Understanding How Friendster Operates

Social networking has surged in popularity, becoming a significant force on the Internet, much like Google. Friendster was one of the first sites to popularize this concept. Launched in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams, an American entrepreneur, Friendster.com aimed to connect individuals with friends, family, colleagues, and even new acquaintances online. However, it offered more than one-way communication like Evite, fostering interaction between people who were not yet familiar with each other.

Friendster is structured as a community focused on several activities:

Friendster now has over 65 million members [source: Friendster.com]. While this is a significant number, competitors such as Facebook and MySpace also have similar (if not greater) user bases. In 2004, Friendster's popularity saw a sharp decline in the U.S. as these newer, more feature-rich platforms began to emerge. Since then, they have consistently surpassed Friendster in both popularity and 'coolness.'

After Abrams turned down a $30 million buyout offer from Google and later stepped down, Friendster's future became uncertain. However, leadership changes and a surge in Asian users may provide a much-needed boost for the platform, which continues to attract many users, particularly those based outside the U.S.

So, who are these users? Friendster is available to adults aged 18 and older. While it initially dominated among the 20-something crowd, it now caters more to an older, financially independent, post-college demographic [source: Reuters].

In this article, we will explore how to use Friendster, its benefits, and address some of the key concerns surrounding social networking, such as information tracking and user safety.

Next: Discover whose profile receives nearly 800,000 views per month.

Friendster Profiles

To become a Friendster member, you need to register an account. By clicking the sign up button on the homepage, you'll be directed to a form where you'll enter your username, e-mail address, password, country of residence, gender, and birthdate.

You'll also be prompted to choose a security question in case you forget your username or password. Afterward, you'll be asked to upload a photo. If you're feeling shy, simply click 'continue.' Then, follow the instructions to confirm your email, and that's it. Welcome to Friendster!

Now you're ready to start building your profile, which will resemble something like this.

Example of a Friendster profile­

Your profile is the central hub on Friendster. It's also the public face you present to the Friendster community. Here, you can manage your account, establish connections, and adjust what information you want friends (or all members, based on your privacy settings) to see about you. If you ever get disoriented, simply click the Home tab in the blue navigation bar at the top to return to your profile.

Here are some key features:

Remember those 65 million users? That translates to up to 65 million profiles, ranging from abandoned, sparse pages with no photo and minimal details to elaborate, animated profiles with frequent updates. The level of customization you choose depends on your dedication. Many niche services have emerged to help people who want a polished profile but lack the time or technical know-how. Platforms like Friendster-Tweakers, Friendster-Layouts, and Pimp-My-Profile can create eye-catching and well-organized profiles for a fee, often leaving others impressed by how it looks like you did it all yourself.

Karen Kong holds the record for the most-viewed Friendster profile. The Malaysian pop sensation garners 800,000 page views each month [source: Liu]. It's unclear exactly what makes a profile a standout—whether it's celebrity fame, a buzz-worthy blog, an engaging app, or simply a large network of friends. Kong's page is officially considered a Fan Profile.

Fan Profiles are a new feature stirring up excitement and debate. Critics refer to them as "fakesters." Unlike regular profiles, which are used by individuals to personally connect with others, Fan Profiles are designed for famous celebrities, bands, TV shows, movies, and characters. The controversy lies in the resemblance to MySpace, which some users view more as a platform for bands than for ordinary users, raising questions about the very concept of friendship online.

How evil are you? Find out who's asking, and explore what truly defines a "friend," in the next section.

Friendster Applications

If profiles are your home, applications are like the TV and telephone. As social networking sites became oversaturated, users found themselves with many profiles, numerous friends, but no fresh ways to engage. Enter applications. Often called widgets, these interactive, entertaining tools let you share and play in real-time. Create quizzes like "How evil am I?" and compare your results with friends. Broadcast your moods instantly with the Emote app. Simply click the Add App button beneath any app to get started. But beware—applications can become highly addictive and can easily become a major distraction.

There are literally thousands of applications available. Most are free, but some require you to earn "spending" points (for example, by sending a specific number of virtual gifts to friends in exchange for more points). Sending and receiving invitations to add widgets is a fun way to discover which apps you like and share your favorites. You can also browse by category, search alphabetically, or explore the daily Most Popular list to see what apps everyone else is using.

These are just a few of the thousands of applications you can use when you join Friendster.­

Some of the most popular applications on Friendster include the following:

Video and photo apps are also big hits. Share your favorite YouTube videos with SkinFlix. The Likeness app helps you discover which celebrity you most resemble, and you can compare with friends. Entertainment and music apps range from fan groups like Addicted to… (e.g., shows like "Heroes" or "Lost") to the gBox wishlist, where you can share your favorite music and receive song downloads as gifts from friends.

Some of these applications were developed by Friendster itself, but many are created by independent developers or creative Friendster users who design something fun and share it with others. In November 2007, Friendster launched an open platform system, making it easier for developers to create, improve, and promote their applications within the Friendster community. (For more details on the open platform, see the Competition and Future of Friendster).

Is it possible to have 150,000 friends? And what exactly does it mean to be a "friend"? Find out in the next section.

Friendster Connections: Six Degrees of Separation

Much like a community, Friendster enables you to connect with people you know, then expand outward from there to form a personal web of contacts. These connections are referred to as friends. It's similar to the game of six degrees of separation: if Mary is friends with David, and David is friends with Kumar, then Mary is indirectly linked to both David and Kumar through David.

