What is Friendster? An Overview of the Popular Social Networking Site
What is Friendster?
Before the Big Three – MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo – there was Friendster. This social networking site builds on the concept that it’s a small world after all and that we are only one, if not two, connections away from knowing/meeting someone famous, popular, or distant in terms of physical location. This article in the Social Networking 101 series defines the popular site by addressing the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) that can help you to make an informed decision when choosing a social network.
The 5 Ws
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.
This post is part of the series: Social Networking 101
What is social networking? This article series defines social networking and includes practical advice on choosing a network, in addition to summarizing some of the most common social networks out there.
