December 4, 2008
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Finding Friends on Facebook
I always read these stories about people finding old friends on Facebook.
When I first heard about myspace, most of what I heard was it was a great place to look up old friends from high school. So I tried to look up people. Now I am 37 years old so maybe people my age are just less likely to be on myspace or Facebook.
But I have heard people my age say they can find people. So last night I went on Facebook and looked for old friends from high school. (By the way, if you can’t remember how to spell their last name they probably were not really good friends anyway).
I searched and searched and I couldn’t find anyone that I really wanted to talk to. I sent one person a message to see if she knew of anyone else that was around. She may not recognize my cartoon profile pic though.
Have you been able to find old friends on Myspace or Facebook?
Comments (116)
Facebook started my generation. Most 25-year-old college grads are on facebook.
I’m 39 and I have all those sites like Facebook and MySpace. Most everyone I’ve found is someone I really don’t care to speak with. Though I did find my very first penpal (from when I was 13) on MySpace. That was vera cool.
Yes. And after I add them, I wish I’d never found them.
I’m on a similar site and was found by people I couldn’t remember anymore… lol
@somebody_u_know - I’m that way with a few of them!
I have been able to find more friends on Facebook than on MySpace, but I prefer to write on Xanga.
Yes, but I’m 17.
I can’t stand Myspace though, so I just do Facebook and Xanga.
I have found people from middle school…
And Sarah Macdonald turned out just as hot as everyone knew she would.
i must’ve gotten in touch w/at least 20-30 people from back in the days that i’d lost touch with over the years through facebook.
I’ve found quite a few more friends on Facebook than MySpace, but I think that’s because more people tend to use their real name on Facebook than MySpace.
I have found lot of my old friends thru school/college networking. Some of them I’m happy to see and chat with them. Others I was like ugh, now I know why I stay away from them in the first place.
I have found everyone I grew up with on facebook and myspace. Its so exciting! I even found my estranged brother and sister on my dads side. Long story
A lot of my “old” friends are on facebook and myspace, but of course I’m still in college…
I avoid those sites like the plague. They’re crawling with family members. They’re all on xanga, too, but never update here since they started playing annoying games on facebook.
i found a guy on myspace a year ago that i thought i was so in love with in grammar school.
yay to pathetic people !
@Pyrra - That’s actually pretty cute.
yep. it seems like the whole world and their mother is on facebook. more so than on myspace.
I found friends both on MySpace and Facebook. It’s weird, but I find more of my local friends on MySpace, and more of my college friends on Facebook.
@huginn - i guess it’s cute in a way. i just find it pathetic that i thought i was in love in grammar school :p i didn’t even know him that well !
Yes, I have Daniel Boone. Well they mostly all found me, actually. I think MOST of my facebook friends are friends from high school, and only 1/4 of the people there (at most) are xanga friends.
Did you register at your high school on here? I did. Not even by year, just school….and people from school just found me.
Yeah. Maybe your friends just aren’t cool enough.
I know one of my cousins is on FB, but I haven’t contacted her.
I left my first primary school early to move into the city but just recently i found a whole load of people from there on facebook. it is seriously disturbing how some cute little kids can turn out…
I’m 29 and I have managed to find my 30-something friends on Facebook. I must say, among people from my high school, I’m in the upper age range, seeing very few people graduated before I did on FB.
Yes and the funny thing is that there are some people who have fund me that I do not even remember knowing. lol
Yeah I have, on both FB and Myspace. But I hardly ever talk to them. Sometimes I go check out their pictures to see how much they’ve changed but thats about it. Really, I hardly ever use those sites anymore, just check for updates and move on.
Yes.
Yes, I’ve gotten back in contact with pretty much everyone from grade school, work, clubs and of course my friends from high school.
It’s lovely.
Actually, I’ve found the “people you may know tool” on facebook very helpful in finding old friends. That’s about the only thing I like about facebook.
If Xanga had a similar feature…it’d be pretty cool to be able to “opt-in” that bin.
I’ve found two friends from Canada, I was there 18 years ago! And old classmates and a former roomie.
Absolutely! I’ve found tons of old classmates. Of course I’m only 27 so more people my age are using Facebook/Myspace so the odds are in my favor
I have! As you know I just joined up two weeks ago… and added you as a friend IMMEDIATLY… my priorities are straight after all…
I found three people that I considered very good friends… One of them just joined after I did and found me!
