The OG social media network is making a comeback after a Philadelphia-based programmer Mike Carson acquired the domain and trademarks through Friendster Labs for approximately $30,000, Carson reimagined the pioneer social network as a private, algorithm-free space.

From the App store;

Friendster is a social network for connecting with people you actually know in real life.

Add friends only by tapping phones in person, then share posts and messages inside a real-life friend network — not a follower graph.

Why Friendster:
• Real-life friends (no follower counts, no “suggested strangers”)
• No ads
– No algorithmic feed manipulation
Core features:
• In-person friend linking (tap-to-connect)
• Feed for your friend graph
• 1:1 and group messages
• Notifications for messages and interactions

It is currently available for iPhone, Ipad and Mac users only.

Here’s what Mike Carson said on his medium article;

There is only one friendster.com domain name in the world, and I found the idea of owning it very fun and interesting. Building a social network on Friendster seemed like it would be so much fun.

So we worked out a deal where I gave him $20k in Bitcoin and a domain that was making about $9k/year in ad revenue, and he gave me the domain friendster.com. Now I was the owner of the domain name friendster.com.