Friendster's Missed Opportunities

Friendster doesn't get it. They have such a goldmine of information about their users, and they miss obvious uses for it.

For example, Friendster knows all my friends' birthdays (way better than I do). Why won't it send me a reminder?

Friendster also knows how long its been since I sent a message to each of my friends. I would like to be reminded to stay in touch if it's been too long.

Here's a big one: Friendster seems obsessed with how many people I have in my "personal network," but I don't give a rat's ass about who my friends of a friend of a friend are. My friends are important, of course. But for schmoozing on my social network, the critical juncture is the friends of my friends. There should be an easy way to set up social meetings with friends of my friends who seem interesting.

I heard recently that some venture capitalists have valued Friendster at $40 million. Will someone pay me that much to be asleep at the switch?