Friendster launches its mobile site, albeit a bit late

Recently relegated to also-ran status among social networks behind competitors MySpace and Facebook, Friendster launched a mobile version of its site globally on Wednesday.

While the site is among the top 10 largest in the world and the largest social network in Asia, according to comScore Media Metrix, it lags far behind its competitors. The mobile site is obviously an attempt to catch up.

"We've taken our most popular core social networking features and made them easy to use via mobile devices," marketing chief David Jones said.

It could be too little, too late. MySpace first launched its mobile site with Cingular (now AT&T Wireless) in December of 2006, and Facebook debuted its own application last year. But that isn't stopping Friendster from pushing ahead.

Friendster Mobile will initially be offered in English, with additional languages to follow. The second language would be Indonesian, due to the fact a significant portion of its user base is from the area.

Offering a mobile site catered to these areas may be especially important to drive traffic to the site, considering many may have easier daily access to a Internet-capable phone than a PC.

The service said that it also plans to begin rolling out additional mobile features over the next few months. Altogether, it claims about 70 million users worldwide.