Apr 28, 2026 07:00:00

The person who purchased the domain for the original SNS 'Friendster' is building a new Friendster that emphasizes real-world interaction.

Friendster was one of the early social networking services (SNS) established in 2002, and enjoyed strong popularity, especially in Southeast Asia. In 2011, it transformed from an SNS into a social gaming site, and in 2015, the service itself was shut down. However, someone has emerged who has acquired the Friendster domain and trademark, developed a new app, and revived Friendster.

I Bought Friendster for $30k — Here's What I'm Doing With It | by Mike Carson | Apr, 2026 | Medium
https://ca98am79.medium.com/i-bought-friendster-for-30k-heres-what-im-doing-with-it-d5e8ddb3991d

The domain for Friendster, 'friendster.com,' was registered in 2002, and the site was inaccessible for eight years after the service ended in 2015. However, in October 2023, the site became accessible again, but it was reportedly only displaying a large number of pop-up ads intended to generate advertising revenue.

Mike Carson, a computer programmer and entrepreneur, became interested in the Friendster domain and investigated who owned it. He discovered that the owner was someone he had previously exchanged emails with. When he contacted the owner and expressed interest in purchasing the domain, the owner revealed that he had bought it for $8,000 (approximately 1.27 million yen).

Attracted by the unique 'Friendster.com' domain, Carson negotiated with the owner and ultimately succeeded in acquiring 'Friendster.com' in exchange for '$20,000 worth of Bitcoin and a domain with an annual advertising revenue of approximately $9,000 (approximately 1.4 million yen).'

Furthermore, the owner informed Carson that the Friendster trademark rights would soon expire, so after consulting with a lawyer and going through a lengthy process, Carson acquired the Friendster trademark rights on May 13, 2025.

Having acquired the domain and trademark rights to Friendster, Carson decided to revive 'Friendster' as a social networking service. Carson said, 'I feel that social networks have been promoting the negative aspects in modern times, but I remember Friendster as a really positive and fun experience (although it was really frustrating when the site wouldn't load). I wanted to create something positive, something that people would enjoy and find useful.'

They initially built a basic social network on Friendster.com and invited some people from their waiting list, but users didn't show much interest. While they advertised features like 'no data sales, no algorithms, and no ads,' it wasn't enough to attract users.

Carson then posted a suggestion on the social news site

Hacker News to gather comments and opinions, and one user's suggestion caught his attention: 'What if we made it impossible to register or add friends via the site, and instead required users to physically touch their smartphones together to become friends or receive invitations?'

Carson said of the idea, 'The idea of making 'tapping your smartphone' the only way to become friends on Friendster was interesting because it would increase the chances of people actually meeting in person. It also had the advantage of allowing people to confirm that the person they were meeting was a real person and someone they genuinely wanted to connect with.'

Carson immediately adopted this idea and created the Friendster iOS app, establishing the rule that 'to become friends with someone, you need to be very close to them in the real world and tap each other's smartphones at the same time.' Looking at the actual app screen, you can see that there is a tap element on the friend addition screen.

Furthermore, when I tried to publish the app on the App Store, it was rejected because it ran into the '

4.2 Minimum Functionality ' requirement. According to the review results, Friendster's app was deemed to be a niche app targeting only invited friends and therefore did not meet the minimum functionality requirements.

Carson then modified the system so that anyone could register for Friendster, while retaining the rule that adding friends required an in-person meeting and tap. As a result, they were able to successfully release the revamped Friendster app on the App Store.

As of the time of writing, Carson says he is not focused on monetizing Friendster, but hopes that it will eventually be able to cover operating costs. In the future, there is a possibility of launching a paid plan offering premium features, but nothing concrete has been decided yet. Carson cites the following two points as what sets Friendster apart from other social networking services:

1: Friend of a friend
Users can see friends of their existing friends and send them message requests. Friendster's goal is to 'create opportunities for people to meet in person,' and adding someone as a friend requires meeting in real life.

2: Weakening of connections
According to Carson, if two users who are friends on Friendster don't tap their phones in close proximity to each other even once in a year, their connection on the app will weaken. 'This isn't a punishment. It's a gentle signal that true friendships should be nurtured in person, not online,' Carson said.