Social networks and “chance encounters”

I am sure you have heard those stories of how people were so close yet so far, romantic stories of how guy and girl meet each other in the streets, longing to see each other again but didn’t know they were actually staying in the same apartment block. Stories of how long-lost friends never realizing that they were working in the same office block, always missing each other by mere seconds….

Surely with the invention of Facebook or something closer to home like Wholivesnearyou.com would have killed  stories of serendipity like that. Well, I guess i was wrong. Recently, I received a message on LinkedIn from my ex-neighbour in Philadelphia. Truth be told, LinkedIn was the last place on earth I would expect to be contacted by a long-lost friend.

What’s even more interesting is, she has relocated to Singapore and has been working here for the past 8 months! She found me because one of my ex-housemates added her on LinkedIn. Sure, Singapore is a considerably small country, but had my (ex)-neighbor not found me on LinkedIn, it’s still highly possible that I may never bump into her by chance for the next 30 years.

Online social networking has really changed the way to trace back old friends, often in pretty dramatic ways. Guess that’s why we’re still in business đŸ™‚

turn left turn right movie
anyone finds this movie familiar?