member ranging in age between their late teens to mid-twenties.
What: A social networking site that paved the way for its contemporaries, Friendster illustrates how users are related to each other through a connection tool; a small box that defines your connection with another member on your profile. For example, person A is connected to person B through person C. Features of this site include:
Connection Tool - Find out how you are connected to others by viewing a member’s profile.
Photo Gallery – Store and post your pictures in online albums.
Testimonials and Comments – Write candid messages about/to your friends on their comments' board.
Recent Updates – Find out about the latest updates that members have made to their pages in addition to displaying your latest changes with this feature.
When: Friendster was developed in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams in Mountain View, California. This social networking site was released in March 2003 and currently has over 90 million registered members.
Where: Although Friendster was developed in the US, it is quickly gaining popularity in Asia with a majority of its users (approximately 60 million) living in Southeast Asia.
Why: As the saying goes, sometimes the simplest things are the best things in life. This may be true for Friendster in that everything is accessible from a single page. You can find out/write all that you ever wanted to know or share about others or yourself including hobbies, interests, activities, and relation to others by simply viewing/ posting to your profile page. Not to mention, you can always add a little flair or personality to your page by customizing the background or adding small applications such as background music.