Anyone remember Friendster? Yes that Friendster, the original social networking site that was facebook before facebook came along. It had gone the route of myspace into irrelevancy but now it’s back with a new tagline and a different goal in mind. The pioneer of social networking sites just got relaunched as a “social discovery and gaming platform” that offers users a unique experience which combines search, content discovery and social functionalities.
Friendster has over 100 million registered users. Currently, more than 50% of its active users are from the Asian region. The top four highest traffic comes from Philippines (13.27%), India (13.26%), Indonesia (11.79%), and Malaysia (11.28%).
In 2009, it was acquired by Asia’s leading e-payment provider, MOL Global in deal valued at $39.5 million.
“Friendster pioneered the social networking industry and paved the way for the emergence of other sites. As the global gaming communities grew, it was essential for Friendster to find its unique proposition in order to remain competitive,” said MOL Group Chief Executive Officer, Ganesh Kumar Bangah. “By leveraging on Friendster’s strongest asset in the form of its millions of users and harnessing MOL’s strength as an e-payments and content distributor, we were able to successfully redesign Friendster to become a social discovery and gaming platform, host to the largest online community in Southeast Asia.”
Key new features of the new site are:
- Innovative and user-friendly interface;
- Selections of avatars to suit your personas;
- Chat with existing and new friends via the Friendster Chat Application while playing games on Friendster;
- Over 50 online games from eight different genre like role-playing, strategy, simulations and card games;
- Earn rewards through points for every activity within the site including adding friends, engaging with friends, daily log-in or playing any game;
- Simple, easy-to-obtain virtual currency that can be used to purchase virtual goods, online games and applications in a safe and convenient manner.
In line with the launch, Friendster will host its inaugural game event, Friendster FunXtion on April 27 in Manila, the Philippines.