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Social Networking - Monday, January 24, 2005

NY Times No Friend of Friendster

In an article that Friendster will certainly not post to its site - and that its rivals should place front-and-center on theirs - The New York Times documents the coming apart of Friendster. Evidence includes: senior execs have recently bolted, "a younger, flashier rival called MySpace has eclipsed Friendster, at least in the United States... and Friendster loyalists have groused that the company has done almost nothing to enliven its site." In fact, more than five times as many people visited MySpace as Friendster in December, according to Nielsen/NetRatings - and they spent far more time there.

Most damning is that the Times gets Friendster investor Mark Pincus and Reid Hoffman to publicly stick the dagger in. Said Pincus, "I think Friendster really missed their big opportunity. They weren't quick to turn on new functionality, where a company like MySpace kept innovating and adding new features." The folks who come out smelling the worst from Friendster's inability to meet its hype are its investors and, because he is so prominent, Kleiner Perkins' John Doerr. Laughably, Friendster had 3 CEOs in 2004, way too many for a startup. Mr. Doerr can't be pleased.

Read - Friendster, Love and Money (NY Times)