Adam Kushner wonders (via Dana Goldstein) will Facebook put college reunions out of business, since they make it easy to stay abreast of what's happening in other people's lives. I would imagine the reverse impact -- that Facebook will make more people feel vaguely in touch with a wider circle of other people, and therefore more interested in seeing them face-to-face after a five or ten year absence.
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The Future of Keeping in Touch
09 Jun 2008 05:29 pm
Comments (16)
Yep. These breathless daily status updates on the completely normal maturation of my former classmates' babies has me dying to see them again and ask about their lives. They've become such interesting people.
OMG!
i just went to my five year reunion and it sucked precisely because facebook (and friendster before it) has allowed me to keep in touch with everyone i have any interest in keeping in touch with.
reunions are evolving from "come see all those interesting people you forgot about" to "come see all those douchebags you tried to forget about."
OMFG!
Yeah, I really don't buy this. You can't get nostalgic and drunk with people you haven't seen in 10 years on Facebook. Nor can you hook up with the girl you had a thing for but never did anything about in high school. Face to face contact is still important for some things.
What trza said. 5 year reunions are typically kind of for losers anyway. I don't know anyone who went to their 5th year college or high-school reunions. Who needs to go back after 5 years? Old guys tell me the 45th is the best - that's the point where people drop the pretense and the showing off and are actually honest with each other.
There's only one person I'd be interested in seeing again from college (the first time) - and she's not interested in seeing me. (Plus, she gained a hundred pounds.)
There's absolutely nobody from high school I'd ever want to see again - except maybe to kill (if I could remember what I wanted to kill them for in the first place - or in fact, remember any of them at all.)
To quote Tony Stark, "I've been called many things, but never nostalgic."
Yesterday doesn't exist, folks.
vanya's broad generalizations notwithstanding, I just went to my five year reunion, and Facebook probably tripled the attendance, because it was easy to see who was committed to going (and easy to get the word out to people who were on the fence).
I know Myspace has contributed to my desire to go my 10 year reunion next month. Wow, I just dated myself with that sentence. Anyway, I can't go for work reasons, but seeing people on Myspace peaked my curiosity.
Heh, I've had two old friends from HS contact me since I moved out of my old neighborhood. One turned out to be a psycho out for revenge because I didn't date her in HS, and the other was on the run from the cops.
God, I hate the information age.
Try as they may Facebook seems unlikely ever to be able to offer cheap white wine and cheese plates.
My guess is that diversity and mobility has or will continue to kill the high school reunion. The large suburban high school is a graduating class of 500+ with large Asian, Hispanics, and minority groups will probably have fewer reunions and fewer people attend. They will probably have a harder time finding people willing to organize them.
Even at suburban schools today groups like the Band Boosters, athletic boosters, etc are having a hard time because the diversity of the parents makes it harder to organize.
"Accurate.
Posted by Ray | June 9, 2008 5:49 PM"
Pithy.
"My guess is that diversity and mobility has or will continue to kill the high school reunion. The large suburban high school is a graduating class of 500+ with large Asian, Hispanics, and minority groups will probably have fewer reunions and fewer people attend. They will probably have a harder time finding people willing to organize them."
I never realized only whites carry the nostalgia gene.
Reality Man,
think of it as an extention of bowling Alone, it could be remembering alone.
That article is a typical "social commentary" that doesn't take into effect how things really work.
(1) It doesn't factoring in the ease of letting people know that there even is a reunion.
(2) Facebook makes it easier to prepare conversation topics.
(3) Not only do you feel more of a connection to them before you go (as noted above), but you also have more assurance that it'll be easy to stay in touch afterward.
Comments closed June 23, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Accurate.
Posted by Ray | June 9, 2008 5:49 PM