Locating an old friend can be a difficult thing to do. Many people leave their hometown soon after graduation, either to go to college, work, or simply to get away from everything (or perhaps, everyone) in their past. When in college, you may gain tons of friends from other cities, states, or even countries. Many of these friends will move back home when they graduate. These long lost friends can be difficult to find, especially after a few years have past since your last communication with them. Thanks to the Internet, the search for an old friend is being made increasingly easier, through the help of community websites, people searches, and search engines.

Joining community websites is a great way to get in touch with old friends. A couple of the most common of these would be MySpace and Facebook. MySpace is by far the most popular community site of today. With its over 100 million users, people can find many old friends, even if they haven’t seen them in years! Facebook is more centered toward old classmates, and prefers you have a school issued email address to get into a “network.” If you are in a college’s network, you can freely view other members’ profiles within the same network. However, you cannot view the profile of someone not in your network, unless you have added them to your friend’s list. There are many other sites similar to these two, and most are free to join. Sites like these could help you get started in your quest to find an old friend.

If you have no luck with the community websites, try doing a people search. There are tons of websites on the Internet that specialize in finding people. These sites can dig up old addresses, telephone numbers, marriage records, and can even perform background checks. To get a detailed report of someone’s history, you will have to be willing to shell out some money. Watch out for scams, but keep in mind that some of these companies can produce useful information to assist in your search of an old friend. Besides, what better way to find someone than to let someone else search for you?

If you haven’t got the money for a specialized people search website, don’t worry. There are many free places you can look as well. You can search for a person’s name by visiting Yahoo! or Google. Try different combinations of his/her name, and try including a location. Also, check directory listing websites, such as the AnyWho white pages. Simply type in a person’s name and location, and you may walk away with their telephone number! If you know any previous email addresses of your friend, try searching for them on a popular search engine, such as the ones mentioned above. If the address is through a free email service such as Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail, go to these sites and search for your friend’s profile. Everyone gets a profile for each email address, and many people update theirs regularly.

People come and go throughout our lives, and sometimes we would like to get back in touch with those who were once a big part of our lives. The Internet somewhat simplified the search of an old friend. Through community websites, people searches, and search engines, you can reconnect with many of your classmates, roommates, and anyone you have lost contact with.