Friendster?

Originally posted on xanga.

Before Facebook let non students in and before MySpace allowed you to skin your look, there was Friendster. By all accounts, the Social Networking was its to lose. Probably not the first and definitely not the last, it was the first time I had heard of a network of friends. Friends inviting friends to share stuff. In the past, it had been forums and group list that keep everyone informed, "networked".

But than came along Friendster. Friends inviting friends and strangers left out in the cold! You were sorta safe! I was getting daily request to join the network. I didn't buy into it. But as the talk online and around the office was all the rage about Friendster, I gave in and joined.

Man, wasn't it cool to see your list of friends, see their friends who were not your friends, etc. You could explore forever! Part of the reason is because Friendster's site was so slow. Sometimes, logging in took 20-30 minutes. People got upset, bashed Friendster and left in droves. Where, to MySpace. In just 3-4 months after Friendster hit the scene hard and let it slip, MySpace took over. MySpace copied all the good stuff of Friendster and actually let you log in and surf the "social network".

That was just 5 years ago. Friendster gave it all away.

Why am I thinking about Friendster anyways? I received an email notice from Friendster that one of my friends has a upcoming Birthday. I clicked, tried like 5 different passwords before one finally worked. Looked at the site and forgot just how bad it is compared to Facebook. Compared to MySapce its not as bad. I was shaking my head as I looked around. Amazed and confused and finally dazed, I may never log in again.