I Link You

staying connected with old friends

So despite all the rumors that social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster, and (gasp!) Facebook are facing declining popularity and use by its members.

Of course, one great thing that these social networking sites have to retain its members' participation is their ability to maintain friendships over long distances. As I was browsing through my old high school friends' profiles just to see what they are up to, I've noticed that they all began to join groups reminiscent of high school days.

For example, a group of students started an a cappella group while I was in high school. This a cappella group turned out to be very good and eventually had opportunities to perform all over the United States. Upon graduation, many members went on to join college a cappella groups and still maintained close contact with each other. It turns out that there is now a Facebook group dedicated to this high school a cappella group. Current members, alums, and fans can join this group and communicate with each other on future events and past memories.

There are other groups as well. Some memorializing old friends, and other groups are devoted to high school sports (Brighton Barons) and music groups. Even if social networking sites get untrendy among college campuses, they are still very useful to see what old high school friends are up to without having to make a phone call or write hundreds of emails. (In my case, I had so many friends in high school as I was involved in too many activities and sports teams.) As much as Facebook is the ultimate procrastinator tool of choice, I still enjoy the fact that I can see many photos of my buddies from high school.

posted by Koh @ 12:42 PM