Reconnect with old friends through the Web
Getting in touch with people from your past is as simple as a click of a mouse
Published: June 30, 2004
By Natalie Bahadur
Close your eyes and rewind to your high school days. How many friends can you conjure up in your head? How many of them do you maintain contact with? Chances are, not many. But that can all change with a few quick keystrokes.
Google, Yahoo!, Classmates.com—these are just a few of the available online services to help you track down old friends, family members, and long-lost flames.
32-year-old Rachelle Lalonde says she successfully found a friend from college by "Googling" her 10 years after they graduated. "I went onto Google and typed her name," says Lalonde. "The very first entry was her Web site with her business phone number. I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to find her."
Google
Founded in 1998, the California-based search engine Google powers more than 200 million searches per day from around the world.
"Some people have found Google useful in helping them search for information about friends and family because Google contains more than three billion Web pages of information," says consumer public relations manager Eileen Rodriguez.
Simply log on to Google.com and type the name of the person you are searching for.
For best results, "Be as specific as you can when conducting a search," offers Rodriguez. "Put quotes around your query to search for a complete phrase." If you are searching for Bob Jones, enter "Bob Jones" into the Google search field. This will eliminate results that include the words "Bob" and "Jones" in isolation.
Classmates.com
Randy Conrads, a Boeing engineer, founded Classmates Online Inc. in 1995 because he wanted to find a way to reconnect with old friends.
"High school is a place where people have some intense relationships," explains John Uppendahl, director of public relations for Washington-based Classmates Online Inc. "After that, some go on to college, some get a job, and some go into the military or travel and lose track of each other. It turned out that many people shared Mr. Conrads' interest in being able to reconnect with people from meaningful parts of their lives."
Classmates.com has more than 38 million members. With the free basic membership, you can visit Classmates.com, access 130,000 U.S. high schools, and peruse the list of names of other registered members. You must upgrade to a Gold Membership (U.S.$39) to e-mail other Classmates.com users, post messages, and read complete profiles and biographies.
Yahoo!
Another great option is to log on to the Yahoo! Member Directory.
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Connecting with people continues to be one of the main uses of the Internet.
|  | | Mary Osako
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Mary Osako, Yahoo! director of communications, explains that there are two ways to find people here. Browse through the directory of interests, listed on the left-hand side of the directory, to refine your search by narrowing down members by areas of interest. Or enter a name into the Find people on Yahoo! search box located at the top of the page to turn up registered Yahoo! users.
"Connecting with people continues to be one of the main uses of the Internet," says Osako. "When considering the reach that the Internet provides to people across the world, it's no surprise that services like the Yahoo! Member Directory continue to grow in popularity."
PeopleSite
Another way to reconnect with friends is through PeopleSite—a free membership allows you to search for members and post messages. By upgrading your membership (for U.S.$8.95 a year) you can add a photo to your profile and edit your messages after you've posted them, along with other services.
Web safety pointers
Remember that the information you post on message boards can be read by anyone.
"The good news is that every person is in control of what personal information they decide to share," says Uppendahl. "Many people choose to share more general information about what they are doing now, if they are married, how many kids they have, and leave out personal details such as contact information."
So be smart about the personal information you choose to share and good luck finding that long-lost friend.
Article written by Natalie Bahadur and adapted from an original piece from Microsoft Home Magazine.
