Friendster was one of the earliest social services on the internet, but it failed to remain relevant after the rise of services like Facebook. Its earliest version was buried, before changing owners several times, including being owned by Malaysian company MOL.
Most recently, it seems that its domain name and trademark have been acquired by new owners, who are in the process of redeveloping the social service. The new Friendster is offered in the form of an app, for iPhone users first.
The new Friendster emphasizes real-world contacts. To add friends, users need to tap each other's phones, and only after that can you send messages, or see other sharing. This ensures that the contacts you add to Friendster are contacts you have met in person, and not online contacts. Indirectly, this also ensures that the social service remains positive and avoids unhelpful sharing.
In addition, like Daun, it also comes without any algorithms or ads. For now, Friendster is offered for iPhone users only, and it is not yet known when the Android version will be introduced.
