RENTON, Wash., June 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- With reunion season fast approaching, Classmates.com (www.classmates.com), a leader in online community-based networking with 60 million registered members, recently polled its community of friends and acquaintances from school, work and the military. Results revealed that buying a new outfit, flipping through old yearbooks and getting a tan are on the minds of the 80% who said they plan on attending their next high school reunion. Fifty-seven percent of respondents look forward to seeing best friends and former loves or crushes at their reunion.
Classmates.com 2005 Reunion Poll key findings also include:
-- 85% want to reconnect with an old friend
-- 56% will attend to see the success/struggles of their
friends
-- 50% will flip through old yearbooks before attending the
reunion
-- 46% will get a tan and buy a new outfit in preparation for
the reunion
-- 45% said "Why not attend my high school reunion?"
-- 37% will rehash old times with high school friends before
their reunion
-- 30% will diet before the reunion
-- 26% will listen to music from high school days before the
reunion
-- 14% want to see who looks better/worse
Additional poll results revealed that while 68% of attendees won't fib about anything when talking with old friends and acquaintances, 10% of respondents said they might consider lying about their personal life including family, marriages, kids or divorce. When asked if they would want to go back and do high school over again 54% said they wouldn't. However, of those 46% who would want to do high school over again, 82% said they would do things differently including being more social, more active and less shy.
"About 8 million people attend high school reunions each year in the United States, affirming that reconnecting with one's past is an important part of our lives. Because Classmates.com is the No. 1 website for planning reunions, we encourage everyone to register for a free Basic Classmates.com membership to help ensure they can be found and informed about opportunities to reconnect with their friends," said Michael Smith, CEO and President of Classmates Online, Inc.
More than 90% of reunion planners are volunteers, the unsung heroes who make their class reunions possible. Many high school reunion planners use the Classmates.com Reunion Center because it has millions of members and is a one-stop resource that helps them save time, increase attendance and make their reunion a success.
About Classmates Online, Inc.
Classmates Online, Inc., founded in 1995 and based in Renton, WA, is a leader in online community-based networking. The company operates Classmates.com (www.classmates.com), connecting millions of members throughout the U.S. and Canada with friends and acquaintances from school, work and the military. Its Classmates International subsidiary also operates leading community-based networking sites in Sweden, through Klasstraffen Sweden AB (www.stayfriends.se), and in Germany, through StayFriends GmbH (www.stayfriends.de). Classmates Online is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNTD). For more information about United Online and its Internet subscription services, please visit www.untd.com.
NOTE: Real-life love reconnection and reunion stories are available for media upon request.