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.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
People nowadays are looking for anything to connect to especially to their friends. Its one of the best ways to track down their friends and/or potential partners or crush/boyfriend/girfriend. And I think, that’s the most significant explanation to it. And secondly, to make a show of themselves, just to make their friends admire them. Its a place where you could brag about yourself,i.e. showing where you’ve been, pics with Hi-profiles, your best pics.. Sometimes, when they are bored they just log-in and pore into it. Even though there are new social networking sites that will arrive, it could take a long period of time before they’ll join the band since new adjustments have to be made. Until friendster will become obsolete and lousy, the situation will hardly change
May 24th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
because you can’t teach old dogs new tricks..
May 24th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Friendster keeps you updated with the lives of your friends and family members, especially those who are in far places. I just want to keep Friendster because it’s hard to be maintaining two or three networks at the same time. What with the hectic lives that we have.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
filipino already invested so much on gathering their connections on friendster. Plus they dont need much of those other features on other sites because only those with regular internet connection could afford to use them frequently. But i see a lot of filipinos using multiply for those other features not available on friendster.,
May 24th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
i prefer myspace than friendster since its more artistic and most of my friends online are from the US.Besides myspace is more advantage than friendster coz it has chatrooms where people can chat and meet other people also..