Get ready to SMILE!

Intro Ad for SMILE with Friendster

2009-01-23T03:58:00.001-08:00

Intro ad

SMILE with Friendster Final Logo

2009-01-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

Finally! I have my event logo! Yippie!

SMILE (Socialize, Mingle, Interact, Link, and Engage) with Friendster is a socializing event for Friendster users and the people who are interested to join Friendster. It focuses on interaction between individuals as well as to get to know new people.

This will be the main event composed of activity booths and activity game booths, contests, prizes, band performances, celebrity guests and food station. Experience the SMILE Friendster brings to every Filipinos.

Slogan: "Coz everything starts with a smile!"
A smile is an expression denoting pleasure, happiness, or amusement. Happiness is most often the motivating cause of a smile. A flash of smile to another person can mean that the other person is interested to know you, likes you, thinks you're funny (in a good way), or can be a start of a good conversation. Its a good way to start interacting with the other person.

Virtually Filipino

2009-01-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

By Gregory Kittelson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:59:00 11/16/2008

MANILA, Philippines - It’s a fact: Pinoys love online social networking, with the most popular network in the Philippines being Friendster, hands down. The Friendster boom led to Filipinos creating accounts on other international social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Hi5 and Multiply. Local companies soon developed Filipino social networking sites, the largest and most successful of these being GrooveNet, which allows its members to upload and share Pinoy and international music.

Almost all Internet users in the Philippines have a Friendster account. A study released by Universal McCann entitled “Power To The People—Wave3” established the Philippines as “the social networking capital of the world,” with 83 percent of the Filipinos surveyed reporting that they are members of a social network. They are also regarded as the top photo uploaders and web video viewers, and second in number of blog readers and video uploaders.

Filipinos have chosen certain online communities in addition to Friendster for a variety of reasons. Some have gravitated to MySpace because of the customizability of the pages. Others use Multiply to easily display and share photo albums with friends and family. Facebook is the fastest growing online social network in the Philippines. Filipinos who want to engage in a primarily Filipino social network with localized content are moving towards GrooveNet. Many Filipinos maintain accounts on these networks simultaneously and update them regularly.

This has also heralded the rise of online 3D virtual worlds, considered a more unique and even faster way to meet people and socialize online in real-time. Among the 3D virtual worlds, Second Life and There have caught the attention of Filipinos.

Second Life started out of California and opened its online world in 2003. A free client program, which can be downloaded from the Second Life website, enables users to interact with each other through avatars, virtual representatives of yourself in this 3D world, and engage in all sorts of activities, including commerce. Since its launch, Second Life has had over 15 million sign-ups and is currently the world’s overall most popular virtual world. However, it is difficult to say if there are more Filipinos in Second Life or in There.

Also founded in California around the same time as Second Life, There was launched locally by GrooveNet. There is also a free 3D virtual online community where members use their personal customizable avatar to chat with friends, meet new people and explore a massive online 3D world. In addition to chatting, It has various games, including paintball matches, buggy races, trivia and other contests.

There also has a dynamic in-world economy where members can design, trade and sell clothes, vehicles, furniture and any other 3D virtual items in its online virtual world. It provides a medium for users to show off their vast artistic and design talents, as they create virtual clothing, cars, even houses. There’s even a Developer Program for new and experienced designers, but any beginner can customize their online avatars to match their appearance, with over 500 customizable options for facial, body, and skin tone characteristics.

One of the most compelling features of both There and Second Life is the Voice Chat which enables the user to engage in Voice Chat with other members. As you speak, your avatar’s mouth, arms and hands move, giving you a more realistic experience while expressing yourself. Second Life and There are both connecting their avatars to their members’ profile pages, which ties in the traditional concept of online social networking to the virtual world. Each member’s profile page will not only represent that individual, but his or her avatar inside of There and Second Life. Once in-world, simply click on another member’s avatar and a web browser launches his profile page.

Both There and Second Life have Filipinos developing digital content for these virtual worlds. There is even a Cebu-based company called Avatrian which designs and develops products and services for 3D online digital worlds, with Second Life in focus. Avatrian primarily offers content creation services for companies and individuals seeking to establish a presence in Second Life. Avatrian believes virtual worlds and the activities within them are another form of reality, a new form that redefines the very concept.

This dynamic approach has earned Avatrian an innovative reputation, and these Filipino developers at Avatrian actually make real money aside from having a good creative experience.

“What started off as a just a group of Filipinos curiously tinkering around and exploring this virtual world grew into a serious and profitable venture which not only allows the Avatrian team to explore the creative potentials of this new environment, but also to actually earn a real living from it,” Avatrian Creative Director, Rodion Herrera, explains. “What we’ve done in the past 16 months has, in turn, also enhanced our ‘real selves,’ because the nature of immersing one’s self in a virtual world gives a creator or artist an additional unique vantage point of looking at creativity and its future, as the digital world of the internet and metaverse expands.”

Second Life may have more global members than There, and possibly more virtual objects created by Filipinos. There has its own virtual island called There Philippines, where one finds a lot of Filipino members putting up virtual houses, property and other objects while chatting away in Tagalog and Bisaya. Together, GrooveNet, There and its Pinoy community have literally put the Philippines on the “virtual map.”

Whether on Friendster, Facebook, Second Life or There, Pinoys continue to engage and thrive in online communities. The presence of Filipinos in online virtual worlds such as There and Second Life continues to grow, with Pinoys demonstrating their passion for the internet, online communication, sharing content and their artistic abilities, even by creating digital content.

