Friendster to Drop Most Social Networking Features on May 31

Posted on April 26th, 2011. Written by Rico.

Remember our article on downloading your Friendster profile? Turns out there’s a reason why that feature was made available: on May 31 the social networking pioneer will delete much of its users data, in preparation for a relaunch as a “social entertainment” site.

Here’s the complete message from Friendster:

We are introducing a new and improved Friendster site in the coming weeks. As part of this change, we will remove a number of social networking functions in Friendster. This includes your existing account profile, photos, messages, blogs, and shoutouts. However, your list of friends will be preserved, along with your basic profile information.

We understand that your photos, blogs and other private data may be important to you. An application is available in the “Apps” section of the site, until May 31st 2011, to help you download or export them securely to third party sites, such as Flickr or Multiply. The application is available here.

If you do not wish to keep any of these information, you do not need to do anything. Your Friendster account will not be deleted. Your Friendster Wallet, along with the coins and chips in it, will remain unchanged in the new site as long as you use your existing login details.

For more information on the Exporter app, please visit the Friendster Help page.

Thank you for using Friendster, we look forward taking you to a brand new Friendster experience very soon!

MOL Global and Friendster CEO Kumar Bangah recently discussed his company’s future:

…social media sites are increasingly being made irrelevant because the global social graph is increasingly dominated by Facebook, [Bangah] said… Friendster, according to the executive, will be re-launched as a social entertainment site that will leverage the global social graph using Facebook’s “Connect” feature, and that Friendster will not compete with but instead will complement Facebook, said Bangah.

This means the new Friendster will welcome Facebook users with open arms! I guess if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Oh the irony.

What exactly does Friendster mean by “social entertainment”? When I accidentally visited the Friendster login page while writing about the Friendster profile downloader, I noticed that the login was surrounded by advertisements for Friendster’s different games. Does this mean that the original social network will now present itself as an online gaming portal?