I recently attended a reunion event for a company I worked for a long time ago.  It's one of those big companies that has several decentralized divisions, and people would often move between them, resulting in  some very intertwined networks.  Having worked at three of the divisions, it was fun for me to see how many of us knew the same people, never knowing that we had them in common. 

We all have access to networking tools like LinkedIn (and this was definitely more of a LinkedIn crowd than a Facebook crowd), and I had online connections with many of the people I saw there.  But there was nothing like getting a group of former coworkers together to nostalgically remember the old times, and catch up on the new times.  Something else happens that you can't quite capture online.  Coworkers get a good sense of who you are professionally.  But this view somehow stays frozen in time.  When you catch up in person, you have a chance to readjust your mental image of what this person does.  Of course some things never change, like basic fundamental values.  The people who were trustworthy will always be that way.  But along the way we all collect new skills, and it's fun to see how we have grown.

So we reconnect again, and hopefully use the online tools to facilitate the maintenance of these connections.  But it's just not the same as the face-to-face.  Everyone approaches these events with a bit of trepidation.  My suggestion is that you should always go to them if you have a chance.  If nothing else, it's good for the ego.  You realize that you had many more fans than you ever knew at the time.

Seth Godin made an interesting reference to the usage of the words friend and google this weekend.  He talks about how they have become valid verbs.  "I'll friend you", on Facebook , for example. 

He makes a good point, but what I found interesting is that this usage depersonalizes the meaning of the word.  Typically, you "make friends" with someone because you share interests, circumstances, or you just genuinely like them.  When you "friend" someone, what is the nature of that relationship?  It signifies that you are willing to share information with them that is consistent with the nature of the website.  For example, on LinkedIn, you "connect" with people who want to network for professional purposes.  There is no question about the nature of the relationship.  But on Facebook it's a little different.  Are all your "friends" truly friends?  Do you have any friends in real life that you have yet to "friend"? 

I have met several people who are experiencing a backlash against making "friends" through websites.  One young woman from a consumer interview said, "This friend thing is getting out of hand.  I'll be your friend in real life.  That's what freinds are about.  Don't bother me online.  That's different."  Yet another consumer reconciled this question with "It's just a word.  It doesn't really mean anything."

And they are right.  "Friending" doesn't really mean anything.  Hopefully being friends still does.