Gregory Kittelson is an American national who has been living in the Philippines for six years. Gregory helped build two local start-up IT companies in Manila, FBM Software and FBM e-Services. In addition, he co-founded two Internet companies in the Philippines, Digital Media Exchange (Mobius) and GrooveNet. He now has a consulting company, Kittelson & Carpo Consulting focused on assisting foreign companies setting up outsourcing businesses in the Philippines.

Friendster Launching Support for Facebook Platform APIs

2009-01-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

Friendster, the biggest social network in Asia, will announce later this evening that it is expanding its application developer program by adding support for the Facebook Platform API. With tonight’s launch, Friendster will be the first social network to have implemented support for both the OpenSocial and Facebook Platform application development standards. Friendster launched OpenSocial support just this August, after implementing its own application platform in 2007.

The Friendster launch is a big opportunity for Facebook application developers interested in Asian markets. Facebook developers will be able to easily port (most parts of) their Facebook applications over to Friendster with very little work, gaining access to Friendster’s audience of 57 million users. According to comScore, Friendster’s user base only has a 22% overlap with Facebook’s, so Friendster offers access to an audience largely untapped by most Facebook developers.

In addition, Friendster is less restrictive about which parts of the application can be monetized. Developers can put ads on any real estate they control, including the profile page.

Facebook Platform API categories that will be supported as of launch tonight include: users, friends, notifications, photos, FBML, FQL, authentication, requests, and profile. The news feed API will not be supported, but it will be in the future. Friendster’s Director of Marketing Jeff Roberto says that Friendster intends to keep its Facebook Platform implementation up to date with Facebook’s, but it will just take a little more time to initially get in sync.

“Our vision with the developer program is to build a very open platform and to make it easy for developers who have built on common standards like Facebook and OpenSocial to deploy on Friendster,” Roberto says. “We will maintain our Friendster APIs, Facebook APIs, and OpenSocial APIs.”

Friendster becomes the second major social network to license the Facebook Platform API under the Facebook Open Platform (fbOpen) initiative. Late last year, Bebo launched its platform using Facebook APIs, shortly before being acquired by AOL.

Friendster Supports Google Devfest and OpenSocial Developer Application Contest in South East Asia

2009-01-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

#1 Social Network in Asia Participates in Four-Country OpenSocial Developer Tour

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA and MANILA, PHILIPPINES– November 6, 2008 – Friendster, Inc., a top-20 global website based on traffic and the #1 social network in Asia*, today announced that it’s supporting developers throughout South East Asia by its participation in the Google DevFest tour and OpenSocial developer application contest in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Friendster’s support of DevFest and OpenSocial will help recruit more regional and local developers in Asia. Developers will learn how to build applications for over 85 million registered Friendster users globally and 62 million in Asia, the largest group of internet users on a single social network in Asia. Friendster applications built on OpenSocial APIs can also be deployed on other OpenSocial-enabled websites reaching hundreds of millions of Internet users worldwide.

Friendster recently launched support for OpenSocial as part of the Friendster Developer Program so individual developers and companies can easily use OpenSocial APIs to deploy their applications, or “apps,” on Friendster. OpenSocial applications on Friendster enrich the user experience by providing hundreds of new and interesting features for Friendster members to use and share. New features are added on a weekly basis.

These hundreds of new features created by third-party developers include music, games, 3-D avatars, virtual worlds and experiences, group chat, videos, photos, sports, TV shows, entertainment, and news and information. For the Friendster user, applications provide another way to connect with friends by using and recommending new applications. Developers interested in building applications for Friendster using OpenSocial and/or other APIs available via the Friendster Developer Program should visit: www.friendster.com/developer
“The first three events at Singapore Management University, Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, and Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Technology exceeded our expectations and were completely filled to capacity”, said Jeff Roberto, marketing and PR director at Friendster. “We’re looking forward to the final event this week in the Philippines as hundreds of South East Asia developers are showing up for each DevFest event, and their interest in developing OpenSocial applications for Friendster is at an all-time high. This is great news for Friendster, Friendster users and the other sites supporting the OpenSocial initiative, with many new and exciting applications launching shortly,” he said.

OpenSocial Developer Application Contest
To support the developer community and encourage innovation on the OpenSocial platform, Friendster and other OpenSocial partners from the DevFest tour are organizing an OpenSocial Application Contest for local developers to use their coding skills and creativity to build OpenSocial applications.
Prizes will be awarded to developers in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam whose applications are picked by a panel of judges, which includes representatives from Friendster. For each country, the top winner will receive a Nintendo Wii and three additional winners will get an Apple iPod Touch. In addition, the winners will have their OpenSocial applications promoted by Friendster and other OpenSocial partners from the DevFest tour to drive widespread user adoption on Friendster and other OpenSocial-enabled websites to hundreds of millions of Internet users worldwide.

Developers can register and submit their OpenSocial applications from November 15, 2008 to January 10, 2009. Entries are limited to three per person and will be evaluated on: creativity and user appeal; internationalization; use of other APIs; and use of App Engine for hosting files. Winners will be notified by January 26, 2009 and the contest results will be announced by February 6, 2009.
To register and to view additional information about the OpenSocial Application Contest, developers can go to: http://code.google.com/events/apacdevfest/contest

Friendster Leads in Asia and is a Top 20 Global Website
Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, with over 62 million registered users and over 45 million monthly unique visitors from Asia.** In Asia, Friendster has more monthly unique visitors than any other social network. Plus, Asia is the largest market of Internet users (Asia has 38% of the world’s Internet users while the U.S. has only 22%), and Asia is the fastest growing region in the world. Friendster has a loyal and growing user base throughout Asia in the following top 10 countries for Friendster: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.
Friendster is a top 20 global website and the 3rd largest social network in the world in terms of traffic, serving 19 billion page views a month. Friendster is 1st in “user engagement” among the top five global social networks with users spending an average of 185 minutes per visitor per month on www.friendster.com.*

Friendster unveils new, friendlier features

2009-01-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the proliferation of social networking sites around the globe, there’s no sign of slowing down for Friendster as it continuously upgrade its site with engaging features not just for individuals users but for program developers as well.

