Webupon

Friendster.com…Many has declared this first social network in cyberspace as dead or a has-been. Indeed this can be said on the situation in North America and Europe. But it only shifted demographics of use to Asia, being number one in Southeast Asia in particular (Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc.). According to Friendster (http://www.friendster.com/info/index.php), “With more than 100 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network…Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, social groups, activities and interests.” This statement seems to brag that friendster is the social nettwork of choice for adults 18 and up. And rightly so, compared to other major social networks, most of Friendster’s users are aged 18 and up.

A lot of people that reviewed or commented on friendster’s clout in Asia points to a myriad of reasons why Asians use friendster rather than say, myspace and facebook, the two largest social networks in cyberspace these days. One of the reasons pointed out is that Asians, seems to be more patient with regards to slow webpage loading, as Asians are used to slow Internet connections.

Not so, here’s my take on this. Friendster, as a name, is a great brand. Whenever one reads or hears friendster, it’s quite obvious what it is, a place or a website for friends. In comparison to myspace, the brand is not that attractive. In my opinion, it doesn’t ring a bell. And so is facebook. Extrapolate this to all other social networks with weak brand name. For an Asian, questions such as, “What the hell is myspace?” or “Facebook what?” will arise.  For the Asian market, having an obvious correlation in the brand name and its product or service is what makes it. A strong brand name is needed to capture a cult-like following, all other attributes taken as equal. Of course there are a million and one reasons why an individual choose a website over the other. But with an Asian, brand loyalty cannot be dismissed – even if it is slow, technically mediocre, or declared as a has-been. And so is friend loyalty. Ask one friendster user and an answer maybe is, “I won’t jump to other websites, all my friends are there.”