Friendster’s recent attempt to patent social networking has elicited remarks from industry insiders that range from “who cares” to careful dissection of the patents’ wording. Friendster’s June 27 patent refers to a “system, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks.” BusinessWeek has more.
I knew some of the guys at Sixdegrees.com when they were building the site in Silicon Alley in the mid-90’s. Sixdegrees earned a patent in 2001. Tribe.net founder Marc Pincus, purchased that patent at an auction in 2003. Pincus and Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, formed a limited partnership without Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, in order to purchase the so-called “Six Degrees” patent for $700,000. Here’s more on their fallout.
I like the Friendster service, don’t get me wrong. There was a time when it was a fun place to be and I’m sure after a few more lifecycles it will get some of it’s mojo back. For the meantime, I’m taking down my Friendster profile because it’s been languishing for about a year, hardly any pageviews and everyone I know is on Myspace or LinkedIn now. I simply can’t justify continuing to maintain multiple social networking profiles and I need contacts and consulting work more than I need new friends.
I’m still waiting for the social networking site for 30-somethings, somewhere between Myspace and LinkedIn. Where is it?
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