In a round table discussion, Jeff Roberto, marketing director of the Friendster, unveiled before the media the latest features that makes the social networking friendlier than it has even been.

Roberto, in an interview with GMANews.TV, clarified that their upgrades are not driven solely by competition.

"Not all of it though. Not all other sites focus on the same languages, for one. Not all other sites are launching the same set of mobile features and launching them in the same order. So, part of it is driven on based Friendster's big markets and part of it is based on what other sites are doing," he said.

Among the Friendster features include:

* Integrated blogging experience

From its complicated, plain-and-dull blogging service, Friendster rolled out a new blogging scheme which is easier and more convenient to use.

Teaming up with WordPress-powered blogs, Roberto says Friendster blog now offers easy to navigate system that could help users unleash the writer in them.

However, not without pitfalls, some users still see Friendster blogs as slow in terms of uploading and editing blog posts compared to other sites.

* Friendster Developer Program

As an “open site," Friendster gives the developers leeway to enhance their creativity in terms of creating apps and widgets.

"We are open to all developers, and their applications help Friendster bring more traffic to our web site," says Roberto.

He added that Friendster Developer Program is unique because it allows advertisements, unlike in other social networking sites, to be placed anywhere on the profile page, which Roberto said is the most visited page of Friendster next to photos.

* Friendster mobile

It’s Friendster on the go!

This feature helps the user immediately tell the world what’s going on with him.

Roberto explains that Friendster mobile is an effective way of communication even if you are away from the computer. It’s a feature designed to keep users updated by retrieving updates, checking on what’s latest with their friends, approving requests and comments, uploading pictures, posting shout-outs and bulletins, and of course reading e-messages.

* Friendster text alerts

Like most text alerts, this feature comes with a fee.

Users pay per SMS received. Friendster's SMS registration page outlines the fees associated for users here in the Philippines on Globe, Smart and Sun.

* Fan profiles

It’s a program enhanced with promotional features, explains Roberto. Friendster Fan Profiles is a way for artist, bands, non-profit organizations, and even politicians to promote themselves through the site – for free.

It is also a way of “self-expression" by showing your contacts what organizations, celebrities, artists, and politicians you are fan of.

* Languages

With nine different languages, plus English, Languages feature helps the social networking site promote a “multi-cultural exchange and communication" among users globally. - GMANews.TV

Source: AIE BALAGTAS SEE, GMANews.TV

Friendster Expands Its Team, Offcies and Partners in Asia

2009-01-22T22:06:00.000-08:00

Key Hires, New Offices and Partners To Enhance Company's Asia Pacific Focus

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Friendster, Inc., a top 20 global website based on traffic and the #1 social network in Asia, today announced that it has further expanded its team, offices and partnerships in the Asia Pacific region and that it will continue growing its team and partners in Asia throughout 2009.

Friendster has opened up new offices in Singapore and Sydney, Australia. The Sydney office is where Richard Kimber, Friendster's CEO, is based along with new members of Friendster's marketing, sales and business development teams. The new Singapore office will also host sales, marketing and business development teams. Additionally, Friendster has a new U.S. global headquarters in Mountain View, CA which houses members of the executive staff along with employees in all departments. Friendster will continue to maintain and expand its office in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. In operation since 2006, the Philippine office primarily houses engineering and operations, but it will expand to accommodate more direct sales and marketing staff in 2009. Since 2008, a majority of Friendster's employees are now located in the Asia Pacific region, and at least 80% of Friendster's new hires in 2009 will be based in Asia.

Narciso Reyes, Friendster's first-ever Philippines country sales manager, will head Friendster's sales efforts in the Philippines and will be based out of Friendster's local office in Makati City, Metro Manila. Reyes will focus on building new advertising campaigns and relationships with local advertisers and their agencies and recruiting a local sales team. Prior to joining Friendster, Reyes held senior sales roles at Google, Doubleclick and LycosAsia. He has more than 10 years' experience building successful online campaigns for leading brands globally.

In addition to Reyes and a growing direct sales team throughout Southeast Asia, Friendster has also expanded its reseller partnerships to a total of four agencies in the region that will help with local advertising sales efforts. All four resellers will complement Friendster's growing direct sales team.

Pixel Media, a leading advertising sales network in Asia, has been appointed the exclusive sales partner for Friendster in Singapore, where Friendster has 1 million monthly unique visitors.* Additionally, Pixel Media has been and will continue to be the exclusive sales partner for Friendster in Malaysia where Friendster has over 3.6 million monthly unique visitors.* Pixel Media will work closely with advertisers and agencies to deploy effective interactive marketing campaigns on Friendster in both countries.

In Indonesia, Admax, a leading website representation and digital advertising network of premier local and international sites in Southeast Asia, has been named the exclusive reseller for Friendster. Admax will work with local advertisers in Indonesia to launch their campaigns on Friendster, giving them access to Friendster's over 5 million monthly unique visitors in Indonesia,** a top-3 website and the #1 mobile site in the country.***

In the Philippines, Friendster has two reseller partners -- Havoc Digital and Yehey!. Friendster recently added Yehey!, a top Philippine portal and search engine, as a reseller. Havoc Digital has been a reseller partner of Friendster since August 2005. Friendster will work with both Havoc Digital and Yehey! to build award-winning, successful campaigns for advertisers in the Philippines where Friendster has over 13 million unique visitors** -- virtually the entire online population of the Philippines -- and where Friendster is a top-3 website and the #1 mobile site in the country.***

"The expansion of our team, offices and sales partnerships in Asia not only sets 2009 up to be an exciting year, but helps us pursue the necessary monetization opportunities available to Friendster in our core Asian markets," said Richard Kimber, CEO of Friendster. "As we move deeper into 2009, we will continue to build upon our direct sales, product, engineering, operations, marketing and finance teams to execute on our strategy and unwavering focus on Asia Pacific."

