Reconnecting With Old Friends – A Social Conundrum

The Social Conundrum – Connecting With New Friends

We’ve all heard about the social butterfly, fluttering around a room full of people, talking incessantly and making new friends. Reconnecting with old friends seems unreasonably incompatible for these butterflies as they thrive in and maintain their social life.

With passing time, one would expect the butterfly to grow bigger and bigger. Finally, one day it withers away, like every other being. But mysteriously, life has a way of reminding us how unpredictable it can be. Certain social butterflies can revert into a social cocoon, where they become confined to themselves only.

The Social Conundrum – Disconnecting From Friends

For instance, you may have had countless friends when you were in school or college. But as you grow up, all you can do is witness your social group slowly wilting away.

Some go on to study in different colleges, others in different cities, while some travel to entirely different countries to earn foreign education. Maybe you’re the one to travel away from home, leaving your friends and family behind.

The Social Conundrum – Reconnecting With Old Friends

Whether you’re a social butterfly or not, you might come across this stage in life where you gradually disconnect from your loved ones, only to find yourself feeling alone.

Reconnecting with old friends starts becoming like a fallacy, an unachievable feat. Such is the bitter-sweet consequence of growing up in a world of wondrous globalisation.

But fret not. For innovation that brings globalisation, also holds the solutions to the problems it creates. The question of “How to reconnect with old friends?” can now be answered with certainty. A famous personality, C.S Lewis, quotes about the nature of friendship as:

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

-C.S Lewis

With the advent of technology, reconnecting with old friends has never been this easy. Social media and telephonic advancements have allowed us to bridge the gap between communication around the world.

But before we delve into the technological solutions, one must be aware of why friendship and social connection in their life are of paramount importance in maintaining a healthy existence. This is because:

We Are Social Animals at Our Core Who Want Social Connection

You may consider it to be a cliché (which it is, not gonna lie) but some clichés achieve such popularity only because they hold some truth to them. Various philosophers and social scientists have studied this in great depth, only to conclude it as such.

Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, stated in one of his most thought-provoking works ‘Politics’ that,

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.”

-Aristotle

Aristotle pulled this inference out from the essence of great Philosophers before him, Plato and Socrates. These mighty giants of philosophy highlighted how emotional connection and social support is required by an individual to attain greater happiness in life.

Friendships Are Healthy, Reconnecting is Even Healthier

Social scientists have researched in the great amount the benefits of friendship on the mental and physical health of an individual. Various research articles published in Journals of mental health support the view that having friendships can fulfill our ‘socio-emotional’ needs and allow us to create a healthy social identity.

In the book written by Mahzad Hojjat, ‘The Psychology of friendship’, an article authored by Julianne Holt-Lunstad gives a comprehensive interdisciplinary view on how friendships help model healthy behaviors. They can bring them feelings of relief from mental stress and physical pain.

The article reiterates the benefits of having a social support system that provides a listening ear and a non-judgmental view of one’s identity. Hence, we may think we are important to our friends, but friends are more important to us.

Reconnecting With Old Friends Helps Share Your Happiness and Sorrows With Them

It is hard for some people to share intimate thoughts and feelings with their families or acquaintances. Friendship, however, is such a beautiful bond that allows us to connect with other people at a deeper, affectionate level where sharing of intimate things becomes comfortable.

When among friends, one does not feel the pressure of the judgmental gaze of society. Rather, we are comfortable enough to share our secrets and deep thoughts.

Hence, friends are those people that enjoy your company and care about your existence similar to a family. The great philosopher Plato discusses love (erôs) and friendship (philia) as similar but two distinct types of relationships one forms in his life.

Eros includes intimate and sexual attraction but philia is considered to be a type of love without any sexual meaning. It is solely affectionate and caring without any expectation of selfish gain.

This is what Plato defined as friendship. So, whenever one may find themselves in a bad time, they can always look up to their friends to help them out of it. To get inspiration regarding reconnecting with old friends, the following quote can offer solace:

“No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return.”

– Plato

Similarly, no other person may genuinely express happiness about your success but your friends, who become truly happy to see you achieve in life. They can additionally help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illnesses, job loss, mental struggles, or the death of a loved one.

How Can You Reconnect With an Old Friend?

So, now we know why maintaining friendships is important in life. It brings us back to the question we posed before, asking ‘How to reconnect with an old friend?’. The answer? E-communication.

Various modes of e-communication exist that employ different technologies. Below is a list of ways you can use e-communication tools to reconnect with old friends, via email or Facebook etc.:

Email Your Old Friends to Reconnect

When you’re aware of the old email address of the friend you’re trying to reconnect with, don’t waste another moment and hit that send button! As luck may favor you, your friend might still be using that email address.

Instant Message to Reunite With Friends

You’ve found your friend? Reconnect with him through apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, etc. They allow quick messaging services to get in touch with your connections.

