Keeping up with cherished relationships from your past can be tricky as you move through different chapters of your life and those you regularly interact with move in and out of your social circles.
Demanding work schedules and personal commitments can come between even the best of friends. When that happens, no amount of digital connectivity could help maintain those relationships.
If you are trying to reconnect with an old friend from your neighborhood, high school, university, workplace, or anywhere else, here are proven tips and tricks to help speed up the search process.
Use a People Search Tool
It’s enough to know someone’s full name to find information about them on people search websites. Just enter the name on Nuwber.com and click “Search.” It can get you the person’s contact details, social media profiles, current address, and much more. If you want to know more information, such as whether your old friend has any criminal records or judgments, it’s also possible to find this on a people search engine.
Reverse phone and address lookups are also available on Nuwber, which means that if you know your buddy’s phone number or address but want to know more, a reverse lookup will help you.
Jog Your Memory
Before you start looking for your friend, gather all the information you have about them, from photos to high school yearbooks.
List down any details you remember, starting with their first and last name. Where did they live? Have you met their family? Who else was in your circle of friends? Which year did they graduate? Do you remember where they worked and when? Was there a particular café or pub you hung out at? What other significant information can you recollect?
This exercise might take some time, especially if you are attempting to reconnect with someone you have not met in a few decades. Make a record of anything you remember. Every piece of information you can put together may provide invaluable clues.
Check With Mutual Contacts
Identify all your mutual friends, coworkers, neighbors, and anyone else your friend might have kept in touch with throughout the years.
Reach out to each person, explain your intentions, and ask them whether it is possible to get you a phone number or email address. If they have not been in close contact with your friend, perhaps they can put you through to someone else who might have. Or, maybe they could get you more information to help with your search.
Taking this route might take some time, but it is definitely a sensible and worthwhile step that could yield results.
Search on Social Media
With 61.4% of the global population having a social media presence, there is a high probability of discovering your friend on one of the popular networking platforms.
Which social media sites did they frequent when you knew them? Which ones are they likely to actively spend time on?
Start with the larger networks such as Facebook, X, and Instagram. LinkedIn could be a useful resource, too, if your friend is a working professional or entrepreneur.
Many of these social platforms provide search facilities for you to browse through public profiles and other content. Type in your friend’s first and last name on their search bars and check what you can uncover.
Use a Search Engine
Google and similar search engines index trillions of web pages to help you unearth information.
Start your search with the first and last name of the person you want to find. Place it within quotation marks to find exact matches. If that doesn’t yield results, type the name in different ways. For instance, if your friend’s name is Robert William Jones, try “Robert W Jones”, “R W Jones”, “R William Jones”, or “Robert Will Jones”. Also, add nicknames and any other information you have about them, including a college or workplace name.
Reach Out to Your Old High School or College
If you and your friend attended the same school, speak to the respective college, university, or high school and check whether they have any updated information about your friend. Many of them would maintain alumni databases to keep in touch with past students.
However, they might not share information over the phone or disclose their records with outsiders due to data protection policies. So, it is best to visit in person to make an inquiry and see whether they could help in any way.
Another option is to check their social media pages. Join online groups they have set up for alumni members to connect and interact with each other and reach out to other group members to find clues about your friend’s whereabouts.
Browse Alumni Directories
Classmates.com and similar platforms are dedicated sites for reconnecting and keeping in touch with old buddies. You can search school directories, browse yearbooks, create profiles, share photos, post messages, and even organize reunions on them.
Many of these platforms allow free registration. So, set up an account with a few sites and check their directories.
Hire a Personal Investigator
If all else fails, consider hiring a PI. This option could be a slightly expensive approach. However, a trained professional could add significant value, save you substantial time and effort, and speed up the search process.
Final Thoughts
In addition to taking the above measures, you can improve the chances of finding a long-lost friend by helping them find you.
To make yourself more discoverable, add as much information as possible to your social media profiles. For example, include your high school and the year you graduated. If you have taken on your husband’s last name after marriage, add your maiden name together with any nicknames you may have had in the past.
Moreover, share old photos and tag friends, and don’t forget to join social media communities hosted by your school and other relevant groups.