Leading the recruiting efforts for all offices worldwide is Xpand Group, a leading digital media recruitment services company in Asia. Xpand's clients include many of the world's leading corporations, financial institutions, technology vendors, digital media companies and systems integrators/consultancies. To view all open positions that Friendster and Xpand are recruiting for, please visit http://www.friendster.com/jobs/index.php.

Friendster Leads in Asia and is a Top 20 Global Website

Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, with over 75 million registered users from Asia.** In Asia, Friendster has more monthly unique visitors than any other social network. Plus, Asia is the largest market of Internet users (Asia has 41% of the world's Internet users while the U.S. has only 19%), and Asia is the fastest growing region in the world.* Friendster has a loyal and growing user base throughout Asia in the following top 10 countries for Friendster: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.

Friendster is a top 20 global website in the world in terms of traffic, serving over 19 billion page views a month.* Friendster is also the leader in "user engagement" among the top five global social networks, with users spending an average of 190 minutes per visitor per month on http://www.friendster.com.*

About Friendster

With more than 95 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, social groups, activities and interests. Friendster prides itself in delivering an easy-to-use, friendly and interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world via http://www.friendster.com or m.friendster.com from any Internetready mobile device. Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking, with more expected over the next several months. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Friendster is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, IDG Ventures and individual investors. For more information, visit: http://www.friendster.com.

*comScore Media Metrix, Worldwide and Singapore and Malaysia Country Data,
October 2008
**Google Analytics and Friendster Internal Data, November 2008
***Opera Mobile Report, October 2008

SOURCE Friendster, Inc.

Proposed Ads

2008-09-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

Proposed Logo

2008-09-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Competitors of Friendster

2008-07-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

Multiply
Multiply is a social networking site which shares all kinds of media: photos, blogs, videos and music - with their "real-world" network. It was launched in March 2004 and has over 9 million registered users, according to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiply. It is open to people 13 years old and above.

An individual can have his own personal website using Multiply.com. Members can share and discuss things that they are interested in with other people, more like of a social networking. In Multiply, members are notified when their friends have posted new uploads. Users are encouraged to specify the nature of their relationship with one another, making it possible to share content with their entire network of closely-related people, including friends, family, and professional contacts. It has unlimited storage space. Members can customize their own profile background and theme.

Facebook
Facebook is an online social networking site and was launched on February 4, 2004 by Mike Zuckerberg. It was owned and operated by Facebook Inc. It is a free access, anyone can join one or more networks such as school, region or employment. Facebook was invented to connect and interact with other people. Individuals can upload photos, update profiles and post messages to other members. Facebook is open to any individual ages 13 years old and above. There are 69 million active members worldwide and it is the leading social networking site in Canada, UK and Australia, source: http://www.facebook.com/about.

The features that are included in Facebook are the wall, where in members can post messages to other members of the site; there is pokes, where in you can send a virtual poke to other members; instant messaging or chat; members can also promote events; individuals can also upload photos or videos; there also games or quizzes that members can play for fun; and write their current status to let other people know what they’re up to. Applications in Facebook includes Gifts, where in members can send virtual gifts to other members; there’s a market place for the members to post their ads; and the maximum photos the members can upload is 60 albums.

MySpace
My Space, a social networking site offering interactive features such as personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos. Its target market are mostly teens and adults worldwide, ages 14 years old and above. According to Wikipedia about MySpace, It has 230,000 new registrations per day, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace. It was founded by Tom Anderson on August 2003.

Social Networking Sites in the Philippines

2008-07-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Social networking is one of the most active type of social media in the Philippines. Filipinos are said to be the most active users of social networking sites such as Friendster and Multiply. Social networking has become part of Filipinos' cyberculture.

Friendster is a social networking site introduced in 2003. It slowly gained users from Southeast Asia starting in the Philippines. Jonathan Abrams founded Friendster in Mountainview, California, United States in March 2002 and was privately owned. Based on Alexa, Friendster ranked 2nd most visited website in the Philippines. It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of internet users in the Philippines have Friendster accounts. David Jones, vice president for global marketing of Friendster, said that "the biggest percentage of users is from the Philippines, clocking in with 39 percent of the site's traffic.”

Statistics
A study released by Universal McCann entitled "Power To The People - Wave3" declared the Philippines as "the social networking capital of the world," with 83 percent of Filipinos surveyed are members of a social network. They are also regarded as the top photo uploaders and web video viewers, while they are second when it comes to the number of blog readers and video uploaders.

With over 7.9 million Filipinos using the Internet, 6.9 million of them visit a social networking site at least once a month. Friendster is the most visited website in the Philippines, as well as in Indonesia. David Jones said that in March 2008, Friendster recorded 39 million unique visitors, with 13.2 million of whom were from the Philippines. Meanwhile, Multiply president and founder Peter Pezaris said that the Filipino users of their site comprised the largest and most active group in terms of number of subscribers and of photographs being uploaded daily. About 2.2 million out of more than 9 million registered users of Multiply are Filipinos. Also, 1 million photographs are uploaded by Filipinos to Multiply every day, which is half of their total number worldwide.

