Friendster spawns backlash, popularity games
For many the primary purpose at Friendster has become counting how many friends(ters) you have rather than taking it seriously as a way to meet and date new people, and few will pay to use the service when Friendster begins to charge for some features, according to this Washington Post story (survey required):
Mike Nguyen admits he's addicted. Nearly every day for the past five months, the 27-year-old in Tysons Corner has logged on to count his friends and the friends of his friends. And their friends. At last check, he was up to 210,185 in all.
Asked whether he would pay, Greeneltch replied, "Not a chance," a sentiment he shares with former bandmate and friendster Gregor, who said she has "no intention of paying someone to keep track of my friends for me."
"It's in its heyday," Greeneltch predicted. "I don't see it lasting longer than six to eight months. Once you become popular, what's the point?"