Friendster is an online dating and relationship site that takes blind dating to the next level. The site operates on the six degrees of separation concept. One person joins and invites other friends to join, who in turn invite other friends to join. Within a matter of days, a user can be connected to 100,000 people by listing just a few friends.

Abrams came up with the idea for Friendster when he was hanging out last year with friends who mentioned the online personals sites they were using. "I checked out the sites, but the way they work is random and anonymous. In real life, my friends prefer to meet people through their friends," Abrams said.

There are no anonymous friends on Friendster. If a user conducts a search to see if people share a similar interest, the results will only show people in a user's personal network. Anyone in a user's personal network is connected to the user through his or her personal friends by four degrees of separation. So the site works like a referral service.

One feature allows users to post testimonials about their friends. The testimonials work as vouchers for that person's character, similar to the way a friend setting up a blind date vouches for someone.

"This takes the creepiness out of online dating," says Abrams.

The site isn't just for dating, Abrams is quick to point out. Friendster is also good for making online friends and eventually meeting them in person. There have been Friendster parties all over the country-the latest one in Sunnyvale was in June.

Since the website's surge in popularity, Friendster released a beta version in March. Desiree Victorio, a San Jose resident, said the popularity of the site makes it difficult to use these days during peak hours. "I wish Friendster wasn't in beta mode anymore and that it had enough servers to allow more people to be signed on," Victorio said.

Victorio said, "Friendster helped me connect with my old friends from high school and even middle school. I've met lots of new people who arebe my friends' friends," Victorio said.

In the next few months Friendster will begin to charge for some of its services, said Abrams. It will still be free to join Friendster, to post a picture and profile, to search and browse through a user's personal network and to use Friendster to communicate with friends.

"If you want to use Friendster to contact someone you don't know in your personal network, we're going to charge a small fee," said Abrams.

But Friendster users aren't enthusiastic about the upcoming fees. Circulating through the site is an email that encourages users to click on ads to generate revenue for the company and also asks users to pressure Friendster to keep the site free by snail mailing the company.

Friendster user Victorio said, "I wish there was another way to keep it up without having to charge people. They should just have sponsors and advertise," Victorio said.

For more information, visit http://www.friendster.com.