Sixty percent of Filipino users of Multiply are female, while 70 percent are under the age of 25. In comparison, Filipino Friendster users are between the ages 16 to 30, with 55 percent of them female.

Filipino Internet Usage
Internet is very popular in the Philippines. Any person can browse through the Internet and can learn new things that can increase their knowledge. Filipinos use the Internet to communicate with their families and friends that migrated or working abroad. They go online to meet foreigners as potential love interest, hoping to get Green Card. Students use the Internet for educational purposes when doing research works for school. Working people also use the Internet for business purposes like transactions online, foreign investments, telecommunications, and the like. Others write blogs on their blogsites sharing experiences, thoughts or new learning. Mostly, people in the young age group take so much time uploading pictures or videos, downloading music or podcasts and customizing their profile in social networking sites.

According to Universal McCann Report Wave 3 as of March 2008, the following are statistics that track growth on social media as far as blogging, social networking, and social media growth in the Philippines is concern:

There are 3.7 million active Internet users:
- 90.3% or 3.3 million read blogs
- 64.9% or 2.3 million have started their own blogs
- 83.1% or 3 million created a profile on a new social network.
- 86.4% or 3.14 million uploaded photos in a photo sharing website.
- 60.5% or 2.2 million have uploaded videos on a video sharing website.
- 98.7% or 3.6 million watch video clips online.

Source: http://philippineinternetreview.blogspot.com/2008/05/23-million-active-filipino-internet.html

Online Communication
Through social networking sites like Friendster and Multiply, online advertising became popular to have profitable local market. Mobile phones were also used as tool for advertising. It is more widespread than of advertising via online since the country has limited Internet access. Multiply Philippines is developed in partnership with ABS-CBN Interactive to grow its user base in the country, as well as tapping into its local advertising and mobile services.

Application in Filipino Culture and Society
The popularity of social networking in the Philippines can be traced in the Filipinos' culture of "friends helping friends."

Social networking has extensive uses in the Philippines. It was used to promote television programs like Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition Plus with its two profiles on Multiply. A call center company posted job openings on its Multiply community site and was able to attract recruits. The power of social networking was tested in the country's 2007 general elections when senatorial candidate Francis Escudero created his own Friendster profile to bolster support from Filipino users. He eventually won a seat in the Senate. Local celebrities and politicians have since created their own profiles on Friendster as their medium to communicate with their fans and constituents.

Friendster was also used as a tool for police investigations. Local police in Cebu City where able to track down the suspects for the robbery and murder of a female nursing student on March 2008. After receiving information and tips from the public and other police operatives, the local police searched through the suspects' profiles in order to get a closer look at their faces. The police printed the pictures of the suspects and launched a series of police operations, which led to their arrest. Meanwhile, Manila Police District arrested a suspect for the murder of two guest relations officers in Tondo on January 2007 after they were able to find the suspect's whereabouts through his Friendster profile.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_in_the_Philippines

Event Organizing: What you have to know

2008-07-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

For my reference on my thesis, I conducted an interview with Ms.Jan Reyes, a freelance Event Organizer. Questions are provided that will help me understand the event organizing. Interview was conducted through e-mail.

1. What are the important things to consider when planning for an event?
The very important thing that you need to know is the budget because you will run the whole event depending on the given budget. Next will be its objectives and its market.

2. What are the rules and regulations in creating an event?
Actually, there's no rule in creating an event. You just need to be creative and organize for you to produce a successful one.

3. How do you come up with a good event flow? Do you follow a pattern?
Yes. There is a process to be followed in planning an event called "The event planning process". It starts with the Idea proposal to be given by the client or from the events team. After that you will undertake feasibility study and evaluate results. Aims and objectives should also be made. Then the implementation requirements, implementation plan and lastly, monitoring and evaluation.

4. What is the best way to get into the minds of your target market?
You need to play SMART. It means, your event should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed so that it will fit to your target market.

5. How can you spice up an event without ruining the essence of the theme? Can you give examples?
You just need to be unique. An ordinary event will turn out great if you think outside of the box. You may put elements that are new to the crowd like black lights, life size balloons, chocolate carving. etc.

6. What is the most successful event you have been to and why?
Every event for me is successful because i always have good evaluation. =)

7. What are the trends on events do we need to watch out for?
There are no trends, only new ideas. =)

8. What activities can you suggest in a socializing event like Friendster?
Dating event, Rave party, Concert/gig...

Friendster's Profile

2008-06-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

Friendster.com is an online Social Network Service. It was created by Jonathan Abrams in Mountain View, California United States in March 2002. Its concept was about Circle of Friends and Web of Friends, a technique for networking individuals in a virtual community. It was funded by Kleiner Perkins & Byers and Benchmark Capital in October 2003 with valuation of $53 million.

Jonathan Abrams was removed as Chief Executive Officer in 2004. Tim Koogle took over as temporary CEO. In June 2004, Scott Sassa replaced him. Then in May 2005, Sassa left and was replaced by Taek Kwon. Taek Kwon was succeeded by Kent Lindstorm.

In 2006, Friendster was awarded a patent for acting upon relationships in a social network because of its concept Circle of Friends with the Web of Contacts. It also has a growing portfolio of patents on social networking.

Friendster is the leading global online social network. It is focused on helping people to keep in touch with their friends and discover new people and share same interests with them. Its target market is 16 years old and above. There are 65 million registered users and still growing. Friendster is mostly used in Asia, ranked first in Philippines.

There are lot of features that Friendster offers and is recently launched new features for its members to connect and share with their online friends. These features are called Apps on Friendster. These Apps are: Multiple languages, users now have a choice of English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish to navigate the site; Fan Profiles, enable bands, musicians, artists, models, athletes, and the like to build a fan base; Open Platform, developers can now build and deploy widgets on Friendster global social networking platform; and Classifieds, lets users search and post listings for free and access locally targeted classifieds.

