Classmates.com sucks.
It’s a great idea, yes. However, it’s poorly executed: chock full of adverts and probably spyware, it’s interface is clunky and slow. Like a skeevy zood at the bar, it pops up with offers to date, employing all the eloquence of a socially inept teenager. It took me so long to dismiss the stoopid ad, that I forgot what I was doing. In order to maximize how many ads they can show you, they put short lists of former classmates in the middle of these crowded pages, about twenty-four to the page; there’s no way to search for a name (yes, they have a search function, but it didn’t work: I searched for a friend who I know is on Classmates and who has an unusual last name. Nothing), and no way to jump more than five pages at a time. They might win the award for the Best Time-Wasting Interface.
Since my 20-year high school reunion is coming up, I decided to see if I could find anything about it on Classmates. After logging in (on Classmates, everyone is a number; good luck remembering yours. I guess that’s why I saw many who have joined multiple times) I was presented with a “My Communities” menu that listed the Class of ’87 Reunion. Easy. I found out exactly what I wanted to: most of the people going to the planned reunion are those I don’t remember, recognize, or care to remember. So, I went searching of people that I did remember.
Finding one, I decided to send him an email. I clicked “Send Robert an Email” and got a familiar-looking area to do just that. After spending some time composing just the right message (not having seen or talked to him in 20 years, I had to choose my words carefully), I clicked send. Instead of the expected confirmation, I received a screen that said: “Gerald, thanks for letting us help you reconnect. Become a Gold Member so Robert can read your message!” This screen implies that I have to send them money in order for them to deliver my email. Hey, Classmates, @#%* you! Let’s see if that message is delivered.
You know, it’s not worth it. I started my own free Google group that a few people have found. I guess Classmates is the go-to site for this sort of thing. Too bad for us. I love Web 2.0 sites and am a member of several. Classmates just does it wrong. They should take a lesson from Flickr, a site that manages to still make its money without all the annoyances.
Boo, Classmates, boo!
