Not that long ago a friend sent me a message asking me a question which really made me think. Her question was somewhere along the lines of: “Do you think Facebook has made High School reunions obsolete?” I forgot about that question until a few days ago when a Twitter conversation turned to a discussion on our lack of desire to attend these events. The general consensus was that they are boring and that we can just stay in touch with those we really want to be in touch with through social media.I considered attending my 10 year high school reunion and my 10 year college reunion. But time and other considerations prevented me from attending either. As the years passed I ultimately lost all interest in class reunions. The 20th and 30th year reunions came and went without me.
Fortunately I was able to watch my classmates use Facebook to organize our 30th reunion in a online group of old classmates. As I watched occasional messages go back and forth on the homepage, it became clear to me that social media had really changed things in this realm. There is no denying that Facebook makes it infinitely easier to reach out and find our classmates. Even the long lost ones that we thought were missing in action. On the other hand, there is that question again: Does Facebook make our high school and college reunions obsolete? As they were organizing the event, I sensed a real lack of interest. While I don’t know how many people actually attended our 30th, I feel confident that it was a very small percentage of our total graduating class of nearly 300 people.
The purpose of a reunion is to get together with people you haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years and reminisce…catch up…compare notes. But do we need to get together with them for that purpose when we’re already reminiscing, catching up, and compare notes on a regular basis? We can see the physical and lifestyle changes they are going through via photos and status updates. In that case, getting together to share a drink might be the only purpose for having a reunion. For some that may be all the reason they need. But it isn't enough to get me to want to spend my hard earned cash for a ticket, endure the inconvenience of air travel searches, travel a few hours, and mingle with people I don’t recognize anymore.
I'm sure there are many people who can’t help but wonder if the class reunion has outlived it’s usefulness. With cell phones, Skype and social media websites we are overly connected to the people we want to be connected with. It is obvious that this is just another way that the hyper-connected nature of Facebook is changing the way we live our lives. My prediction is that there will be many more radical changes in the not to distant future that will kill off more of our outdated traditons.
The purpose of a reunion is to get together with people you haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years and reminisce…catch up…compare notes. But do we need to get together with them for that purpose when we’re already reminiscing, catching up, and compare notes on a regular basis? We can see the physical and lifestyle changes they are going through via photos and status updates. In that case, getting together to share a drink might be the only purpose for having a reunion. For some that may be all the reason they need. But it isn't enough to get me to want to spend my hard earned cash for a ticket, endure the inconvenience of air travel searches, travel a few hours, and mingle with people I don’t recognize anymore.
I'm sure there are many people who can’t help but wonder if the class reunion has outlived it’s usefulness. With cell phones, Skype and social media websites we are overly connected to the people we want to be connected with. It is obvious that this is just another way that the hyper-connected nature of Facebook is changing the way we live our lives. My prediction is that there will be many more radical changes in the not to distant future that will kill off more of our outdated traditons.