Here are some ways you can make and engage with friends on Friendster:

You can have an unlimited number of friends on Friendster, whether they're family, childhood friends, classmates, business connections, or even that random person you clicked with over truffles in the chocoholics group. Once you're popular, what do you do next? Some users just want a space to share photos with friends and invite them to events. Others might be looking for dates, while many people use Friendster to build professional networks and find job opportunities.

As your network grows, you might start questioning if all these people are truly your friends. Karen Kong, for example, has 150,000 friends. With Featured Friends, you can highlight your closest companions, while platforms like Facebook let you rank friends based on attributes like intelligence, humor, or style. The term 'friend' is subjective and often requires a deeper connection that’s hard to maintain with 150,000 people. Even adding colleagues or casual acquaintances challenges the traditional meaning of friendship. Professional networks like LinkedIn help you keep these groups separate (a smart move if you don’t want your boss seeing your party photos). For now, using Featured Friends is the best way to show off your closest relationships.

What if you no longer want someone in your friend circle? Can you remove them? Imagine a fallout between Mary and Kumar, and they decide to 'break up.' You can block users from viewing your profile by adding them to the Block Users tab. Goodbye, Kumar!

Blocking a friend is one thing, but what about dealing with stalkers or privacy concerns? Keep reading to learn whether Friendster is sharing your personal details.

Friendster Safety Issues

As social networking has expanded, so have concerns over privacy and online safety. Friendster asserts that it "does not send spam or sell email addresses" [source: Friendster.com]. Registration requires certain personal details, such as your name, email address, and birthdate. As is typical on the Internet, Friendster may share anonymized data, like user patterns, to assist advertisers in targeting their audience more effectively.

Who can view your profile is mostly up to you, except for some basic details accessible to everyone. As previously mentioned, you can block specific users from accessing your profile to avoid unwanted attention. You can adjust privacy settings to restrict access to certain regions, limit visibility to "friends-only" or second-degree connections (friends of friends). Choosing the public setting means your profile is visible to all.

What about dishonesty? Is it acceptable? In the past, Friendster discouraged the creation of "Fakester" profiles, whether for pets or rock bands. However, this policy backfired when users protested, and fan pages and groups gained popularity. This led to the creation of the Fan Profile.

A more serious concern is safety. Providing false personal details or using pseudonyms is a common tactic for spammers, marketers, stalkers, and other predators. But the same technique can also be used to protect oneself from these very dangers.

While concerns about youth safety might have lessened now that Friendster primarily targets users aged 18 and up, with a minimum age of 16 to join, it's important to note that there's no foolproof way to distinguish truth from fiction in the world of online personas. The only verification Friendster requires is your birth date and year during sign-up, which can be adjusted with a bit of simple math. (You must also confirm your eligibility by agreeing to the terms of service and checking a box.)

Is underage usage a significant issue for Friendster? While there are likely some violators, features like Classmates, which connects college students, and the ability to add school profiles to individual pages, make Friendster more useful for older individuals than minors. With so many other platforms catering to all age groups, it's probably easier for someone to find an alternative than to fake being 16 or older.

So, is Friendster a thing of the past? And what was the reasoning behind turning down $30 million from Google?

Competition and the Future of Friendster

Despite being a pioneer in the social networking revolution, Friendster has faced challenges in the industry. Like many free websites and social networks, Friendster aims to earn revenue by selling ads to companies targeting its user base. As of June 2007, Friendster had yet to turn a profit, though it claims it's on the verge of doing so [source: Marshall].

As mentioned earlier in this article, Friendster faced stiff competition from platforms like Facebook and Bebo, which gained larger and younger user bases. In 2003, MySpace surpassed Friendster within the U.S. 18-29 age group [source: Rivlin]. Several reasons could explain this shift:

Can this underdog network reclaim its former glory? It might already be doing so in Asia. As reported by TIME magazine, 89 percent of Friendster's traffic comes from Asia, while MySpace and Facebook draw less than 10 percent of their users from the region [source: Liu]. In fact, Friendster currently ranks as the number one social network in Asia, according to comScore Media Metrix at the time of writing. Further expansion into China and other parts of Asia is on the horizon, though Friendster faces competition in these markets.

By focusing on the 18+ demographic and offering what it calls a "clean environment" (i.e., a less cluttered interface compared to MySpace), Friendster can cater to older users who prefer a simpler, more straightforward platform. Features like quizzes and games help to keep users engaged, while future plans such as mobile texting will help extend Friendster's reach to new markets and technologies.

The platform has also made significant technical improvements and increased its focus on driving page views. The previous issues with slow page loads and frequent outages have been mitigated, and the new family tree "graph server" feature makes it easier to see how you're connected to others in your network. E-mail notifications and real-time profile updates for new messages and friend activities have boosted page views. According to Friendster reps, these upgrades are the reason behind a 40 percent increase in site traffic in just one month [source: Marshall].

One of Friendster's boldest attempts at redemption is its decision to open its platform to application developers. This move allows developers greater access and flexibility, making it easier for them to create dynamic, visually engaging applications that will still work seamlessly with existing features. To sweeten the deal, Friendster announced that it would not require revenue-sharing from these applications [source: Havenstein]. Some critics argue that this step is too little, too late, but ultimately, the success of this strategy will depend on which developers can create the most popular and engaging apps.