Friendster has launched a free global mobile site called m.friendster.com. It can be accessed from any Web-enabled mobile device, users of m.friendster.com can get updates on friends, check messages, review requests, post shoutouts, browse photos, browse profiles, search for users by name or e-mail, post bulletins and more. The service is free for users but data charges still apply.

Source: http://www.friendster.com/info/index.php

Friendster Goes Mobile

2008-06-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Social networking site Friendster has launched a free global mobile site, m.friendster.com. Accessible from any Web-enabled mobile device, users of m.friendster.com can get updates on friends, check messages, review requests, post shoutouts, browse photos, browse profiles, search for users by name or e-mail, post bulletins and more.

The company says it has more than 70 million users around the globe, and is the top social network in Asia. Friendster said that its mobile site is the first in a suite of soon-to-come mobile offerings. Though the service is free for users, data charges still apply.

“Our users have asked for a mobile site that makes staying in touch with friends while on the go even easier. We've taken our most popular core social networking features and made them easy to use via mobile devices at m.friendster.com,” said David Jones, vice president of global marketing for Friendster, in a statement.

Source: Wireless Week StaffWirelessWeek - May 22, 2008
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=160156

Friendster Press Release June 2008

2008-06-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

http://images.friendster.com/images/Friendster_At_A_Glance_June_2008.pdf

Filipinos Psyche on Joining Social Networking Sites

2008-06-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

For my reference on my thesis, I conducted an interview with Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay, Guidance Councilor at Miriam College and Ms. Joanne Valle, Guidance Councilor at Ateneo de Manila University. Questions are provided that will help me understand the psyche behind Filipinos joining and using social networking sites especially Friendster. Interview was conducted through e-mail.

1. Why is it important for Filipinos to be sociable? Is this a character trait distinct to Filipinos or Asians?

Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay:
Filipinos are known to be sociable/ hospitable people. It is inherent to the culture and we grew up valuing our big families or clans. We regard our kinship or affiliation, (either blood relations or through rituals , e.g. kumpare, ninong sa kasal) with relatives important to the society or people in authority. It is not being important to Filipinos per se, but it is a trait that existent in our families and societies we are raised, thus our tendency to be sociable becomes important to us as well.

Being sociable appears to be a trait inherent to Filipinos, as we are regarded to be the most hospitable Asian people. Our heritage of being a colony may have contributed to this.

Ms. Joanne Valle:
We are a culture that gives utmost importance to interaction which is also very much evident in our basic values such as “hiya”, “pakikipagkapwa-tao” “pakikisama”, and “utang na loob”. We always generally want to be in good terms with other people. Filipinos also exhibit strong kinship ties. We are always never alone, especially during momentous occasions from birth to our burials. This is partly why we are so used to not being alone. Our well-being seems to be very much anchored in our relationships (smooth interpersonal relationships).

Since this phenomenon seems to be culture-bound, I would say that it would depend on the culture that is prevalent among a certain race or country. From experience, people in the Northern parts of Asia, where it tends to be colder, are not known to be friendly as compared to those living in more sunny and tropical locations. A more specific example would be Vietnamese people from Ho Chi Min (South) as compared to those from Hanoi (North).

2. It is important for an individual to be part of a group because they want to feel accepted or wanted. What other factors can you contribute to this statement?

Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay:
It is not just that individuals wanted to feel accepted or wanted, it is a natural human need to belong and be accepted by others. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (check out Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), belongingness needs is one of the basic need of people, following the need for food, water, and security. A person’s sense of individuality is only affirmed upon belonging to a group wherein he/she feels accepted and belonged (such as families, peers, clubs/ organizations).

Ms. Joanne Valle:
It is a basic need to belong and one has to experience the dynamics of being in a group since this experience is imperative for growth and development (self-insight and learnings from others).

3. Aside from connecting to old and new people or friends, what other values or benefits can people get in joining social networking sites?

Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay:
There are some benefits of joining social networking sites, to name a few. First, above from maintaining the connection with family and friends, it boosts an individual’s self-esteem to know that there are people who are interested to connect or affiliate with them. It means that they have people who accepted their invitations to be affiliates, acquaintances or even as friends. Second, persons’ social networks become the ground for building deeper relationships, either romantic relationships or deeper friendships. Many relationships are rekindled through such networks. Third, it becomes a means for an individual to share bits and pieces a person’s life events (blogs, shutouts, profile) to more people without the fear of being censored through personal interactions. Sharing about oneself to other people is a means of growth in a person’s socio-emotional well-being. Lastly, being part of the social network is also a means of belonging “in” a group or being “updated” with the latest trend in the society wherein some people see as a means of fulfillment.

Ms. Joanne Valle:
Feeling of belongingness, of connecting with others (new and old), and possibly a continuity and even deepening of relationships in some cases (i.e. families, OFWs)
Broader knowledge base (sharing of info)
Perspectives also widen (learning about other cultures)

4. Most of the users of friendsters are teens, young adults and yuppies. Can you please describe the social needs of these age segments?

Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay:
The teens, ranging from the high school to the college years, are considered in the developmental stage of Adolescence. While the young adults or yuppies, actually belong to the stage of Early Adulthood.

According to Erik Erikson’s theory on the socio-emotional tasks of this life stages, the central task of Adolescence is building a person’s identity. Part of the identity of the person is grounded on his or her belongingness to a group or the fulfillment teens attain in being part of a peer group. During adolescence, the peer group is the most influential network in helping build the person’s identity. Thus, it follows that teenagers seek this cyber social circles as a source of satisfying their need for people, being able to identify with a particular group and building their identity through affiliations and peer influences.

