# Friendster

> Friendster reported more than 3 million registrations in its launch year.

- Owner: Friendster, Inc.; founded by Jonathan Abrams
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: Mar 2003
- Milestone date: 2003-11-17
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 43 (Notable, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Identity badge, Maker origin, Press loop, Controversy, Dupe economy

## Summary

Friendster's public beta spread through invitations and playful profiles. It reported over 3 million registrations by November and rejected Google's bid. Asian growth continued before a sale and a gaming pivot.

## Timeline

- Mar 2003 — Jonathan Abrams / Friendster (Open web) — Friendster opened its public beta, letting people meet through their friends' connections.
- 2003-06-02 — TIME (Press) — TIME described Friendster's dating service and reported 268,000 members.
- 2003-06-27 — Jonathan Abrams (Open web) — Abrams told the Chronicle that Friendster had over 800,000 users and was growing 20% weekly.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/friendster

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Friendster.” Case HIS-01640. Spread Score v1.3: 43/100. Updated 2026-10-24. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01640