"...Friendster, which today has millions of Filipino members, is one of a number of advertising-supported internet sites grappling with the dilemma of how to take advantage of unforeseen overseas popularity. Such sites are finding that business models that work in large, developed countries need serious readjustment in nations with small populations or low internet-penetration rate..."We're a Hit in Manila! Now What?
...the networking site now has millions of users in the Philippines. That growth occurred with no promotional efforts on the company's part, however, so no one had a predetermined strategy for how to respond...."
Wired Magazine
Before I Begin...
1. Radio stations have Friendster accounts that listeners can join...
2. I was in a cab and the talk show blaring on the radio was an ummm... advice show. You know, about those with problems with relationships? Anyway, the woman in the show was asking for advice since she saw a testimonial on her boyfriend's Friendster froma girl she doesn't know about...
3. "Hey there Friendster!" is a common way to greet people who are in your Friendster account...
4. The Friendster site is commonly blocked in most offices.
5. Aside from getting phone numbers, some people exchange email addresses to add each other to their Friendster account
6. Some Filipinos have two or three Friendster accounts since they have maxed out on the 500 member limit on an account.
7. Friendster added a feature to include embedded music and video to one's personal site. Almost overnight, one site VideoCodes4U had an upsurge of hits from Philippine Friendster users downloading Video links from the site.
8. Even some consumer products have a Friendster site.
9. Some hack sites has comments from Filipinos requesting that their husband's/ wife's/ girlfriend's/ boyfriend's Friendster site be hacked. Some hackers even get paid to do it. The fact if it's really hacked or not isn't proven.
I had this urge to expand on this Friendster Phenomenon in the Philippines. I mean, even Wired Magazine has noticed this. I'm Filipino and for the life of me, I can't remember how I got into Friendster. I mean, I've been a member since October 2003 but I can't really recall how I got into the site. It's as if it's but natural that I have a Friendster account.
That's weird. And scary. Does that mean I'm part of the brainwashed public?
And for the life of me, I still don't know what the Friendster account does for me! If I want to communicate with friends either I call them, meet up with them, or email them. How do you 'Friendster' them?
After two years, I only have like 94 friends on my account. I know someone who just started and in a day or so and she got around 173 friends. Ack! "...only 94 friends...", Did I just fall into the numbers trap too? Did I judge my worth by how many friendsters have accepted me as their friend? What does this mean to us in a more social context?
I'm no sociologist but this phenomenon really needs looking into. I'm just a whack site, we need the big guns here. My brain can only process thoughts at the speed of a 1992 modem (around 14400kbps).
So, now Friendster has decided to introduce a new feature. It's the "Who has viewed me" feature. No more voyeurism. No more sneak peeks to sites of exes. No more reading the status of crushes or hidden loves. How does this affect us? I for one don't check the sites of some of my friends anymore. I feel paranoid. Even if I don't mean anything by checking the site. Will this affect the popularity of the site here in the Philippines? My opinion? Dang Right it will!
Speaking for myself and to the people around me, we love voyeurism. Big Brother is a hit here in the Philippines. Those showbiz shows that feature the travails, problems, and intrigues of actors and actresses (whether they're way up or bottom feeders in the poplularity ladder) are gobbled up almost fanatically by everyone. A five year old kid can name at least three or even all of the Big Brother contestants but would have difficulty naming three or four past presidents or senators of the Philippines. Well, unless of course one of these presidents or senators were linked to a showbiz personality and featured in one of those shows or joined Big Brother. That's as voyeur as we can get.
But with the new feature, users will be caught red handed peeking into other sites. We'll see awkward moments, sheepish grins or even all out fights because of this. Maybe Friendster satisfies the filipino hunger for voyeurism at a more personal level. I mean, does my girlfriend still send messages to her ex? Or does my ex have a new boyfriend now and I just want to check his testimonials to her. Stuff like this, is so Filipino.
So can I really explain why Friendster is a big hit here? No. And I don't know why it is. All I can really lay out here is how it affects me and my opinions about it. It's a numbers game. It's a chance to peek into someone else's site and find out more about the person. It's a site that ups one's paranoia level. It's a site that helps one shout out to the whole world how much he or she feels for a person. It's one's own personal resume with tons of referrals.
Here's an idea. I just got an Orkut account. And right now, I would want to do this little experiment. Can Orkut duplicate what Friendster has done? I mean, Orkut is huge in Brazil but virtually unheard of here. I would want to start this Philippine Orkut phenomenon. I don't really have a steady base of readers in my blog but maybe one or two of you can join me and in a couple of months we'll probably see Orkut become as big as Friendster. I don't know what this proves but one or two of you smart people there can figure it out. Just comment your first name, last name, and email address. Let's see where this goes.
(via The Washington Oculus:Daily Muesli)
