Ever wondered what happened to your old schoolmate Joe or girlfriend Donna? What about Sally and Sue or Tim and Wayne?
In recent years, people have become more aware of the friends they lost track of when they left school. Radio stations have been cashing in on the trend, arranging school reunions and helping old mates get back together.
Now the trend has moved on to the Internet.
Gold Coast company My Media Interactive has launched a new community website called findschoolfriend.com.
While the idea is not new, the company is hoping Australians will be as keen to use the Net to track down old friends as the Koreans and Americans have been.
In Korea, iloveschool.co.kr has attracted 4 million registered users, while in the United States classmates.com has 8 million.
Findschoolfriend.com was created by Gold Coast web designer Phillip Kelly after he realised he had only kept in touch with a few of the hundreds of friends he had made during his schooling.
"Most people leave [their] local neighbourhood, get married, change their name and it is really easy to lose contact. The site should make it easier for everyone to stay in touch, no matter how long ago they left school," he said.
The site gives people access to 12,000 Australian primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and has class listings dating back to the 1940s.
Visitors who are looking for a lost schoolfriend are required to register, giving details of the schools where they attended Years 6, 10 and 12 and where they graduated from University.
Kelly said an inbuilt messaging server allowed them to contact old classmates while keeping their personal details and email address private. The service is free but is restricted to visitors over the age of 18.
"It is the ideal place to start a school reunion," said Kelly.
