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A Fond Photo Farewell to Friendster: New York Edition

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By Ben Popper 4/27/11 7:19am

Pencils Down: HR Edition

  • Rachel Sklar
    Start The Slideshow

    Nostalgia was in the air yesterday (or on Twitter, same thing) after Friendster announced it would be permanently erasing a huge trove of pictures and wall postings.

    Folks like Jason Scott of the Archive Team, who rallied to save GeoCities Pages and Google Video clips, are planning to download and save as much of Friendster’s public data as possible before it shuts down at the end of May. “This is the everyday neural activity of a world, of a society, scooped up and saved,” Scott told the NYT’s Jenna Wortham. “To me, that’s completely valuable and worthwhile to make sure it is saved for the future.”

    Betabeat decided to take a quick spin through the this digital Pompei, where the early aughts remain frozen and largely open to the curious visitor. We found a wealth of New York techies and some curious profile pics. Plus loads of testimonials, those oddly effusive wall postings where users praised each other by recounting embarrassing experiences.

  • Back Forward alexis ohanian

    alexis ohanian

  • Back Forward Anil Dash

    Anil Dash

    Member since Dec 2002 - Friends 72 - Testimonial: "When I met him, he was not wearing a white sweater. But Anil still looked, ah, Dashing."

  • Back Forward Chris Dixon

    Chris Dixon

    Member since September 2003 - 10 Friends -Testimonial: " Don't let the picture fool you, Chris is usally far more serious than that."

  • Back Forward Ms. Lee.

    Jenny 8 Lee

    Member since June 2003 - 131 Friends - Testimonial: "I'm cultivating this one simply for the vicarious power, glory, and fame. . .I guess she's also pretty smart and bone-ticklingly amusing to be around, too.

  • Back Forward Scott Heiferman

    Scott Heiferman

    Member since December 2002 - 48 Friends - Testimonial: "Scott is rad -- long on integrity and good will. he's also interesting and interested. i really like Scott."

  • Back Forward Dennis Crowley

    Dennis Crowley

    Member since March 2003 - 149 Friends - Testimonial: "Dennis is a cross between MacGuyver, Inspector Gadget and Data from the Goonies. If you are ever in danger, he will take out his super-powered cell phone and radio a helicopter that will take you to safety. Added benefit to heroic rescues: he always has a new and exciting invention that is just for fun too!!

  • Back Forward Peter Rojas

    Peter Rojas

    Member since March 2003 - 109 Friends - Testimonial: "When I was 16 and living on my own for the first time in Cambridge, MA I thought I was pretty hardcore. Then I met Rojas or 'the mayor'. He ran a radio station, booked every show in town, and was the Saatchi of the screamo scene. I had long hair and wore khaki shorts. He had the timeless hc look of brown dickies and assortment of red thrift store shirts. Needless to say when I got back to highschool in California I looked just like him."

  • Back Forward Elizabeth Spiers

    Elizabeth Spiers

    Member since 2002 - Friends 59 - Testimonial - "elizabeth: smart, funny, stylish, has the inside skinny on everything that's going on. but she's no sex in the city clone freak, she's down to earth and curious and a kickass writer. elizabeth rocks. she is probably smarter than you, but she might talk to you anyway.

  • Back Forward Alexis Ohanian

    Alexis Ohanian

    Membership date unknown - 1 friend - 0 Testimonials. Not exactly a power user.

  • Back Forward Dan Frommer

    Dan Frommer

    Member since August 2003 - Friends 112 - Testimonial: "Fromerspeak- (an activity) Take a sentence you would use, find each word's universal opposite arrange them in an order unbeknownst and then scream it."

  • Back Forward Nate Westheimer

    Nate Westheimer

    Member since May 2004 - 11 friends - Testimonial: "Didnt know what to expect from someone from ohio, much less from batavia, but this guy sets the standard. Never met a farm boy that makes the political world sound so hot. He's got an approachable grass roots hippie (non smelly) style, and is definitely good with the crazy late night brainstorming. Oh yeah, and the ladies here can't seem to get enough. I can't vouch for him personally, but thats what I witnessed."

  • Back Forward Clive Thompson

    Clive Thompson

    Member since January 2003 - Friends 18 -Testimonial - "hell of a man. When we were in Belize, he gave his only cup of coffee away."

  • Back Forward Choire Sicha

    Choire Sicha

    Member Since January 2003 - Friends 64 - Testimonial: "If he came in a bottle, everyone would want some, like Kool-Aid, except that doesn't come in a bottle. Choire won't rot your teeth either. And there is nothing artificaly flavored about him. Smells great, too."

  • Back Rachel Sklar

    Rachel Sklar

    Member since June 2003 -56 Friends - Testimonial - "Don't let her rack deceive you, Rachel is quite the brainiac!"

Comments

  1. Rick Webb says:
    April 27, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Haha Nate looks exactly the same.

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