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2002 - 2015
Friendster
“Your first online friend request.”
- Birth year
- 2002
- Shutdown year
- 2015
- Lifespan
- 13 years
- Peak era
- 2003-2005
- Company
- Friendster
- Category
- Social Networks
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What Was It?
Friendster introduced many people to public profiles, testimonials, and mapping friendship online.
Friendster made relationships part of the interface. Profiles and testimonials gave people a public identity, while connections showed how one person fitted into a wider social circle. Looking around the network could feel like exploring the people just beyond the edge of everyday life.
Its history spans changes in purpose as well as a final closure. The early social-network experience is the part many people remember, even though the service later moved toward gaming. Separating those phases helps explain why different users remember different endings for the same name.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Testimonials
- Six degrees of friends
- Profile browsing
The Story
- 2002 Friendster launched.
- 2015 The service closed.
How It Died
It lost users to faster competitors and eventually closed after a long pivot to gaming.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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