WHY is Friendster so popular in the Philippines?
Once upon a time, Friendster was the social networking site. It was huge in the US and other countries, but since then it has seen a pretender to the throne, MySpace, become the new king of social networking.
In the Philippines, however, Friendster is still hands-down the most popular social networking site, notwithstanding the presence of homegrown alternatives such as GrooveNet. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Filipinos are practically single-handedly keeping Friendster alive. Heck, according to Alexa, Friendster is the second most popular site for Philippine Internet users, next only to Yahoo!
Which makes you wonder: Why is Friendster so popular among us Filipinos? Is it the first-mover advantage? After all, having given Friendster our personal information and built a network of friends there, it’s kind of a drag to have to start all over again in a new social networking site. Then again, that didn’t stop people in other countries from leaving Friendster behind and migrating to MySpace and other competitors.
Is it a cultural quirk? Like when a generation of Filipinos embraced Voltes V with a fervor that would surprise even the people in the land of its birth, Japan, as well as viewers in other countries.
Maybe someone could explain the reason for this phenomenon? One thing’s for sure, thouh: Friendster has become an indispensable part of the online life of many Filipinos. If you or your friends have a great pic, you’ll often hear someone describe it as “pang-Friendster.” Phone pals, or, heaven forbid, pen pals? Nope, nowadays it’s “ka-Friendster.” Sure, some people — hell, most of the world — would say Friendster is baduy, jologs or yesterday’s news, but Filipinos love it anyway.
What’s your Friendster story? Why do you like Friendster? What’s your unforgettable Friendster experience? Share your tales, and maybe we can better understand what makes Friendster the Filipino friend.
September 15th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
have you try Mobitrek Mobile? a WAP based mobile social networking, at http://m.mobitrek.com/ (from mobile device or PC) it’s free and you can search friends, blogging, forum etc…
July 13th, 2007 at 5:08 am
WAG NA NATING HIMAYIN WHY FRIENDSTER ROCKS! Basta hiyang na hiyang siya sa psyche ng mga pinoy. And nag-eevolve naman sya, naalala nyo pa ba nung 5 photos lang ang allowed pics nila? I myself have two accounts…one is my main one and the other for those looking for me in the search bar. MANAKAW NA MGA CELPHONE, MAG-EXPIRE MAN EMAIL MO basta connected ka sa Friendster ng mga friends mo you can easily regain contact.
WISH KO LANG magkaroon na ng chatroom, maski simple lang. AND maging parang email na yung message section. AND bawat pic mareretain ang original resolution nya para pwede na ring
repository ng pics. ALSO dumami pa allowed pics. (hey Friendster are you listening? Don’t rest on your laurels guys…Eskwela.com is nice too, masyado
lang bago)
Pero until then FRIENDSTER pa rin. Sobra-sobra na sana kasikatan nya sa pinas kung di nahaharang ng firewall sa mga offices.
Yung nagsabing baduy sya, is just marching to the beat of his own drum. It’s the PR space of the Noypi, and we all enjoy browsin’ thru other’s PR spaces.
PAKISABI lang sa mga nag-asawa na na mga girls, gumawa naman kayo ng account where you are using your maiden name as your display name. Para mahanap kayo ng old friends nyo.
OK GOD BLESS USERS OF PINOYSTER…este…prenster
June 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
catchy name i guess. friend-oriented
June 18th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
i prefer friendster than myspace because there are a lot of perverts in myspace.. people who post nude pics and all… i disagree that friendster is baduy… bkit pag nagugustuhan ng mraming pinoy. sinasabi ng iba na baduy… like mga teleseryes or pinoy movies… and not to mention, mga kapwa pilipino ang nanglalait sa mga ito… ipokreta!
June 10th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
[...] I’ve previously blogged in @play, Friendster is huge in the Philippines (and readers have to sent in comments to explain why that’s [...]