Social networkinghas become one of the biggest things to hit theInternetsinceGoogle , and Friendster was one of the firstWeb sitesto fetch it into mass acculturation . Started in 2002 by U.S. businessman Jonathan Abrams , Friendster.comwas designed as a stead to connect with Friend , family , workfellow and new friends over the Internet . But it go beyond just a one - direction communicating like Evite , which connects the social life of people who already know each other .
Friendster is set up like a community pitch at the following activities :
Friendster currently boasts more than 65 million member [ source : Friendster.com ] . While that may seem like a lot , competitors likeFacebookandMySpacehave like ( if not higher ) numbers game . In 2004 , Friendster ’s popularity declined rapidly in the U.S. as these newer , more coating - rich competitors start pop up . Since then , they have steadily been sweep over Friendster in popularity and " coolness " factor .
When Abrams rejected a $ 30 million buyout offer from Google , only afterwards to abuse down , Friendster ’s future was uncertain . But management alteration and a growth spurt in Asiatic users may spell relief for this social networking situation that still attracts a sight of exploiter , many of whom are found outside the U.S.
So who are these users ? Friendster is open to adult 18 and older . While it originally master in the 20 - something market , it now focuses on an older , financially independent , post - college crowd [ source : Reuters ] .
In this clause , we ’ll learn how to use Friendster , what it can do for you and what some of the larger concerns surrounding societal networking are , such asinformation trackingand user safety .
Next : happen out whose visibility gets nearly 800,000 views per month .
Friendster Profiles
To become a Friendster , first you require to create an account . click thesign upbutton on the primary Sir Frederick Handley Page will take you to a variant requesting your drug user name , Es - mailaddress , password , country you live in , gender and birth date .
Now you could move on to create your profile , which will wait something like this .
Sample Friendster profile
Theprofileis your home base on Friendster . It ’s also your expression to the Friendster world . Here you’re able to manage your account , makeconnectionsand customize the information friends ( or all fellow member , look on your configurations ) can see about you . If you get lost , click theHometab in the dingy navigation bar at the top of the page to bring you back to your profile .
Here are some high spot :
call back those 65 million user ? That means up to 65 million profiles , range from ghostly shells with no photo and minimum data abandoned after the initial thrill , to tricked - out Sir Frederick Handley Page flashing with liveliness and hourly update . How fancy you get is a interrogation of commitment . Various bungalow industries have take a hop up for this very understanding . situation likeFriendster - Tweakers , Friendster - LayoutsandPimp - My - Profilecan whip up pretty and organized profiles for the time- or technically - challenged . Fees usually practice , but people may remember you did it all yourself .
Karen Kong holds the title for most - gossip Friendster profile . The Malaysian dada star acquire 800,000 page opinion monthly [ reference : Liu ] . It ’s hard to say exactly what makes a superstar profile , whether it ’s fame status , creating buzz with a web log or practical app or simply having a lot of friend . Technically , Kong ’s page is consider a Fan Profile .
Fan Profilesare the late feature induce buzz and arguing . Naysayers call them"fakesters . “Unlike regular profiles , which individuals use to connect in person with other soul , Fan Profiles are dedicated to already - illustrious celebrity , bands , video shows , movies and characters . The contestation comes in over law of similarity to MySpace , see by some users to be more a networking peter for bands than for everyday users , and bringing into question the whole impression of ally .
How evil are you ? Find out who ’s asking , and what constitutes a " friend , " in the next section .
Friendster Applications
If profiles are the house , applications are theTVandtelephone . As social networking sites reached saturation , many hoi polloi get hold themselves with multiple profiles , tons of friends and nothing newfangled to do with them . That ’s where applications come in . Also sometimes concern to as convenience , applications are fun , interactive tools designed for share-out and real - time play . make quiz like " How vicious am I ? " and liken solvent with Friend . Broadcast your up - to - the - minute moods with theEmoteapplication . Just sink in theAdd Appbutton underneath the program , and you ’re on your path . But watch out out : Applications can be highly habit-forming and are ill-famed for being major distractions .
There are literally K of applications to select from . Most are free , though some expect you to earn " spending " points ( for exemplar , post a sure number of practical gifts to friend in interchange for more spending item ) . Sending and receive invitation to add widget are great ways to figure out which ones you care and share favorites . you could also browse by family , search alphabetically or crack out the dailyMost Popularlist to see what everyone else is using .
These are just a few of the thousands of software you may use when you conjoin Friendster.
Some of the top applications on Friendster include the following :
Videoand photo covering are also big care - getters . individualise and share favoriteYouTubevideos withSkinFlix . TheLikenessapp lets you find out which gorgeous celebrity you most resemble and compare with friends . Entertainment and music categories run from TV show fan groups likeAddicted to … (e.g . , " Heroes " or " Lost " ) , togBox wishlist , where you may tell friends what music you wish and they can get off downloads as gift .
Some of these diligence were project by Friendster , but many are make by external developer or savvy Friendster users who make up something fun and then divvy up it with friends . In November 2007 , Friendster get around the doorway open for creative thinking when it went to anopen chopine system . basically , it ’s much easy for developer to create , promote and commercialize their applications to the Friendster biotic community . ( For more on the candid platform , see theCompetition and Future of Friendster ) .
Can you have 150,000 booster ? And what exactly is a " booster , " anyway ? determine out in the next segment .
Friendster Connections: Six Degrees of Separation
Like a community , Friendster lets you connect with the great unwashed you be intimate and connection out from there , establish yourwebof contacts . Those connections are calledfriends . Think of it like the secret plan six degrees of separation . If Mary is friends with David , and David is friends with Kumar , then Mary is colligate to both David and Kumar . David is the link that binds them .
