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The internet has moved beyond physical connections of one computer to another and instead focuses now on connecting people. Social Networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, and countless others have provided the internet community with a virtual representation of the social circles they have been or would like to be involved in. Following Facebook's somewhat recent decision to open their registration to all would-be users regardless of student status all of the top social sites allow you to mix people you know closely with people you'd like to know closely, and quite possibly people you've never met. Ironically, it's sometimes the people you met decades ago that add a negative factor to this online experience.

It's harsh but true - if the relationships from your past were of so much value, you wouldn't have lost touch with them in the first place.

The scenarios are often the same: you find a long-lost friend from a given time between birth and college graduation and welcome them with arms open to your group of virtual buddies. Over the course of a "honeymoon phase" you leave comments and send private messages back and forth. Then something strange happens. You notice that after a surprisingly short amount of time, you lose touch again. This is a lot faster than losing touch with someone in real-time, and it hurts. One is left with feelings of abandonment and questions about how important you were to the individual in the first place.

This is really no one's fault, and should be considered natural (or as natural as such virtual phenomena can be). Social Networking sites serve people on the go. Their members use them because they don't want to lose touch but don't necessarily have the time for real world communication.

If you must track down your long lost friends, be flexible. Keep in mind that it's not likely a problem with you, but instead it is the result of society getting acquainted with virtual connection to one another.

Learn more about this author, Todd Mitchell.
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