Competitors of Friendster

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

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

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

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

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

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

Filipinos Psyche on Joining Social Networking Sites

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.