It has been 12 and half years since I graduated high school and 8 and a half years since I graduated college. I have found that I keep in touch with very few people that I was friends with during these times. There are a small group of friends from high school that I hear from and occasionally see when there is a wedding or a shower of some sort. I occasionally receive links to digital photo albums of family vacations or the kids. I exchange occasional emails and text messages with a friend from college who moved down to Virginia after we graduated. I used to hang out with two close friends from college for a while after we graduated. One moved to Maryland and as life went on the other friend and I have simply and gradually drifted apart. I recently received facebook requests from 2 friends from high school and I am still debating if I should sign up or not.
The Boy, in contrast, is 27 years old and still keeps in close contact with friends that he has had for 20+ years. He lives maybe 400 miles or more away from most of them yet an effort is made on everyone's part to keep in touch and see each other when they can. He also hangs out on a regular basis with his friends from college. Even the ones that have moved away to different cities or even states.
It seems a little backwards to me that the guys seem to be better at keeping in touch than the gals. Maybe I'm just wrong about the stereotypes or this is an isolated case.
How well do you keep in touch with friends from the past? How do you feel about sites such as myspace and facebook for keeping in touch?
Hi Erin, I really like the new look on your blog. :)
I like Facebook for finding old friends and seeing what they're doing now. MySpace is not a place where I'd look for old friends though, as a lot of people don't use their real name. Maybe that has changed recently due to the success of Facebook, but I know that the reason I started using Facebook was because people have to be themselves. It feels much more friendly and genuine. Adding friends and writing messages is far preferable to having a long list of email addresses as I once did, as most of them would bounce messages after a few months. That doesn't happen on Facebook.
I am glad you like it :)
I've been a member of myspace for a few years now and almost never use it anymore. I think Facebook might be a little more up my alley. Thanks for the input!
I moved 1200 miles from where I spent the first 25 years of my life. Since moving to Florida almost 7 yeears ago, I've *had* to make a point to keep in touch with old friends or risk letting them slip out of my life. It sure did show me who was worth my effort though--and who thought I was worth theirs. I never could make myself join MySpace; it weirded me out. I finally joined Facebook, though, a year ago and I am so glad I did! Now I have another way to keep up with people, especially for those who don't get into the blog scene or whose email addresses I didn't know!
I've begun using Facebook, but have no one from school as a friend -- all my friends there are work associates or from the dog show world. Oh and my son and granddaughter.
I have not kept up with anyone from the schools I attended and can barely remember any of their names. I'm a more in the "now" type of person and not so much a "remember the good times" kind of person.
Of course, the mere fact that it's been over 30 years since high school could have something to do with all this :P
I don't really think it's a male vs female thing though as I know some women who remember all their classmates from elementary school!
I think I may give facebook a shot. I am one of those people that remembers all the names and faces of most people back to elementary school. It's just something that sticks with me. I am someone that, at times, lives in the past. Probably not a good thing!
You make a good point about finding out who your real friends are. Distance is a good test.
After the comments here I think I may sign up for Facebook. People seem to be confirming that it's a little less "freaky" than MySpace for keeping in touch with old friends.
What prompted the move to Florida?