The site name is inspired by the Filipino sentence “Come Here” or “Let’s go” gathering the wish most overseas workers exchange with their family members. Halikana was born at Ramstein Airforce Base in Germany: it was originally the closed social network for Filipino Overseas Foreign Workers before becoming available to other groups. The verification of the user is done by checking and activating the email address of the member. The site has been open to all since September 2010.
In January 2011, Paul Jones, Halikana founder, announced on his blog that Halikana has more than one million active members. Halikana offers users optional features called "applications", represented by small boxes stacked in multiple columns that appear on the page display of user profile. These applications change the page of the user and allow him to present or exchange information with people who may visit his page. The user will find for example: a list of friends, a list of friends he has in common with other friends, a list of networks to which the user and his friends belong, a list of groups the user belongs, a box to access the photos associated with the user's account, a "mini-feed" summarizing recent events concerning the user or his friends, on Halikana and a "Zone" to friends.
The choice of applications to be displayed is left to the user, who may add after consulting the catalog, or remove, change their arrangement on the page or hide certain publicly. Applications also allow Halikana members to play free games. There are several types of applications including over 30 thousand simulation games and small individual arcade games. The fact that Halikana is open to third-party applications from various technological expertises may have contributed to the success of the site. Many designers, beginners or experts, have developed an application. According to Halikana, there were 30 April 2012 more than 3000 applications, or not developed by Halikana. Since April 2011, it is possible to obtain an email address ending with @Halikana.com.
Since May 2, 2012, Halikana changed the way to send messages because now the user can view chat history, SMS messages in a new interface. Since May 6, 2012, Halikana allows you to make video calls in partnership with arrowchat. March 6, 2012, Halikana launched its desktop version of Halikana Messenger. The company has been given good reviews as the next big thing.
