Friendster Is Back But It’s Also Different In A Good Way

The new Friendster features are pared down to focus on genuine connections.

Social networking site Friendster is back after so long, but with a different look. Relaunched as an iOS mobile app in April, the new Friendster allows users to only connect with real-life friends. This means users can only add connections in person by opening the app and tapping their phones together.

Writing on Medium, Mike Carson, Founder of Friendster, said he felt the social networks today foster a lot of negativity, but he remembered Friendster being a really positive and enjoyable place.

He liked the idea of connecting friends on Friendster by tapping phones because it would promote people meeting in person. This ensures users are connecting to real people or connecting with people they actually want to spend time with.

Once connected, they can share posts and messages within the social network. Currently, the app markets itself as a privacy-first platform and built on a foundation of no ads, no algorithms, and no spam.

One of the app’s features is fading connections. When two friends who haven’t tapped phones for a full year, the link between them kind of fades. Carson said this isn’t a punishment, but a ”gentle nudge” that real friendships are kept alive in person, and not online.

Posts are limited to short updates and photos. By stripping away likes, follower counts, and public engagement metrics, Friendster removes the social pressure that often fuel anxiety and compulsive scrolling.

Unofficially dubbed as Friendster 2.0, Associate Professor Saifuddin Ahmed from NTU’s Wee Kim School of Communication and Information told The Straits Times that the launch of the new Friendster was ‘’cleverly timed.’’

Saifuddin said most social media platforms today have favoured algorithms, ads, and data exploitation, instead of providing genuine human connection. These unwelcome features were all built and included on platforms to make sure users stay on the app all times.

The new Friendster offers a reboot so-to-speak. It provides a fresh new platform to combat fake profiles, ads, algorithms, data selling, and all the other junk.

However, Saifuddin said the real question still depends on whether people are ready to let go of the dopamine hits they get from endlessly scrolling their feed on the other platforms.

He added that potential paid features for the app, something Carson hinted at, might serve as an incentive to make the swap over to Friendster.

Friendster was launched in 2022 and was known as one of the first social network websites. It was the most popular online platform at the time. However, it closed in 2015 due to the rise of other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Before you get excited and go around digging for your old login credentials, the new Friendster does not have access to any previous data or content. You won’t be able to sign into your old account. It’s an opportunity to start afresh.