Social Networks

Friendster to Make a Comeback?

June 27, 2023 by noemi

Friend what? For sure, a considerable number of people still remember the “good old days” when Friendster was THE social network to be part of. However, actually admitting to being active on Friendster these days is something that I will not expect of a lot of people. For one reason or another, the popularity of this social network just spiraled downward – a fate that is not altogether alien to social networks.

I did read on the BBC today, however, that the people at Friendster are not giving up. The fact is that, while Facebook is the undoubted leader in the scene, Friendster is still alive. In Asia, especially, this platform is doing quite well. Friendster users in countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia are actually as many as Facebook users, believe it or not.

Having said that, experts believe that Friendster can get back on its feet. Last year, in December, MOL Global bought Friendster. MOL Global is known in Asia as the number one online payment solutions provider. With that kind of entity backing Friendster up, the site has actually grown in some ways.

Its interface has been changed to suit the times. Applications have been added, and games have been integrated. These changes could very well be what Friendster needs to draw the attention of users once again.

Today is the first time that I logged in to my Friendster account for a year or so, and lo and behold, my account is still alive! Even more surprising, my friends seem to be quite active. If their behavior is any indication, then perhaps Friendster will indeed make a comeback. Then again, if more people are like me, then I fear that Friendster has no hope at all.

Have you logged in to Friendster lately? What do you think? Will we be hearing more of Friendster or will it simply suffer a drawn out death?

Photo via PinoyAmbisyoso

Facebook Friendship Pages: The Magic of Friendship or a New Stalking Tool?

June 24, 2023 by noemi

Yesterday, I got a Facebook notification that my cousin had “liked” what I posted on her wall the other day. Naturally, I clicked on the notification to check her wall out. One thing stood out immediately – a new link labeled See Friendship. I think what used to be there was See Wall-to-Wall.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I went ahead and clicked on the link. I swear, despite the initial misgivings about the use of the term friendship, I kept an open mind. This is what greeted me, and I just didn’t like it.

I guess the guys at Facebook have been really busy in the past weeks, haven’t they? For some reason – specific reasons, actually – this Friendship Page thing just rubs me the wrong way. Before I go into those reasons, let’s hear it straight from Wayne Kao, the guy behind this feature. In a blog post, he narrates how he came up with the idea:

One of my favorite Facebook moments is browsing photos from friends in the News Feed after they’ve begun a new relationship, gotten engaged or gotten married. It gives me a fun and meaningful glimpse of the friendship between two people I know.

I realized that a similarly magical experience was possible if all of the photos and posts between two friends were brought together. You’d remember that first Wall post with your best friend or the funny photo from a night out. You may even see that moment when your favorite couple met at a party you all attended.

I guess there’s nothing really wrong with that. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s kind of cheesy! Still, some people wouldn’t mind having this kind of information accessible to them.

The use of the term friendship also doesn’t sit well with me. It’s a personal thing, so I really shouldn’t gripe about it, but couldn’t they have found another word?

What really bothers me is this: “You’ll be able to see a friendship page if you are friends with one of the people and have permission to view both people’s profiles.”

If you take a look at the right side of that screenshot, you can see Browse Friendships. In short, you can view other Friendship Pages of people in your circle.

What this tells me is that they seem to have taken the compilation of information to a whole new level! It freaks me out, even though I make it a point NOT to post anything on Facebook that I don’t mind anyone else seeing/knowing about. Still, you never know. Indeed, I am not the only one reacting this way – there is already a Facebook Page dubbed Opt Out of the FB Friendship Feature. I am pretty sure there is a group that love the feature already, but I wish that we had the option to disable it as well.

Yeah, Facebook Friendship Pages can either showcase the magic that you call your friendship, or it can be one of the most convenient stalking tools online. As for me, I don’t need Facebook to make me appreciate the magic in my friendships. Please give us the opt out feature?

My Facebook Groups Experience: Head’s a-Spinning

June 22, 2023 by noemi

A week or so ago, we heard about Facebook Groups, one of the new features rolled out by the social network. Some people were excited, some were skeptical, while others simply didn’t care. To be honest, I read a bit about it and then totally threw the idea out of the window. I just couldn’t be bothered.

Over the weekend, I received two notifications that caught my eye – I was added to groups by friends. I didn’t really pay any attention until this morning, and I what I experienced made my head spin. Seriously.

This is one of the groups I was added to:

So what’s up with the “Secret Group” tag? When someone creates a Group, he or she can set it to secret so as to hide it from everyone else. Duh. Seriously, though, this setting is perfect for those who are really careful about their privacy. People who are not in the group cannot “see” it anywhere, and they have to be invited by someone else who is already in that group. This brings up an interesting flaw: if anyone can add friends to the group, doesn’t this defeat the purpose of keeping security tight? I think that to make this more efficient, only administrators/creators should be able to “approve” membership.

Another thing that made me go “wut?” was the way people in groups can interact. The Group’s page is pretty much like any other page or wall on Facebook, but when posting comments, there does not seem to be a button to click – just hit ENTER. More so, there isn’t a way to delete your comment. What if you made a grammar mistake??? Seriously, what if you want to change what you just posted? You can, however, unsubscribe to a specific post if you don’t want to receive notifications regarding it anymore.

Last thing I tried was the chat. It’s basically a group chat, with all the online members receiving the messages. I think it is still buggy (when is Facebook Chat not buggy anyway) as it does not show the members who are online. When I sent a message, though, they received it and a chat session was begun. (Bear with me with all those black boxes, please.)

So why is my head spinning? I guess because no one in the Group really understood what it was for. We do have a binding factor, but as of the moment, no one can figure out what we can use the Group for. We will figure this out somehow, but I don’t see the need for it right now.

Anyone care to share their Facebook Groups experience? Is it working out for you guys?