Friendster rises from the grave to make social media great again
No ads, no algorithm, and you actually have to physically tap phones to add a friend It's been more than a decade since social media platform Friendster went dark, but a new owner has brought it back from the dead - sort of - with the hope he can give exhausted users of modern platforms a reprieve. …
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Offbeat 14 Friendster rises from the grave to make social media great again 14 No ads, no algorithm, and you actually have to physically tap phones to add a friend Brandon Vigliarolo Mon 27 Apr 2026 // 16:45 UTC It's been more than a decade since social media platform Friendster went dark, but a new owner has brought it back from the dead - sort of - with the hope he can give exhausted users of modern platforms a reprieve. Philadelphia-based computer programmer Mike Carson said in a blog post on Monday that he bought the Friendster domain and later secured the brand's trademarks last year, and now has an iOS app available for aging internet denizens who want to return to Friendster, or those who wish to join anew. Carson has made a career out of starting solo SaaS operations, like domain name backordering site Park.io, as well as playing the domain name market, and his acquisition of Friendster happened because of his connection to that industry. He explains in his blog post that he noticed Friendster.com began resolving again in October 2023 after eight years offline, and quickly identified the owner through WHOIS records and his Park.io connections. <a href="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0" target="_blank"> <img src="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0" alt=""> </a> "I was curious who owned it, so I looked at the WHOIS info and recognized the owner as a customer of Park.io … and that I had corresponded with him previously over email," Carson said. It turns out the buyer paid less than $8,000 for the Friendster domain and was now simply using it to serve ads. <a href="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0" target="_blank"> <img src="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D426raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0" alt=""> </a> <a href="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0" target="_blank"> <img src="https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ae_v6q6Bt0MwcMsPDWLAXAAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0" alt=""> </a> "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," Carson added. It's worth pointing out at this point that, at its peak, Friendster had more than 115…
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