Friendster
Friendster was a social network based in Mountain View, California, founded by Jonathan Abrams and launched in March 2003. Later, the company became a social gaming site based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Before Friendster was redesigned, the service allowed users to contact other members, maintain those contacts, and share online content and media with those contacts. The website was also used for dating and discovering new events, bands and hobbies. Users could share videos, photos, messages, and comments with other members via profiles and networks. It is considered one of the original social networks.
Screenshot of Friendster's main page, updated in July 2011 | |
Type of site | Social network game |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Ganesh Kumar Bangah (CEO) |
| URL | www |
| Advertising | Banner ads, Contextual ads, Sponsorships |
| Registration | Free |
| Users | 8.2 million (June 2010) |
| Launched | March 22, 2003 |
| Current status | Defunct (as a social networking site) Closed (as a social gaming site on June 14, 2015; as a company on June 30, 2018) |
After the launching of Friendster as a social gaming platform in June 2011, the number of registered users reached over 115 million. The company operated mainly from four Asian countries: the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, and over 90% of the site's traffic came from Asia. As of 2008, Friendster had more monthly unique visitors than any other social network in Asia. Friendster remained notably popular in Indonesia through 2012.
The company suspended services in 2015, citing "the evolving landscape in our challenging industry" and lack of engagement by the online community, and ceased trading in 2018.