“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” - C. S. LewisTwo years ago the tattered remnants of Friendster was sold to a Malaysian company, which announced this week that Friendster will be re-launched as an entertainment site — and will delete all user information. All those pictures, testimonials, and featured friends will be lost to history.
The year was 2003, and the site was Friendster, but it wasn’t until 2004 when I decided to create an account right after I started writing for my first blog. It was through Friendster that I was able to get in touch with my long lost elementary and high school classmates, it was there that I got re-acquainted with people that I haven’t seen for a long time. But over time, the former trailblazer was overtaken by Facebook, and users deserted by the millions –I was among those who left Friendster because all my friends there have already moved to Facebook.
The news of Friendster’s upcoming re-launch signals the end of an era for me because bequeaths us with the sudden realization that our personal lives online, memories that once ended up in scrapbooks are now in the custody of companies that might disappear tomorrow. It signals an end to an era, for veteran internet users and social networkers who've leapfrogged from Friendster to Multiply to Myspace to Facebook to Twitter.
As I await for the end for Friendster I would be writing, a series of blogs that I hope will help us come to grips with Friendster's demise. I would like to invite you to share also about your memories of the once loved social network at the comments section of this blog.
Here's to good memories...
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