Ten Ways to Find People Online

In today's world of technology, finding and reconnecting with people you have lost contact with over the years, is easier than ever. The following ten Internet sites will give you great options for finding your long lost friends and acquaintances of past.

One: classmates.com It seems like the majority of people from our high school days have signed up for, or at least perused this site at one time or another. You have to register with your name, years of school attendance, the name of the school you attended, and your e-mail address, but registration is free. You have the option to pay a fee if you would like extended member services, such as mutual contact, posting pictures and life stories, etc. Word of warning, this site is initially addicting. It seems like you think of a hundred people to look up once your memory starts churning. The site is fun, but make sure you have a bit of time on your hands when you first start searching.

Two: military.com This is a great site if you are trying to get in touch with someone you know has been in the military at one point. In fact, this site even keeps track of the names of people who have entered recruiting offices with an intent for joining a branch of the military service. Use the 'buddy finder' option to locate lost pals. It is also a good site for finding and posting pictures from your own, or a spouse's time in the military. Again, the site is free but you do have to register to access it. Know too that you will receive various e-mails from this site, several times a week.

Three: yahoo.com Almost everyone you know has, or has had at one time, a yahoo account. The e-mail accounts there are free, and for most people just starting out on the web, Yahoo is a popular site to access. At the top of the yahoo home page you will see an 'other' option. Click on that and then you will see a variety of options to click on, including the 'People Search' button. Here you will be given the option to search for people in several different ways. One, you can look by name. Two you can look by name and state, or name, city, and state. Two, you can look by a reverse telephone number search. Or three, you can type in the first and last name of a person and it will search for any e-mail addresses they have active.

Four: google.com If you google someone's name it may bring up information about them. If you Google their name and city, it may even bring you more information on that person. I recently googled the name of a good friend I had in high school (many years ago, now). It brought up nothing. I then Googled her name and the city we grew up in, and it unfortunately brought up the obituary of her father, whom I know she was very close to. I was able to contact her via the information I found in the obituary information, and it was a successful and joyous reunion, although the circumstances from which I found her were very grave.

Five: whitepages.com This Internet website will allow you to put the first and last name of a person you are searching for into the designated areas. It will then pull up all of the people who share that name in the United States. It will also give you varied information such as who else resides or has lived in the house with them, who possible relatives are, the age of the person, and sometimes even the occupation they have or have had in the past. It does not give all of this information for each person, every time you search, but you may get lucky and get it all at once, if you are looking to reconnect with an old friend.

Six: myspace.com This website you must sign up for. It is free. You simply put in your contact information and an e-mail address. You then choose a sign-in name, which is the only information made public. The site is popular for communication. It used to be based mainly towards the younger generation, but more and more adults are signing up as well. You can add and maintain pictures on the site for people to view, and you can receive and give comments to other members. You are also able to make your online profile private only, which requires a request sent to you for approval if someone wishes to view your myspace site. You can reveal or conceal as much personal information, including likes and dislikes, taste in music, art, travel, etc. that you are comfortable doing. Myspace has a great search engine that allows you to search for friends via their sign-on name, their real name that you will never see displayed unless they choose to disclose it, or an email address. There is an age minimum to sign up for and use myspace.

Seven: facebook.com This is a website similar to myspace.com, although its inception came about in a more academic sense. Once the home to only members of academia, the site has branched out and now has many members who are not currently enrolled in a school, college, or university. You have to sign up to access the site, although there is no charge to do so. This site also has messaging and photo display options.

Eight: reunion.com This site requests your name, age, city and e-mail address in order to sign up. There is no charge to be a member, however, you can pay a fee if you wish to receive more information than can access for no charge. There is a lot of rigamarole that goes along with joining this site. It seems like you have to go through a lot of information just to access what you are looking for, but you can choose the option to skip each screen and enter no information if you like. The results are very thorough and international. You will also receive information such as where the person has lived, a photograph if they have ever uploaded one, and the age and family members of the person if that information is available. There are a lot of pop ups on this site, in addition to solicitations for your money for membership services, as well. I would advise using this site only if the other options were futile.

Nine: You can try a local newspaper search for the town you knew the person once lived in. Chances are they may still reside in that location and you will get lucky and find something in this manner. This is especially true if they have a high profile job, such as doctor, dentist, administrator, reporter, etc.

Ten: Public record searches. Many states offer public record searches for no charge online. You can access a great deal of information in this manner that will help you reunite with an old friend, if the state they live in has gone online, and they permit free public searches.

These ten Internet options will help you be well on your way to reuniting with an old friend or acquaintance. Some of them are also great tools for putting together events such as class, military, or work reunions.