With the early adults, the central task of this stage is establishing intimacy. Intimacy, meaning establishing deeper relationships with good friends, particularly romantic relationships that may lead to marriage. Thus, the individual’s social connections, either personal or through networking sites, serve as the pool of people wherein he or she completes the task. As mentioned earlier, the stage of early adulthood is when people search for someone who can be possible future partners. Thus, the social networking sites serve the needs of people who wants to find eligible people whom they can get to know better as well.

Ms. Joanne Valle:
We like to expand our social circles and we also like to know what is happening with other people, as well as letting them know what is happening with us. Friendster provides this and more. We also like to be creative and Friendster gives us the chance to showcase this.

5. Filipinos are the biggest users of Friendster in the world. Please share some thoughts on why do you think Filipinos like joining Social Networking Sites like Friendster?

Ms. Joanne Valle:
According to Erikson, it is in these ages that people develop their identities and eventually form deeper relationships with others (identity vs. role confusion and intimacy vs. isolation). They have a need to fit in, to feel that they belong, to establish relationships that may or may not lead to deeper commitment and Friendster can be a vehicle for these.

6. What kind of programs or activities would you recommend that would help participants maximize their participation in events that promote social interaction?

Mrs. Michelle Santos-Alignay:
(I’m not particularly sure about what you mean on participants , and events…)

Programs and activities that individuals can join that can promote social interactions:

First, join social religious groups like Singles for Christ and Youth for Christ to build a network of people who have a common religious foundation. (This is where I met my husband!)

Second, youth and yuppies may also join organizations on advocacy, groups regarding their interests (hobby groups).

Third, participating in classes, sports or other interests that can help them to meet new people.

Fourth, get together with old classmates and friends. Go to reunions and other social gatherings.

Ms. Joanne Valle:
Engage in new experiences like learning a new skill, hobby, craft.

Social Media... are u familiar with this?

2008-06-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

For most people, the term social media is unfamiliar to them. But the truth is its what people use when they are online.

DESCRIPTION
These are the different activities that incorporate technology and social interaction for online users. It is presented in different forms like internet forums, message boards, web blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and videos. The technologies included are blogs, picture-sharing, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, voice over.

APPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Communication
Microblogs – allows user to write a brief text update and publish them right away
Examples: Twitter and Jaiku

Social Networking – build online social networks who share interests and activities
Examples: Facebook and MySpace

Events – Sharing event and party info with your friends
Example: Socializr

Collaboration
Wikis – collection of web pages that enable anyone to contribute and modify content
Example: Wikipedia (Wiki = collaborative websites + encyclopedia)

Social Bookmarking – to store, organize, search, manage bookmarks of web pages
Example: Digg is a website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet

Multimedia
Photo sharing – transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others
Example: Flickr

Video sharing – Youtube, video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips.
It was created in mid-February 2005. In January 2008 alone, nearly 79 million users watched
over 3 billion videos on YouTube.

Entertainment
Virtual Community – group of people that primarily interact via online communication media for social,
professional, educational or other purposes

Example: Second Life – Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003
Its users, called "Residents", can interact with each other through motional avatars (representational of his self). Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities.

Online Gaming
Example: World of Warcraft – It’s a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), genre of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world.

History of Internet

2008-06-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how internet began? Here's an overview on how Internet started.

1957: Development of Internet during the Cold War
Internet was developed in 1957 when the US Defense Department was looking for a solution to protect their data in case of a nuclear war.

1958: ARPA (Advance Research Projects Agency)
In 1958, The US Defense Department founded a research organization called Advance Research Agency (ARPA). It’s an agency responsible for the development of new technology for the military.

1962: Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO)
ARPA created Information Processing Techniques Office in 1962. This department developed new commands and control techniques that funded the research and developed ARPANET.

1966: ARPANET was developed
It is the precursor of the Internet initiated by Larry Roberts, a scientist at IPTO, as a way to share information across the country.

1969: Linked university research centers and high-tech defense contractors
The first four networked computers were from UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah.

1972: E-mail was invented and ARPANET was made public
Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer, invented e-mail in March 1972.
The first public demonstration of the ARPANET was in October 1972, opening up possibilities of the Internet to more people.

1974: The term “Internet” originated
It described a global Internet Protocol, it enables connection or communication and data transfer.

1989: Internet Service Providers (ISP) were created
Internet Service Providers are companies that provide internet access to the public.

1991: The World Wide Web was invented
Tim Berneres-Lee, an English scientist, invented the World Wide Web in 1991. Its a system of interlinked hypertext documents that can be accessed via the Internet.

Source: Internet 101: The Mass Medium for Filipinos by Rachel E. Khan

Survey for Thesis

2008-06-05T23:53:00.001-07:00

Hi guys! Please answer my survey. I need 100 respondents for my thesis. Anyone can answer. Please send the survey to my mail: jei_javier@yahoo.com or jesylourishjavier@yahoo.com

Survey Questionnaire

Name: __________________________________________ Age: _______ Gender: _______
Occupation (Company): _____________________ Student (School): _______________________
Contact No. __________________________ Email Address: ______________________________

I’m a senior student at the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Santo Tomas. I’m conducting an essay about social networking site as reference to my thesis.
Please answer the following truthfully as possible. Any information written is confidential and will be used for academic purpose only. Please circle your answers.

Social Networking Site (SNS) - These are websites where in you can have your personal profile and be seen by other people who are member of these sites. You can share your interests with others and explore interests and activities of others.