Here are some of the ways you may make and interact with acquaintance :
There ’s no limit to how many friend you may have . They can be kinfolk , lifelong pal , classmates , business organization contacts or that random guy you bond with over earth-ball on chocoholics . Now that you ’re popular , what do you do with it ? Some Friendsters are just look for a position to swapphotoswith friends and call for them to parties . Others may be looking for dates , while plenty of folks practice Friendster to find job and internet professionally .
As your meshwork grows you may find yourself asking , are all these people really my friends ? Uber - popular Karen Kong has 150,000 friends . Featured Friendslets you show off your BFFs , and sites likeFacebookallow you to rank friends by who ’s smart , funniest or most stylish . What really represent a friend is immanent depend on your definition of the watchword , but most would agree it require a sure level of closeness you just ca n’t achieve with 150,000 people . Even adding co - prole and acquaintance pushes the definition of friendly relationship . Sites like professional social networkLinkedInoffer a way to keep them separate ( also a in force idea if you ’re not too dandy on your boss run into your photos and posts ) . For now , range by Featured Friends is the clearest way to differentiate .
What if you decide someone ’s no longer a acquaintance ? Can you ever get rid of them ? Say our admirer Mary and Kumar have a fight and want to " break up . " you could block multitude from access your profile by tally them to theBlock Userstab . Bye - bye Kumar !
lug champion is one thing , but what about stalker and Big Brother ? Read on to feel out if Friendster is partake in your personal detail .
Friendster Safety Issues
As social networking has ballooned , so have concerns about privacy and online security department . Friendster claims it " does not sendspamor sellemailaddresses " [ source : Friendster.com ] . Certain personal data point ( name , e - chain mail reference , birth date , etc . ) is required for enrolment . As is common in theInternet earth , Friendster may share non - identifiable data such as drug user pattern to helpadvertiserstarget their interview more efficiently .
With the exception of a few basics viewable to all , who sees your profile is largely up to you . As we cite sooner , blocking single users from accessing your visibility is one manner to avoid undesirable ingathering . aline privacy setting to filter out sure countries , limit access to " protagonist - only " or 2nd - degree entree ( friends of friends ) . The public place setting intend it ’s viewable to all .
And what about consist , is that cool ? In the past times Friendster has warn the use of " Fakester " profiles , whether they were favourite page orrock bands . This manoeuvre backlash when user complained and groups and fan pages became popular . Hence the founding of the Fan Profile .
The more pressing concern is safety . provide misinform personal details or concealing under pseudonyms is a vulgar tactic for spammer , marketer , stalkers and otherpredators . But the flip side work too for protect oneself from those predators .
vexation about youth prophylactic may be less of an topic now that Friendster targets the 18 + audience , and you must be at least 16 to join . But it should be noted that there ’s really no surefire way to state fact from fiction in the world of virtual personalities . The only confirmation Friendster requires is that you enter your birth date and yr when you signalise up , which can be fudge with a little basic math . ( You must also confirm that you are eligible by agreeing to their terms of serve by note a check box . )
So is underage usage a major problem for Friendster ? There are probably some offenders . But applications likeClassmates , which connects college student , and the power to lend schoolhouse profile to individual pages , make Friendster far more utile for older kids and grownup than the underage . And with so many other sites out there open to all ages , it ’s likely easier to just go somewhere else rather than fake 16 + status .
Next , is Friendster a has - been ? And why in the world did it say no to $ 30 million fromGoogle ?
Competition and Future of Friendster
Despite basically starting the social networking windfall , Friendster has had a tough sentence in the industry . Like most non - subscription - basedWeb sitesand societal connection , Friendster calculate tomake moneyby selling advertizing to companies who need to turn over their drug user . But as of June 2007 , Friendster still has n’t post a profit , though it says it is close [ source : Marshall ] .
In gain , as we mentioned in the launching of this article , competitors likeFacebookand Bebo have acquire over magnanimous and younger lover root word . In 2003,MySpaceblew past times Friendster in the U.S. 18 - 29 age demographic [ source : Rivlin ] . Several factors may be to blame :
Can this malign community recapture the magic ? It may already have in Asia . consort to TIME magazine , 89 percent of Friendster ’s traffic comes from Asia , while less than 10 percentage of MySpace and Facebook users live there [ source : Liu ] . In fact , Friendster is the no . 1 social meshing in Asia , as of the date this clause was written , according to comScore Media Metrix . Further elaboration into China and other Asian markets is not far off , though Friendster is n’t alone in solicit those Herbert George Wells .
By point the 18 + demographic and offer what it calls a " fair environment " ( read : a less cluttered interface than MySpace ) , Friendster can focalise on older exploiter who may experience more comfortable with less flare . Applications such as quizzes and games help keep them get along back for more , and planned features like mobile texting aim to thrive Friendster ’s reach into raw markets and technology .
The web site has also ameliorate technically and beefed up its efforts at getting Thomas Nelson Page scene . The said varlet load and outage number have lessened , and it ’s well-heeled to see who ’s in your web and how you ’re unite with a young and improved family tree diagram " graphical record host " characteristic . einsteinium - mailnotifications and live profile update for unexampled messages and friend activity generate more page views . Friendster reps say these rising slope are why the site ’s numbers jump 40 percent in one month [ source : Marshall ] .
Perhaps the most belligerent move Friendster has made toward repurchase isopening its platformto program developers . This means that developers will have increase access and flexibility within the land site , making it much easier to create productive , flashy applications that will still work with those that presently exist . Further tempt developer and their fan - drawing widgets , Friendster also announced it will not postulate revenue - sharing on those program [ source : Havenstein ] . Some say it ’s too little too late , but in the end , it will likely come down to who draws the good , most democratic software .
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