It would be great if you could be reunited with an old friend, classmate, or neighbor in the blink of an eye, wouldn’t it? This is easier than ever, thanks to the internet. This article looks at some of the best sites for finding long-lost friends.
Classmates.com
Classmates.com is worth looking at if you’re looking for old schoolmates. The site targets users in the US. In the past, it supported Canada and a few other countries.
You don’t need to sign up to check if the person you’re looking for has an account there. Just choose your school’s state from the homepage, then the city, and finally the school itself. The site will pull up a list of all the linked members.
You need to register if you want to send other users messages.
Facebook remains practically unrivaled when it comes to people-tracking capacity. Of course, you can search for people online using their names, but you might find a page or a group connected to a previous employer or an old school or neighborhood if you dig a little deeper. You can also apply special search strategies to track down someone who might otherwise not show up.
If you find what seems to be their profile, but it’s private, you’ll probably need to add them as a friend to send a direct message. To increase the likelihood of being accepted, use a real profile picture.
Alumni.net
While somewhat lacking in visual appeal and design, alumni.net is an excellent source with a huge database of members. It has been live for nearly three decades and accumulated a vast membership base.
The site divides networks into professional networks and school networks, with most countries represented through sub-networks and portals.
Alumni.net is one of the best sites to reconnect with old college buddies and catch up on the latest news from schools like the University of California at Berkeley, Florida State University, Michigan State, etc. The site offers meetups, events, discount deals, and job boards.
Information.comÂ
Information.com provides data from publicly available records in practically every area and is very user-friendly. It is a specialized search engine with current information about people, including locations, addresses, and more. The people search form is easy to fill out. The site will generate a report, but you must provide your name and email address to access it.
BeenVerified
BeenVerified is also a people search engine like the previous one. It makes it possible to run background checks on people. It can create a profile of your search target by using public records such as email addresses, social media profiles, vehicle records, caller IDs, and property records.
Unfortunately, you can’t reach out to the person directly on BeenVerified. However, you’ll find many people’s results come with contact info, thanks to the breadth of the records scanned by this service. You can use that to get in touch.
LinkedIn is the best free option to reunite with old coworkers with almost 900 million members globally. Company profiles list all the people who work there to whom you’re not connected. The site has a group feature like Facebook, and all major colleges and schools have a group for alumni.
Just because it’s more career-oriented, LinkedIn shouldn’t be underestimated. Your network is among the most powerful tools at your disposal. You can leverage it using LinkedIn, even to reconnect with people who you’ve lost touch with.
It may seem obvious, but simply entering the person’s name into Google could be more helpful than a plethora of specialized search tools. If they’ve been in the news for whatever reason, you’ll find this info quickly, making their whereabouts much easier to trace.
Google can find results from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks assuming your search target has allowed the feature.
To narrow down a list of results, try using Boolean search operators. Google Images might be helpful to see any uploaded pictures of the person.
In-house Alumni Networks
As a last resort, check if your previous employer or old school has an in-house alumni network. Almost all colleges and universities have one, and so do several leading brands worldwide. Google, Microsoft, P&G, HSBC, Citigroup, Nestle, and Accenture have widely used and praised alumni networks.
Try a military organization to get in touch with someone you served in the army with if that was the case.
Final ThoughtsÂ
Most people have some online presence in the modern age. If you’re prepared to make an effort, you’ll eventually track them down, even if the sites in this article do not yield results. If you don’t have any luck, you can hire a professional company to track them down.
