Wouldn't it be great if you could set up a reunion with your quondam schoolmates, neighbors, colleagues, or college dorm buddies? Thanks to the cyberspace, it is easier than always. You no longer need to rely on the telephone directory or taking out classified ads.

Hither are some of the best sites on the spider web for finding old friends.

one. Alumni.net

alumni net

Alumni.net doesn't have the polished interface that you lot will find with some of the other sites on our listing. However, what it lacks in design, it more than makes upwards for in sheer numbers.

Because the site has been online since 1994 (that's almost 30 years!), it has amassed an incredible database of people who accept signed upward.

Networks are divided into school networks and professional networks, with most countries around the world having their own portals and sub-networks. Some of the largest networks in the US are for Florida State University, Michigan State Academy, University of California at Berkeley, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technology Land Academy.

The site too offers news, events, and meetups, too every bit job boards and fifty-fifty discount deals.

2. Classmates.com

classmates

If you only want to find old classmates (rather than colleagues or neighbors), Classmates.com is worth checking out. The site used to support Canada and a few major international locations, but is now geared exclusively to the U.s.a..

Ane of the best aspects of the site is that you exercise non need to make an account to see if people you know have an business relationship. From the homepage, just choose the country that you lot graduated from, then the metropolis, then the school, and you can meet the members who are linked to it.

If you want to reach out to people y'all recognize and send them a message, you lot will need to work through the signup procedure.

3. Facebook

facebook alumni

While the two sites we've introduced you to so far both specialize in finding onetime friends online, they have arguably become dwarfed past the powerhouse that is social media.

Love information technology or loathe it, Facebook still dominates the landscape. And it is well-nigh unrivaled in its ability to track down people with who you have lost contact.

Of course, you can do a elementary search using the person's proper noun you are looking for. But if you lot dig a lilliputian deeper, you might be able to notice groups and pages dedicated to your quondam school or former employer. The site likewise offers some search tricks that volition aid you find a person who might non show up using a elementary search.

To be able to send a message to someone directly, there is a high chance you lot volition beginning need to add them as a friend (assuming they have customized their privacy settings). Make sure you take used a real profile movie to increase the odds of them accepting y'all.

four. LinkedIn

linkedin alumni

For finding erstwhile colleagues for a reunion, LinkedIn is the best free tool. It is approaching one billion members and has users from all over the globe.

In one case you accept fabricated an account, yous can click into a company's profile and run into who you know who works there, likewise as people who work at that place that you exercise not have an existing connexion with.

Like Facebook, LinkedIn besides has a groups feature. Almost all major universities and schools have a group for alumni.

Considering LinkedIn is a professional person tool, it is more than suitable for professional outreach than for organizing parties with long-lost friends. Merely that doesn't mean y'all should underestimate it. One of the nigh powerful tools you accept at your disposal from a career standpoint is your network. LinkedIn lets you leverage it, even with people who may have fallen out of your main group of connections as the years passed.

five. BeenVerified

beenverified

BeenVerified is one of many sites that let you run background checks on a person. Past using public records (such as social media profiles, police records, civil judgments, electronic mail addresses, vehicle records, caller IDs, property records, and and then on), the site can apace build upwardly a consummate profile of someone you are looking for.

The site does non provide a way to accomplish out to the person direct. Yet, due to the breadth of the records that BeenVerified scans, many people have contact information attached to their results. Yous can run into that information and use it to become in touch on.

Note: Use the contact data judiciously. Clearly, you shouldn't just show up at someone's address and wait exterior in your machine for them to get dwelling house.

half dozen. Google

Google Screenshot

It sounds obvious, just before yous spend hours digging through each of these sites, have y'all tried merely entering the person'due south name into Google? If they take managed to earn a place of recognition in their industry of selection, there is a good chance yous will be able to find at least ane entry about them.

Assuming the person has allowed the feature, Google can too pull results from various social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Remember, you can utilize Boolean search operators to narrow down lists of results. And it is also worth having a await at Google Images to see the results manage to flag upward the person you are looking for.

7. Dedicated Alumni Networks

Finally, check out whether your old schoolhouse or employer offers its own in-house alumni network. Almost all universities and colleges offer them, as do many of the biggest brands in the earth. To give you an example, P&Chiliad, HSBC, Accenture, Nestlé, Citigroup, Microsoft, and Google accept widely praised (and widely used) alumni services.

If you lot are ex-war machine, alumni chapters in diverse cities are also a great way to get back in touch with your one-time comrades.

Detect Your Friends and Go the Party Started

In the modern age, it is extremely rare for someone to have absolutely no online presence at all. Fifty-fifty if the sites we've suggested practise not yield results, there is a loftier take a chance you volition somewhen exist able to stumble upon a reference if you are prepared to put in the hours.

And if all else fails, and yous really desire to get in touch, remember there are professional companies you tin can hire to track downwards people.