In an email to its registered users, Friendster let the world know that in an attempt to forge a new identity, it’s soon to undergo an extensive revamping. Many are saying it’s more than a little too late. Perhaps, in tacit agreement, if the rumors are to be believed, that’s why Friendster may decide to shed its coat of many profiles and emerge from its reinvention as a “casual gaming destination,” in the words of CNNMoney.com’s Julianne Pepitone. Friendster itself has yet to give out specific details about the coming changes.
The same email alerting users to the changes underway also let them know that most of the data on the site will be deleted. In an apparent attempt at serviceableness, Friendster is pointing the way to a data transfer app for those wanting to safekeep a few — or all — Friendster mementos.
Right now, Friendster is owned by MOL Global, an internet company based in Malaysia. It’s believed that MOL Global paid $26 million in 2009 for the site. In any case (and for a different sum), MOL Global sold to Facebook the intellectual-property rights to Friendster “inventions like connecting users within social networks, linking relationship information with outside databases, and compelling users to upload and share their own content.” That means the patent portfolio was handed over. Some believe Friendster’s road to ruins was paved through its inattention to active and constant information-sharing tools, like newsfeeds, à la Facebook.
Get your Friendster information saved by May 31. Only your list of friends and a limited profile will remain.
Read More:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384588,00.asp
http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/26/technology/friendster/