Many years back, I used this social media platform named Friendster (FS). From where I was, FS was the Facebook of its day. Even at its height, it was not as popular as MySpace. In some regions it did generate a lot of intrigue. I recall my classmates asking, ‘Do you have FS?’
Throwback
Users would have a profile much like in FB’s earlier days. You would list your name, gender, age, and relationship status. Later, you could post a shoutout to let visitors know what’s on your mind. This would appear beside your profile picture. Further down, you listed your school, interests, favourite books and music, and affiliations. Just like FB, you could send friend requests and bookmark other users. The latter is similar to following non friends on FB. In addition, your friends could post on your profile, what was called testimonials.
I was told that FS is not about your number of friends but how many testimonials you have. In time, these testimonials evolved from texts and images to multimedia. Like FB, you could also send messages. I also remember how users were one upping each other by level upping their profile design. There was also featured friends on the top right corner. Like FB, your account is linked to an email. You will be notified of any updates, reminders, requests, and birthdays via email.
Ahead of its time
As written earlier, you could also upload media and comment on them. FS, like FB, likewise had groups where humans of similar interests, schools, or causes could interact. Moreover, there was also a board, which functioned much like a forum. Later, they added widgets where you could play games, chat, etc. The site’s original interface utilised orange and grey, with smileys. It wasn’t always as reliable as FB, but was quite good for its day.
Some of you might be too young to recall this site. It never took off in Australia or the US. However, it did get a mention in David Fincher’s The Social Network. While MySpace was the clear leader prior to FB, Friendster had a huge following in other markets. it was similar to instant messaging. MSN was the top choice in the West but Yahoo Messenger was popular elsewhere. WhatsApp, owned by FB, would eventually take the mantle as numero uno. These sites and apps took a bite out of the Friendster apple and evolved to create their own product. They learned from their forebear’s shortcomings and ironed out the creases.
Blogging
Blogging was one of FS’s joys. You could create a blog and attach it to your profile. I named mine as McLovin. The tagline was ‘Topher Ong shares his thoughts about the world….’
Blimey, I couldn’t remember the rest. I must admit that my posts there were nothing like those on this site. I was new to blogging. At that time, I was a massive Home and Away fan so I wrote about my experience. I discussed the NBA and basketball. I talked about uni life and penned ambitious poems. Like the author, my posts reflected my youth. There was a lot of zest and energy, a ton of idealism. These posts evoked the status quo, how I felt at a certain time in my life.
To be honest, I found a regular posting schedule to be difficult. I wished to post consistently but uni and other commitments got in the way. My blog activity then was nothing like today.
Superbad
Where did I get the name McLovin? Well, where else but from Superbad. I found it a catchy appellation that was easy to remember. In the comedy, the character was a socially inept teener who uses a fake ID to purchase alcohol. His fraudulent ID listed his name as McLovin. He was one of the cooler guys in a stacked movie. Lest you forget, it had star power in Michael Cera and Jonah Hill.
The combination of three awkward teens made for some fun viewing. Superbad was both a commercial and critical success. It reminded me of Accepted, another teen comedy with Hill and Justin Long. In real life though, purporting to be McLovin will probably fool no one. The name’s clearly a play on a fast food giant’s slogan. I was surprised that they got to keep the designation.
McLovin
The guy who played McLovin was Jewish. Interestingly, at the time, he was underage. When he did this bed scene, his parent had to be there. I gave some serious thought to resurrecting McLovin. My site’s name, Mot Juste, is just hard to remember – much less, pronounce. It is a French term that means the right word. I believe that McLovin was good while it lasted. It’s time to partake in a new dawn with a new name, not a recycled one. So, until then, the search is on for a better blog nomenclature.
