Dear Rick, someone on Classmates wants to get in touch with you.

Dear Someone on Classmates:

Have you heard of Facebook? How about MySpace? Why would I pay classmates.com for the privilege of you contacting me?

Social networking is here to stay, but the business models are very different. While Facebook isn't perfect, what does classmates offer me that's worth $39.00/year? Nothing.

Sincerely,

Your Classmate on Facebook

P.S. If you're like me and you created an account on classmates.com in the year 2 B.F. (before facebook), and you're still getting the obnoxious emails every week, you can free yourself. There are two options.

Option 1: Log into classmates.com, and go to the account section. Click on "Email Subscriptions." If you see an option with a check mark, uncheck it. If you see a radio button, select the item where it says "unsubscribe." Then, look for the header that says "Communication Updates." Select "Customize the email" and change all of your alert settings to "never." Do the same for "Change the frequency." Hunt for all of the various settings and turn them off.

Option 2: You can delete your account completely from classmates.com. The directions are in the help section - Canceling your Classmates membership.