Internet users of a certain age will remember that before Facebook and MySpace, there was Friendster, a site that introduced many to social networking for the first time.
But next month, the social-networking pioneer, which has declined since the rise of Facebook, will erase users’ photos, posts, blogs, comments, groups, and friend “testimonials” in effort to revamp itself as an entertainment-focused website, TechCrunch reports.
The move, to take place on May 31, may be the end of a long fall for Friendster. According to Web-traffic monitor Alexa, the site was ranked 1,009th in the world as of today, down from its all-time peak as the 40th most visited website globally.
Friendster will let users download their profile data through an application provided by the site. But for old Friendster members, there’s a nostalgic sting to seeing the once popular website shuttering its social network.
“Your emotions get wrapped up in it,” 33-year-old Jim Leija of Ann Arbor, Mich., told The New York Times. “It reflected a particular moment in time in our lives.”
After going live in March 2003, Friendster was quickly adopted by many Internet users, singing up 3 million members by the fall of that year and receiving a $30 million buyout offer from Google in 2003 that the company turned down. But since facing an exodus of users fleeing to Facebook, the website was purchased by Malaysian company MOL Global, which has since focused on expanding the site in Asia.
Basic profile information and friend lists will not be erased as the site becomes more entertainment-oriented. The new focus on entertainment is similar to a move made by MySpace, which has tried to refashion itself as a Web portal for movies, music and other forms of entertainment in response to competition from Facebook.
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