How do you feel about being "found" by an old friend through an internet search?

well a radio personality that I listen to uses facebook solely to find old high school friends. So long as your not making fake facebooks to stalk someone anonymously then its totally ok.

I think as long as you respect their privacy it’s fine Make it clear if they don’t want to contact you they don’t have. Not everyone wants to reconnect with certain people, for various reasons.

I don’t think it’s weird at all anymore. I have to admit I did, and then I started using facebook, and people, so many people, friended me that I knew in like 2nd grade etc, that it began to seem very commonplace. If your friend already has an account, he’s probably accustomed to it.

Just based on the fact that you asked this question, it seems apparent that you respect his feelings about the matter, whatever they may be, and if he doesn’t respond, you would probably leave it at that, and not stalk him in any way. I see nothing wrong at all with saying ‘hi’.

@everyone… Thanks for the responses. :) What about not on Facebook? I’m more comfortable with doing it there, since that’s kinda the point of the site. What about when you google someone and find another way to contact them- linkedin, public email listing, work site, etc?

I don’t think it can hurt to say hello. I’ve been contacted by distant relatives and old acquaintances that I have no interest in hearing from, but I just don’t respond if that’s the case. Sometimes I’m glad to hear from people.

Facebook seems to be the place for something like this. Email would seem kind of weird to me, but that’s me. From what I gather from a quick look at linkedin, this sort of thing seems to be the purpose of that site as well. Go for it.

@Likeradar, in answer to your question, I was under the same impression as Pete, that that was kind of the point of linkedin as well, but I’ve never used it, just heard about it.

It’s happened to me a few times now. I’ve found and been found by people from my past. It usually ends up the same way. We reminisce for a time and then we both discover that there was in fact a very good reason we lost contact in the first place.

Well, if he is on linked-in, he says hey, contact me.

Would be different if you had used a research site to get his address or something.

I’d say go for it.

I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I think most people are so caught up with what’s going on in their life that a quick blast from the past would serve as a welcome distraction.

It’s a little weird today to no have a LinkedIn profile; it’s like being in someone’s business rolodex. Both my daughters have profiles; it’s how they manage their resumes. While LinkedIn is not used as fully as other social media sites because of it’s a little cumbersome, he would not find it at all odd for you to have a profile and contact him through there.

I think it’s creepy… that’s why I don’t use real information anywhere on the web if I can help it.. If someone is going to find me.. they better use a good old fashioned telephone or something. I don’t want to be found in “the database”.

I like it. It’s great to get in touch with old friends.

I think its a good idea, its always nice to get in touch with old friends. I dont think its weird, unless you start stalking them!!

I have no reason to hide from anyone and have enjoyed finding an bing found by old friends. I even had dinner with my “girlfriend” from elementary school 30–40 years ago.
She put on some weight. And grew boobs! I stayed exactly the same, like Astrochuck’s avatar, of course.
It was fun.

My husband has a website for his business, and once in a while someone he knew years ago will email him through his website. It doesn’t seem like stalking—usually they just say hi and comment on his business. They’ll exchange a couple of emails, and that’s it. If your friend is on linked-in, he’s put his info out there so he can be contacted. You’ll know from his response if he wants to keep up the communication or if he’d rather be left alone.

I wouldnt mind.. it would be fun to catch up with people I’ve lost contact.

I don’t mind when old friends contact me from my elementary school days, but I think theres a difference between contacting someone just because you want to be nosey and actually wanting to talk to them. Getting a message from someone you haven’t heard from in a long time is always a nice surprise as long as you want to stay in touch. I say go for it :)

I think when you put your information on something like Facebook or LinkedIn, there’s a reasonable expectation that old friends are going to find you and contact you – I don’t think anyone who’s already on those sites would think it was weird to hear from you.

I love it when old friends contact me. I actually just heard from my best friend from elementary school – we had lost touch for about 15 years, but she found my website and was home around Christmas, so we got together for coffee, and then for lunch a few days later. It was great to re-establish our friendship after all that time!

I like to look up people I use to know, just to make sure I’m still better looking than they are. (sad..but true..)

A neighbor that I grew up with years ago found me on classmates.com. I loved it. I’d welcome anyone who wanted to find me to try to do so.

I feel like the Witness Protection Program isn’t doing its job of keeping me anonymous. I’m kidding.

I don’t see what the big deal is. If he has a public Linkedin account, then he has his info out there. I’d email him.
Just to add, if that happened to me, yeah I’d be caught off guard and a little surprised, but I wouldn’t be weirded out.

I have no problem with people finding me. I have had a few high school classmates contact me through Facebook, and was happy to hear from them. I love the internet for its ability to bring people together and to bring people BACK together. Send a message to him. If you don’t get a response, then leave it alone and assume he doesn’t want to be found. I don’t think it becomes stalker-ish unless you continue to send messages that are obviously not being well-received.

I had a linkedin acct. and found an ex roommate and acquaintance through it. I did send an e-mail with an invitation to re connect on a personal level or not. They contacted me back which was great but I didn’t place a lot of expectation on it.