Facebook: the New High School Reunion?

So, there is a facebook group for my 10 year high school reunion.

Let’s start with the fact that I’m old enough to have a 10 year high school reunion.  I graduated almost a decade ago– that’s just crazy-talk.

But anyway, there’s this facebook group– and it is raging out of control with tons of people commenting and bitching at each other about what our 10 year reunion should be like (bar crawl in Baltimore vs. Harbor Cruise vs. people-just-being-douches-to-each-other seems to be the general theme).  All of this “like they’re still in high school” drama seems to be a little too on the nose for me, though it does let me put on my super-judgey hat and go to town, and you all know how much I love doing that.

But my main question is, hasn’t facebook pretty much erased the need to have class reunions?

It always seemed to me like high school reunions were kind of a “where are they now?” pissing contest between long-estranged high school classmates, which I am sure could be fun.  But, facebook eliminates the need for that.  I know where they are.  I know if they are married.  I know their kids’ names.  I know if they went to grad school.  Hell, I know if they went out and got drunk last weekend because they posted pictures of it.

If people haven’t reconnected or stayed in touch by now, will the magic of a bar crawl or harbor cruise going to reignite old friendships?  And if the purpose of a reunion is to be able to be judgey about peoples’ lives 10 years after graduation, clearly, my class is doing a good job of doing that in a virtual arena.

There are lots of people from my high school that are still friends and still live locally, and it seems like they hang out with old friends from our class fairly regularly.  The jocks are still friends with the jocks, the pretty blond girls are still friends with the pretty blond girls… some things never change.

While I don’t live that far away from my hometown, it’s far enough that I never cross paths with anyone from high school and have lost touch with pretty much all of my high school friends.  Sometimes, I really do regret that.  And sometimes, (like when I witness the drama that is my Class’s reunion page) I am less regretful.

So, do I want to go to this reunion if it actually gets planned?  Am I being overly pessimistic about the magical prospects of reunions in the flesh rather than online?  Did you go to your high school reunion?  Was it worth it?