Classmates was one of the few ways to meet up with classmates before the social networking boom of 2004. But nowadays, it is a dinosaur that charges fees for what other social networks give away for free, partakes in unethical business practices, and really just doesn't match up feature-for-feature with the competition.
Pros
- A high registration rate means you will find a lot of your classmates
- Integrated events makes planning reunions easier
Cons
- Features that are free in most social networks cost money on Classmates
- A very busy user interface makes it a little confusing to use
Features
- User profiles
- Search for classmates by years they attended the school or graduation date
- Plan events
- Create your own bulletin board for people to write you notes
Classmates - What's To Like
The biggest positive that Classmates has going for it is that it has been around since 1995, which means for those that graduated in the pre-Facebook era, a lot of their classmates will have registered with the website.
The integrated event planning also makes planning for reunions a little easier.
Classmates - What's Not To Like
The cost. What most social networks give you for free, Classmates charges you for. When you consider that Classmates actually has less functionality than other social networks, this fee makes little sense.
The spam. Not only do they want you to pay for services that should be free, they'll occasionally spam you with unethical messages tempting you to purchase their premium services because someone visited your profile.
Classmates - The Bottom Line
If you want to meet up with classmates, get on Facebook. If you want a social network for your graduating class, create one with Ning. The only reason to register with Classmates is to tell people to go somewhere else to meet up with you on the Internet.