On Facebook…yes. I don’t use MySpace.
I mean, I have an account, but don’t update it any longer. MySpace is full of creeps! But I use Facebook…I like it!
YES! on both- although I much prefer Facebook to myspace- no room for skanks. I just opened up my Facebook this week and in the last 4 days I’ve gone from 0 to almost 30 people from my old days- it’s good to keep in touch with people I’d otherwise never see again, likely:)
@angi1972 - You have a Facebook and didn’t tell us? Hmmmmm
Yea, I’ve found a couple people from when I was younger and did summer programs and stuff. It’s pretty cool but I let myspace and facebook go once I found Xanga lol.
def! i’ve found a ton of old friends dating back to like…8 or 9 years ago
Definitely…! Friends all the way back to elementary school. Though, I am only 19… and people my age are totally on facebook 24/7.
I have found quite a few people from my past on MySpace.
Yes but I’m 22. So myspace/facebook is a lot more popular w/people my age.
I usually just wait for people to look for me though.
Yes, but I am a 21 year old college student…
I found a bunch of old highschool friends. But then, I’m fresh out of highschool, so that might not be so hard ):
I’m in my thirties and have found old friends on facebook.
Well, a bunch of old acquaintances have tried to friend me at various times and I have friended a couple of old friends on occasion. But I am 25 and most people my age were still in college when facebook really took off among college students.
I actually had one of my DAD’s classmates (who is older than you!) find me on facebook and was like “tell your Dad I said hi!”
Yes, I have found hundreds of old friends from as far back as kindergarten. I moved around when I was younger so it’s been awesome reconnecting with people I knew at various schools at churches through the years.
I have tons of people I went to elementary school with. I never really sought any of them out, though. I don’t talk to any of them. I usually get an friend request and a comment to along with it that goes something like “hey how’ve you been. I hope you’re doing good. Take care”. Where do you go from there?
I didn’t look.
yeah i found my first crush! haha whos in MI while im in OH so that didnt really matter lol. plus we never even talk! lol so yeah most of these people are right.you only find people you dont care to speak to anymore lol. because the people who are your true friends never got “lost”.=]
I have–but I’m 19
lol Just recently joined Facebook…not a member of MySpace. I agree with foreveralwaysends –that more ppl use their real names on FB 
I like meeting up with new friends on Facebook and catching up with current friends on Facebook, but after awhile, it almost seems like your collecting “friends” like baseball cards. Social networking is all about collecting these faces and little to do with interacting with them it seems. Having said that, it has allowed me to reconnected with faces from old and faces I’d never met before. All and all a pseudo-plus.
What you do is..you look for your high school group…it’s full of people you might know.
Yes I do find a lot of classmates of middle school and high school, some of them have changed I dont invite to be friend- I just make them on my watch list- while the good people I often just ask how they doing.
6 years really moving fast.
Yes! All the time and it amazes me how many that I dont remember….hahaha
Almost every person I’ve ever known is on Facebook. I’m 22 so it fits my generation…
I’ve found alot of people, but it seems that the ones I wanted to find most have managed to elude me
Regarding facebook, I have… and most have found me. I believe one person found me by searching the highschool and same graduating year…. if you perform a search by the criteria; the results may depend on who actually filled in that info. on their profile…so it’s a hit or miss.
Regarding myspace not so much of my classmates. Like someone mentioned above, more local friends.
Initally I had thought this blog was to discuss the ‘emotional effects’ of reconnecting to old friends from HS… how these folks have moved on with lives, where are they now and how many children do they have… somehow it’s a type of discussion being in my mid thirities w/ no kids, i often feel a bit ‘behind’ w/ not reaching that point in my life… o’ well… that’s life, count your blessings I guess. =)
I have found a TON of old friends on Facebook…we were able to hold some unofficial reunions because of it
I haven’t found any, but a couple have found me. It might be that I’m 18 and every 18-year-old in the known universe has a facebook.
I’m 34 years old and I’ve found tons of old aquaintances from school on MySpace. I’ve actually found my first boyfriend/love on MySpace. Howver I’ve found fewer on Facebook.
I don’t really look for people, but it’s kind of annoying because everyone that seems to find you are people you never really cared for an never cared to speak to again! It’s kind of like flashbacks to high school when I used to get stuffed in a locker all over again : )
I usually look people up through Myspace as many people are quite lax about what information they make public.
