Now that I've glanced at LinkedIn (thanks to Russell's post) the question I'm thinking about it this: Which will be more successful, Friendster or LinkedIn? And why?

LinkedIn is focused on professionals and work. Friendster is focused on personal relationships--friends, dating, etc. I think they're both obvious uses of all this network technology we're sitting on. It's going to be very interesting to see how they evolve.

Is one of those concepts somehow a more "natural" fit for the web? I don't know, but now I'm thinking about it more.

Do these qualify as Social Software? I think so. But not quite the kind that Clay wrote about--not yet at least.

(Disclaimer: I've met the man behind Friendster and have helped out in some very small ways.)

Update: Okay, I've played with LinkedIn a bit more. Very cool. It's a cross between a job search site and Friendster and ... something else that I haven't quite put my finger on.

Is is just me, or is there suddenly (okay not so suddenly, but still) a lot of cool stuff going on out there? I thought so.

Posted by jzawodn at May 08, 2003 10:50 PM

Reader Comments
# Sander van Zoest said:


Another site that is similar is ryze.com. These sorts of ideas are getting more popular. The nice thing about Friendster that I like is that it shows you in what different ways you are related to a certain person. Sometimes this relationship is through totally different groups of friends.

Pretty enat.

on May 9, 2003 04:33 PM
# Mark Brooks said:

Ryze is an awesome community for business networking. Although there's a serious singles undertone. LinkedIn is also business networking focussed. I just signed up a few days ago and was quite impressed. Friendster on the other hand is completelt focused on helping people make stronger bonds with their current friends and get introduced to their friends...of friends...of friends...of friends. 4 levels deep. What I especially like is that you can do keyword lookups and find people with similar interests with you network of friends. Also, everyone's putting their photos up. Way more than you'd see on other sites. I'm a little biased as I'm running the upcoming Friendster parties in SF, but I'm a raving fan. I run events for a living (mainly for singles) and like that Friendster mirrors my philosophy on meeting new people, but online, and in a very compelling manner. The best introductions are through your friends.

on May 25, 2003 12:46 AM
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