1. Are you a member of a social networking site? YES NO

2. What is your favorite social networking site? Choose 1.
A. Friendster
B. Facebook
C. Multiply
D. My Space
E. Other ___________

3. What is the most important reason why you join social networking sites? Choose 1.
A. Meet new friends
B. Keep in touch
C. To date
D. Professional use

4. Rank the top 3 reasons why you use social networking sites?
___ Upload pictures
___ Upload music
___ Upload videos
___ Post blog
___ Can customize own profile
___ Meet other people
___ Keep in touch

5. Have you attended a social networking event? YES NO
If yes, where? _____________________________
Describe what you saw in the event? __________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

If no, would you like to attend? Why? _________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

6. What activities do you want to see in the event? You can choose more than one.
A. Social activities: interaction/soirees
B. Conference: talks about social networking
C. Game activities
D. Band Performances
E. Contest
F. Celebrities

7. Please recommend other activities you want to see in a social networking event.
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

8. What interests you more? Please number the choices in sequence. 1 being the best preferred and 6 being
least preferred.
____ Hang-out
____ Watch movie
____ Listen to music
____ Take pictures
____ Blogging
____ Shopping

9. Who do you think will be the best host for social networking event?
A. Mo Twister
B. Toni Gonzaga
C. Luis Manzano
D. Iya Villana
E. Others, please specify _________________________

10. Do you have a Friendster account? YES NO

11. How many active accounts do you have? _______

12. Would you recommend Friendster to your friends? YES NO
Why? ________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

13. List down five media choices.
TV Stations
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________

FM Radio Stations
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________

Broadsheets
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________

Magazines
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________

Places you usually go to (locations)
1. __________________________________
2.__________________________________
3. __________________________________

14. What is your feedback about proposed theme for a social networking event,
SMILE (Socialize, Mingle, Interact, Link, Engage)?
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your time! :)

Internship + Thesis = Time Management

2008-06-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything for my thesis here since I had my internship which started on May 12. I just finished it last week. I learned a lot from my internship. From doing contact reports, calling media, making powerpoint presentations and presenting it to big bosses, writing a press release, doing an advertorial, creating event flow, etc. I really learned a lot. I will never forget my experience working in that company. People are so nice. My bosses really helped me and guide me in all of my tasks in the office. This experience will really help me in doing my thesis and preparation for my future career. It also helped me to become more mature, to think fast and help me gain self-confidence in some way.

Eventhough there's so much to do at work I still find time to work on my thesis. I usually do my thesis on weekends right after our meeting. I try to finish at least half of my required tasks for the week then finalize everything on Fridays before our meeting day. But since my internship ended, I'll probably work on my thesis everyday. I finished one interview with a guidance councilor for reference on the psyche of Filipinos about social networking. I'm still waiting for the other guidance councilor. I am currently starting on my survey about social networking as well. I divided my respondents into groups such as, teens, yuppies and late 30's. That's my target audience. But I'mthinking of doing extra survey just to make sure I get my target market right. I hope I can finish everything by the end of this week. Maybe on my next blog entry I'll share how I do my thesis... like my guidelines for making thesis just for your reference. I hope it will help all those who are making thesis work.

SMILE with Friendster

2008-05-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

I already have my campaign ttitle. Its called SMILE with Friendster. SMILE is an acronym for Socialize, Mingle, Interaction, Link, Engage. It simply describes what Friendster offers. I also got it from the logo icon of Friendster... the smiley.

What have I done for this week? I already revised my researches into drafts. I read it and put it into my own words. And I planned my event. With the campaign theme, I made my event around it. I haven't finish finalizing my event flow but so far I already have a programme. The activities that I will be having for my event connects to what my campaign title is. All about socializing. There would be interactive activities, dating games, band performances, celebrities... well thats my plan for now. If you have any suggestions that you want to include in my event... feel free to suggest. It would mean a lot and I'll definitely appreciate it. :)

Introduction

2008-05-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

I am currently starting to work on my thesis. It is an event for Friendster and the concept is “Real Life.” Why Friendster? Well, Friendster as a Social Networking Site interests me. I wondered why many internet users join in these kinds of sites. When I first join Friendster, I really didn’t know what it was. I remember when I was in High School, on our last day in school, my friends asked me “May Friendster ka? Add kita!” It became a trend and so I guess that’s the reason I joined Friendster. I added my friends, my old classmates and people I don’t know started adding me. At first I didn’t accept those people I don’t know. But eventually I thought that there’s nothing wrong if I accept their invitation. After all that’s what Friendster stands for.

Other Social Networking Sites started to come out and became a trend to the people. It’s also helpful for the people to keep in touch with their friends. I also joined other Social Networking Sites ‘cause a lot of my friends also join those sites and I wanted to know the differences of these sites. For me, Friendtser is user-friendly and it gives the image of simplicity ‘cause its straight forward. Just upload pictures and videos, post blogs or on bulletin boards, give comments, can easily add Friendster users, add appslications, etc. There are other features that Friendster doesn’t have and the other Social Networking Sites have. But that doesn’t stop Friendster because it is the leading online Social Networking Site in Asia, especially here in the Philippines.

In High School, I participated in interactions and soirees. It was fun because of the activities we had. I also had the chance to meet new people, the opposite sex, since I was in an all-girl school. It was a good experience, to interact with the opposite sex. The activities we had build my self-confidence in speaking with them and being comfortable around boys. So now in my thesis, I thought of my event to have a concept like this… to interact not just with the opposite sex but also with the same sex. Making friends is not just for the opposite sex, right? In this event you can do activities with your friends and you new-found-friends. It will be an exciting and interesting event. As I go further to my study about Friendster, I will share to you my ideas and the things that I’ve learned about this matter.