Someone from my school committed suicide on friday, and I looked up his myspace to see what people had said to “him” and see if maybe anything troubling was on his page. There wasn’t, but I do do this. I also look up classmates I don’t speak to and co-workers. I figure if they don’t want me to know, they shouldn’t be public.
Yes…but I don’t really care fr most of my friends from high school, so I haven’t contacted them.
yea, I’ve found friends from an elementary school that I went to in Queens for only 2(non-consecutive) years, which is pretty cool, and my mom and her brother(both in their early 40s) have found friends from when they were in high school…
I found my old best friend from childhood on Myspace. I treated him like shit back then and always wanted to tell him I was sorry. So I did and everything was cool, but he didn’t have much to say after that. I’m just glad I got the chance to make peace with the shit I did in the past.
I have both fb and myspace. I moved around a lot when I was younger, and I found my best friend from the 3rd-5th grade and lots of my other classmates from elementary school. It was funny to see how they had grown, but yet still looked the same.
I have found a ton of people I used to know on Facebook – I really like the site. I dislike Myspace for many reasons, but among them… it is almost impossible to find people on there unless you happen to know their email address. You can change your name to whatever you want (which I think is the same on Facebook, but generally people put their actual names on there)… so it’s difficult to find John Smith if his current myspacename is Satchy McFrillfroo, or something. Bleh, myspace.
yeah. like almost all of the ones that DON’T matter.
yeeeeep
Dan, you have a facebook? What is it?
I can say with confidence that I have and it’s really nice.
Found lots of people with facebook.
Yes, all the time. I’ve only kept in contact with a few, though.
Yeah, I do. It’s kinda odd.
Yes I have. But only on MySpace because I don’t have the other one. I found some really good old friends there and a few have found me too.
Finding a person I know isn’t a problem, it is whether or not I actually want to talk to that person.
Yep! My two best friends from 5th grade I found on Myspace. =] I’m so happy I finally got in touch with them.. Facebook not so much. Either one takes a little bit of digging, I guess. People not putting their real names in.. what’s the point? Of course, my brother has his name on Facebook as Dominic Justin, instead of using his real last name. This irritates me. But anyway.
Old friends found me on MySpace.
It was insane.
But sweet.
I have found everyone, people i havent seen since pre-school. But i’m 15
Yes.
I did it all, Friendster, MySpace, Xanga, Blogger, MSN, Yahoo, etc. etc. Only Xanga stuck. Something about the format made me feel comfortable. And the people. I absolutely refuse to go on Facebook. I have drawn a line at Xanga and until it shuts down, I am staying put!
Definitely – much more on Facebook. When I was with MySpace, I got in contact with 1 hs and 1 college friend. (Never could stand MySpace) On FB, about 25-30 high school, since our 20th is next year. Also about 20 college pals (mostly fellow artists/archtiects) and even 6 from middle school (4 of these I’ve known since grade school). (Several switched from public to private school, so we keep in touch with a few since our schools were only 4 miles apart.) LOL I was so surprised when someone from middle school found me and I remembered her.
Otherwise we have 2 closed family clan groups. Plus it is nicer to keep in touch with both friends and family here who don’t live nearby. It’s kind of nice and more personal than email.
yesi have found quite a few.
i grew up a military child who moved every 3 years of my life since birth. (i was born in Germany.) i also buy a yearbook every year. yes, i have found many old friends on facebook and myspace, including some old preschool classmates lol.
I’ve found friends on both, but I like facebook better.
I have found quite a few old friends on facebook. A couple on myspace but more on facebook.
dozens . . .
Yep I found many of my primary schoolmates on Facebook. Around 100 (which is half of my year).
Certainly! (of course, I’m only 23.) I moved around to a few schools, and stayed long enough to make good friends–but unfortunately along the way, I lost touch with some. This has been a great help in staying in touch with some people that it is nice to chat with every once in a while.
Yeah I did find my long lost friend on facebook
My Gr.2 best friend
She added me – I was surprised she still remembers
Yes! Lots of them. But then again, I’m only 18, so it’s not like they’re really “old” friends.
I’ve been able to find friends from both elementary and middle school on MySpace and Facebook. I like Facebook more, though. LOL
I have found hundreds of friends/relatives on Facebook… even people I had lost touch with in elementary school (and I’m in my mid-40s!) It’s been a blast!
