Any reason to stick with Classmates.com?

[Nords]

I joined Classmates.com years ago, probably when Zuckerburg was still in junior high, and I've stayed with it mainly through inertia. Once every two or three years someone would try to contact me and I'd "upgrade" to Classmates' gold membership to swap updates. It's given fair entertainment value.

But lately Classmates has cranked their marketing machine into high gear, and it's getting tiresome. Part of the problem is that they don't really have anything to market-- any people who would post to my Classmates page are probably all on Facebook now. I haven't had a new hit in many months, and I've dialed back all my "update me" settings, but I still get breathless e-mails from Classmates exclaiming excitedly about things that happened on my guestbook months ago.

I'm seeing other signs of desperation, too, such as their offer to scan our high-school yearbook in exchange for a gold membership-- as long as we're the first person in our class to send that yearbook. (Of course we can't tell whether Classmates quickly scanned it before regretfully informing us that we're #2 or #3 to respond... unless they forget to Photoshop all the handwriting of the people who've signed the yearbooks.) Other days I get 50% discount offers on gold membership. Classmates was also indicted to settle a lawsuit over a deceptive advertising scheme a few years ago where they tricked people into having their credit cards automatically billed without full disclosure.

Like their other corporate service, Juno e-mail, Classmates was a pretty good deal when they were the only show in town. These days it looks like Classmates is about to become the next social-network victim to shut down, although they're going to spam the hell out of me before going dark. But I already have a Facebook account plus a Navy.TogetherWeServed.com account, and I don't see any reason to stick with Classmates. Haven't seen much motivation to socialize with my actual high-school classmates, either.

Anyone else here still finding value or a novel use out of Classmates?

[yakers]

I went to a somewhat obscure high school and college and would love to be in contact with classmates, classmates.com has not worked for me. Facebook OTOH is pretty good at contacts-so good in fact that I had to unfriend some contacts who just posted too much.

[scrabbler1]

I signed up for their basic (free) level a few years ago but I don't visit the website any more. I get emails all the time inviting me to upgrade but I just delete them. I should just disconnect from them altogether but it is not high on my priority list. Glad I dodged their credit card shenanigans.

I am not on FB, by the way, as I tried that out last year for about a week and, as Betty White put it in her SNL monologue earlier this year, "found it a big waste of time!"

[Sarah in SC]

Like you, Nords, I tried it out, but never paid for a gold membership. I also had a hard time opting out of all the marketing junk. I'd say it has gone the way of Myspace, speaking of which, I haven't logged into in probably 6 months.
FB is way better for connecting and keeping track of folks in a less clunky interface.

[FUEGO]

I had an account on classmates at some point. Never used it though. Joined myspace, and abandoned that shortly thereafter when I joined facebook. Facebook seems here to stay (for a couple years anyway). I like the interface and the customizable nature of the information streams. People post too much? Don't get any feeds from them. You can block all the updates from the silly games and "causes" too. Many of my facebook "friends" are former classmates of varying degrees of real life friendliness. Some are very casual acquaintances. None that are currently friends who I receive updates from are annoying or irritating, so no reason to unfriend them.

[Texas Proud]

I think I signed up for the free classmates a LONG time ago... but didn't see any value there so abandoned it... (don't know if there is anything there)...

Finally signed up for Facebook a few months ago... but don't see any value there either... I think I have logged on once since signing up...

[Westernskies]

Not on Classmates.com; never had a paid membership, and dropped the free one when they changed their privacy policies. Never signed up for Facebook, just not that interested. E-R.org is the only social media site I found that had a fairly balanced mix of social interaction/ financial (mis)information / politics / ribald humor / dryer sheet discussions. The topical balance has changed since I joined in 2008, but the core community hasn't. Kudos to the mods and the members alike for keeping it interesting. Should I pay off my mortgage or invest in beaver cheese futures?

[Lisa99]

I had a gold membership for several years but dropped this year at renewal time. Far more of my classmates are on FB.

[W2R]

I went there years ago, although I never paid them money. Consequently they have been sending me frequent junk e-mail for years and years.

I think they are worthless. Not only is there Facebook, but many high schools have their own websites with log-in capability for alums, where you can find contact info for your classmates and read brief updates that they may choose to enter.

Besides, so much water has gone under the bridge. While curious, actually I'm not curious enough to contact anyone. I have enough friends now, and no room for more.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I have enough friends now, and no room for more.

Thanks for nuttin'...............

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Thanks for nuttin'...............

You can be my friend online....... I just don't have time for former classmates showing up at my doorstep.

[HFWR]

Still on classmates, and reconnected with a couple of old friends, but haven't had any visitors or correspondence for months.

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR haven't had any visitors or correspondence for months.

check your PM...

[Khan]

Am still on classmates from long ago. Am staying for now because they are doing the yearbook thing. My sister has custody of all the yearbooks and it's not worth the crap to contact her.

[Nords]

Thanks for everyone's feedback-- I did figure out how to cut back on some of the e-mails but it seemed like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

I finally located the secret "Delete my account" button and went through about five levels of "Are you sure?!?" confirmation.

One of the formatted reasons for deleting the account was "Too many e-mails." Maybe awareness is their first step to admitting they have a problem...

[kcowan]

I also receive all their spam resulting from the free membership. When they go away, I won't miss them! There were never enough other members to make it worth joining.

I belong to FB but not for old classmates.