Do you remember when Oprah (and other talk show hosts) would dedicate an entire 1 hour to re-uniting someone with a lost love or a best friend or estranged relative?

It seemed impossible the two would ever come together again until the final moments of the show when Oprah would announce that her team of dozens of producers had spent months searching and found the person in question.

There would be a tear-filled reunion and not a dry eye in the studio or home audience and no one could believe Oprah’s magical powers had once again done the unthinkable.

Today, I need only type in “guy in red shirt riding bike past my house” and Geoffrey Switzer’s full linkedin profile, twitter feed and facebook friends populate my screen.

I know what Geoffrey had for breakfast and have perused his vacation pics before he even makes it to the mailbox.

Of course social media has changed our lives in hundreds of ways. Reunion shows more than anything.

It used to be that if a person moved outside the range of your phone book demographic, they were gone forever.

Oprah would announce, “Marjorie, we found Elaine! She was living right here in Arizona for the past 50 years, just in a neighbouring town.” (different phone book)

Or, “David, we found Jaqueline. She was living right here in Kansas but had changed her name when she got married.” (different name, same phone book)

Today, before that same hour is up, I know where Geoffrey bought his red shirt, that his rear bike tire appears to be flat, that he’s not in love with his job and is open to branching out and trying something new, maybe in Communications and I know who he went to the prom with.

Careful on that turn Geoffrey. You just had surgery.