They’ve actually found me most of the time haha
I’m 32. I have found a lot of people on facebook that were adults when I was a kid, high school mates, and college mates.
since im 17, most of my frends use fb….n trust me. fb is one great way to keep in touch wid alll ur frends..cheers!
most definately!
*sigh*
Plenty of acquaintances. No friends. Then again, I had no friends in school. Just acquaintances. But that was my mistake.
Whatever. None of them remember me, anyway.
On Facebook I found so many grammar school friends I havent talked to in years!
Some that Had transferred out of school like in the 6th and 4th grade.
But a whole bunch of people from my high school have added me since we graduated, even if I only talked to them about once or seen them in the hallways.
They see me through the People You May Know tool.
I have found old friends on both Facebook and Myspace. However….I am a horrible penpal and rarely check those sites anymore. Esp. when family decided to get on Facebook and started sending me stupid crap.
My friends usually find me before I muster enough interest to go searching for other people. Since high school wasn’t the time of my life, I’m not really scrambling on FB or Myspace trying to find people–especially the ones who decided it was better to judge me than get to know me.
I don’t have any hard feelings now because it was well over 5-6 years ago. But some of them still do; like my being fat or a gamer or what have you destroyed their lives. I’ll put it this way–the people I had cool times with are the people who got added. The people who were out and out dicks to me aren’t.
A few. I have FB and Myface, but most of the people I found were people I’ve known about a year and wanted to get to know better and stay in touch.
I’m almost your age, and I have reconnected with dozens of people from childhood and my 20s with whom I had lost contact using Facebook. I regularly chat with old best friends on it, now. It took several months of work, gradually reconnecting, but it paid off. Just like you don’t instantaneously gain hundreds of readers on xanga with your first post, you don’t find long-lost dear friends the first night you log onto Facebook. It takes some time and networking. The more you put into it, the more you get out. And, yes, there are “old people” on Facebook!
~whatever!
I’ve found some long (as in at least 10 years) lost friends..more like “former friends” since too much time has elapsed since last talking…on Myspace (bleh) and Facebook..
Yeah actually I’ve been able to find a few old friends and found an old best friend back from kindergarden- which was weird to see how much we’ve grown- but for the most part with old friends found we don’t talk, just the occasional happy birthday or merry christmas.
I was at both places and ended up getting rid of both. I did find an ex friend who didn’t respond after she sent me a friend request to which I responded to telling her who I was.
I LOVE Facebook! I have reconnected with over 60 people from high school and we are actually planning a ‘Facebook’ get together over the holidays. It’s been great reconnecting with so many folks… I love it!
No. I ain’t got a MySpace or facebook. Only a Xanga. Fb and MySpace are stupid imo. They cannot compare to the amazing Xanga!!!
I don’t seek people out. Usually I’m the one being found, and I blame the “People You May Know” feature. I changed my last name for a reason, as I never wanted to be found by certain people.
Oh well.
i’ve found several old friends through Facebook (and i’m glad for that). in fact, i just went on holiday to visit a friend i hadn’t seen in 12 years. that was good.
but for the most part, i don’t like Facebook. i actually went through my friend list the other day and purged people. particularly those people from high school that i knew but with whom i was not friends in high school. if i didn’t talk to you when we were in school together, why the hell would i want to talk to you now!?
Yes, I’ve found several old friends on Facebook.
I joined facebook just for that reason. I was looking for someone and once I joined it was crazy. I have reconnected with my best friend from when I was 2 to about 10. Not only that I was the rebel who went to a different HIGH school then everyone else in my neighborhood, and now cuz of facebook I have been in contact with about 15 old friends. I also have 18 cousins we are all in our 20, 30 and 40 now and are spread out over the west coast. Its a greet way to see eachothers pics and keep in contact socialy. For me it has been a grat experience, I did enjoy Myspace a few years ago for the music more then friends, and as for meeting someone from Myspace NEVER AGAIN…. 2 years later and it’s finally over…. worst relationship ever.
most of my facebook friends are from college, I have three friends from High school as well on their.
They have found me. All of my Facebook friends are people from “the real world.”
Mhm! Using the ‘friends you may know’ tool.
Here’s an oddity…. I found an old crush on Facebook, and we ended up dating for about 6 months… Didn’t work out that way but we’re still good friends. All because I looked him up via that site. Amazing, the things that can come out of a random search…
Yeah but I don’t even remember some of them lol.