The Friendster newsletter disturbed me this morning. I didn’t authorize or ask them to send me pictures of anybody, much less pictures of teens under 18. Why doesn’t their newsletter tell me what’s going on with Friendster website features, what cool things there are to do at the site?

My take: even if Friendster doesn’t have a member’s birthdate on file, they should assume the person is an adult. That’s just good business. Safe business on the web these days, especially with all the negative PR social networking site MySpace has gotten into with adults mixing up inappropriately with minors at their website.

As you can see from this screenshot the pictures aren’t anything provactive or illegal, but check out when I unsubscribed how the Friendster newsletter is described (emphasis mine):

Keep in mind that Friendster newsletters are a great way to see what’s happening with your friends and to hear about special events in your area.

Sorry Friendster, not only are none of these individuals pictured my friends, but I have absolutely zero interest in learning about special events involving people under 18. Maybe our teenage children might be interested, but not me. However with knowledge of this marketing activity, as a parent, I wouldn’t want our teenagers creating Friendster profiles as long as these profiles are going to be sent to adult strangers.

If Friendster wants to show profiles of strangers including their marital status, can they at least make sure these people are all adults?

Friendster’s newsletter this morning did succeed in one thing. Having me visit my profile and make sure my age was properly entered and registered at their site. It also encouraged me to unsubscribe from their “great” newsletter. I knew there were reasons why I haven’t gotten into social networking sites. Orkut hasn’t done anything like this yet, thank goodness.

Creepy social networking 101. No, thank you.

• From Java to PHP: Friendster
• March 29 Yahoo pulls a 360
• Rave whoring
• Friendster still overpriced at $50 - $100 million range
• Fortune cookie social networking message?
• Top 10 personals / dating sites in March 2005