Is Friendster shutting down?
Friendster, where most of us got hooked with before Facebook, will shut down by May 31.Friendster will undergo a major reformat!
The site Friendster.com will not actually shut down, but Friendster will shut down only as a social networking site, and will upgrade itself as a social entertainment site, which will focus more on fun games.
That's the best thing to do, especially that most of its registered users are no longer active and much more active in Facebook, a social networking site which was launched 2 years later than Friendster and is now the 2nd most visited site in the world.
Mykiru Isyusero also has a
Friendster account, but the last time I updated it was more than 2 years ago, because I've been devoting more time on Facebook.
Most Filipinos actually are already members of Facebook, since it's the most-visited site in our country. According to Alexa Ranking, the Top 5 sites in the Philippines are: 1. Facebook 2. Yahoo! 3. Google.com.ph 4. Google.com 5. Youtube.
Friendster may not be ranking so high in the country (ranked 15th), but it still gets most visits from Filipino users. The Top 3 Friendster users are Indonesia and India and the Philippines.
Friendster's upgrading will bring out some changes, such as, deletion of your uploaded photos, your blogs, messages in your inbox, your friends' testimonials ("testi" for short) and shoutouts.
But they created an Exporter application in the site to back-up or transfer your Friendster files.
They promised though to keep your added friends and basic profile info.
An e-mail has already been sent out to all of its users, informing them of the upcoming changes on Friendster.
Here's the letter I received last Saturday, April 23:
Dear Mykiru,
We are introducing a new and improved Friendster site in the coming weeks. As part of this change, we will remove a number of social networking functions in Friendster. This includes your existing account profile, photos, messages, blogs, and shoutouts. However, your list of friends will be preserved, along with your basic profile information.
We understand that your photos, blogs and other private data may be important to you. An application is available in the "Apps" section of the site, until May 31st 2011, to help you download or export them securely to third party sites, such as Flickr or Multiply. The application is available here.
If you do not wish to keep any of these information, you do not need to do anything. Your Friendster account will not be deleted. Your Friendster Wallet, along with the coins and chips in it, will remain unchanged in the new site as long as you use your existing login details.
For more information on the Exporter app, please visit the Friendster Help page.
Thank you for using Friendster, we look forward taking you to a brand new Friendster experience very soon!
Export Your Profile Now
Sincerely,
The Friendster Team
The Friendster Export application will let you do these things: Download your profile and export your photos.
The profile info which will be downloaded includes your basic info (name, date of birth, gender, and 'About Me' info), photos, list of your friends or fans (for Fan Profiles), list of pages that you are 'a fan of', comments and testimonials, messages in your Inbox, shoutout history and comments to your shoutouts, virtual gifts, treasure chest and list of groups you are a member of.
While your photos will be exported either to Flickr, Photobucket or Multiply depending on your choice. All your albums, both public and private, can be exported.
