Pollyana

Originally Posted by email from Friends Reunited
In the summer of 2000 we launched FriendsReunited as a method for people to find their old friends from their school days.

The internet was in its infancy and the world was a very different place. Social Networking was not even a term anyone used, but FriendsReunited grew very quickly to become one of the largest sites in the UK.

A lot has happened since.

In 2005 we sold the site and moved on. We watched from a distance whilst other sites came and went but for some, social networking became ingrained in our life and is here to stay.

During that time FriendsReunited declined. Despite efforts to reverse this trend it couldn‘t compete with the giant services like Facebook.

Not long ago I was approached by the FriendsReunited owners, to see if I wanted to take it back and try some new projects with it. It was evident that putting the site back to be more like its original form was not a service people would get excited about using again. The site is still used by a handful of members however it has become clear that the site is no longer really used for the purpose it was built for. For the site to continue it needs a complete re write and this is just not viable.

Therefore, it is with a heavy heart, that we have decided to close the service down. This will commence in the next month,

How many of you remember, and were members of, Friends Reunited?

I loved it in the early days, and met up with several old school friends through it

Bermudashorts

Yes I was on it, can't remember what years. Reconnected with a number of people from school and university and now we are all connected on Facebook. Haven't logged into Friends Reunited for years now.

NickyC

I thought it was a fantastic site. I joined it in 2001 - coincidentally the day before 9/11.

It was a great resource for nosy people like me who wanted to check out what those long-lost classmates has been up to but who I had no desire to actually contact. I used to get very annoyed with people who joined up but didn't write anything about themselves.

It was also always kind of amateurish, though. Search function was very flaky and the displays and screens looked they were designed by the work experience kid.

Totally superseded by Facebook, of course.

DeadVim

I'm on there but I don't have any friends so it was more bullysreunited.

The Bloke

Blimey, totally forgot it existed after logging into Face-book.

Merseygirl

I used it in the early days and reconnected with an old school friend who had also moved to Australia.
I haven't thought about it at all in years and didn't realise it was still around.

Bermudashorts

I just logged back in successfully, guessed my password as there is one I used for a lot of things. No updates on my school boards since 2008.

Pulaski

I was (am) a member, haven't used it in years. I found a few people, but didn't really reconnect with any of them. I was equally frustrated with those who signed up but said nothing and those who never signed up at all. .... A bit like LinkedIn now!