Use VOIPs as Means to Re-engage With Old Friends

for example, Skype, Viber, WeTalk, Nimbuzz Messenger etc. The Talk Home App is a great way of staying in touch with international friends. So, download the app and stay connected throughout the world.

Telephone Your Way Back Into Your Friend’s Life

Excuse us for being basic, but fundamentals take you a long way if you know how to use them.

Got any information regarding your friend? There are online directories and phone books that can provide you with a contact number.

So go ahead! Pick up that phone and dial them up. And don’t worry if you’re a shy bird, go over to our blog How to Answer the Phone to get tips on how you can be prepared for talking on calls.

Have you or your friend gone international? First, pat yourself on the back for moving up the ladder, then pick up your phone and get our Talk Home Mobile SIM to conveniently connect to 250+ destinations around the world.

If you’re interested in knowing more about how international calls work and what your best option could be, go over to our blog, Best Option for International Calling. Acquaint yourself with the most popular, the most convenient and the most efficient technology in this business.

Social Networking Sites for Rejoining With Your Social Circle

With the introduction of social media apps and networking websites, chat rooms and other communication methods started becoming obsolete. Facebook is one of the leading social networking websites in the world. Other examples include Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, etc.

Considering the fact that Facebook is very important in creating social connections online, we cannot fully answer our question of how to reconnect with old friends without talking about Facebook in more detail.

How to Reconnect With Old Friends on Facebook?

Facebook is one of the leading social media websites in the world. It grew in popularity in the late 2000s because of the interactive framework it provided. Users can create their own individual profiles and connect with their friends to be up-to-date on what’s happening in their lives.

The Facebook app has given us an opportunity to gather all our friends, old or new, onto one platform for our convenience. According to Facebook, its mission “is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.”

The stats on Facebook clearly show that it connects more people than any other company ever has in the past. Hence, it plays a pivotal role in changing the environment of online social interactions.

Reconnect With People You Unfollowed

Facebook has introduced a feature in their app that allows us to reconnect with old friends that we may have unfollowed previously. It keeps a list of those friend accounts that were unfollowed and we can follow them again by going through these simple steps:

-Open Facebook app >

-Go to menu >

-Open settings & privacy >

-Choose the ‘your time on Facebook’ option >

-Access the ‘get more from your time’ option >

-Go over to ‘news feed preferences’ >

-Click on ‘reconnect with people you unfollowed’ >

-Select the accounts you want to follow again from the list.

And voila! You are following them again. Sometimes you may come across unidentifiable accounts for your long-lost friends who have common names and no characteristic information provided on the profile. if their names are common and their account cannot be identified, there are a few approaches you can employ:

Look for Mutual Friends With Those You Want to Reconnect

Pretty sure you have an old buddy whose name is quite common. Your Facebook search may prove to be unfruitful. To work your way around this issue, you can take some time to research your mutual friends.

Search the account of a mutual friend and get into their friend’s list. Chances are if you weren’t able to stay connected to an old friend, your mutual friends might be. A simple search of their friend list can help you find the friend you’re looking for.

Look for Siblings or Children Of Old Friends

You may have knowledge of your friend’s family, siblings, or children. If you are unable to find them on Facebook, you can carry out a search for their siblings or children. This may help you get in contact with your friends indirectly by going through their profiles.

Send a Personal Note When You Reach Out to Reconnect With an Old Friend

When you find a few accounts with the same username but no distinguishable information regarding them, you can create a concise personalized note that you can send to all of them. It should explain where and when you used to be friends.

If you’re lucky, your lost friend would be able to read the note and identify themselves from among other accounts and reconnect with you.

Comment on Posts and Participate on Forums to Reunite With Friends

Tried all the above approaches and still have no luck in finding your old friends? Be active on posts and forums. Comment on shared posts and join those forums which you believe your old friend may be a part of too. This can help in increasing your reach and reconnecting with old friends.

The Talk Home Family – Making Reconnecting With Old Friends a Lifestyle Choice

All-in-all, connecting with people requires communication between them *captain obvious alert*. But it isn’t that simple is it? If it were, why would we still be looking for ways to reconnect with old friends?

Nowadays, due to flourishing global opportunities, many of us travel to other cities and countries to pursue future prospects. This creates a divide in relationships.

However, this barrier in communication can be overcome easily by using technological improvements to our advantage. If you want to reconnect with old friends, the Talk Home family can provide you with various types of services to ease your journey into international calling and reconnecting with lost, loved ones.

Introducing cheap and high-quality international calls and text messages to over 250 destinations, it provides top-quality service that allows greater flexibility and even greater reach.

Whether your friends or family have internet accessibility or not is no more of a problem in reconnecting with them. Our Talk Home service connects you through local lines to provide high-quality, unhindered communication. Reconnecting with old friends and family is now easier than ever! So go ahead and get Talk Home.

The end of this blog will leave you with a famous quote that inspires the spirit of reconnecting with old friends among us:

“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.”

– Orson Welles