Do you want to find a person and have already used the typical "I'll Google their name and see what happens" method ? Here are 8 resources or alternatives that will multiply your chances to finally find that family member or friend you've lost sight of.
Advance Notice: We offer you these resources to find someone who doesn't mind being found. We do not and do not recommend that you think about harassing your ex, for example. Nothing good will come of it. Do not know about us business directory listings? You can visit our website for more info.
1. Explore social media
Google is a better search engine for people on social networks than the internal search engines of some social networks such as Facebook. Just use the search formula "[username] site:facebook.com". If you don't find anything interesting at first glance, try the Images tab; it is quite possible that you will find the person you are looking for if you know what he is physically like.
It's worth spending time on the search engines of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the three most popular social networks. Each of them has its own characteristics.
For example, the Facebook search engine allows you to limit results by date and/or location. This means that even if the person you're looking for hasn't posted anything on Facebook for a while, you'll be able to find their old posts.
Many people tend to use pseudonyms or variations of their name on social media just to avoid being found. However, you can still find them if you know their phone number or email address. Submit them to your internal social media search engines, and if they've linked their phone number or email to their profile, you'll find them.
Both Facebook and Twitter allow you to block the ability to find you by phone or email, but many people don't know about this feature or underestimate its effectiveness. Do not know how find people? You can visit our website for more info.
2. Ligoteo apps or websites
Dating apps or websites such as Badoo, Meetic, Tinder, OKCupid or Plenty of Fish do not allow name searches. Also, many users use pseudonyms. You can now search by location or by genre . And these two options are more important than they seem.
“Even dating sites can archive your personal information indefinitely, ” Darrin Giglio, lead researcher at North American Investigations, explains to Gizmodo (the main source and inspiration for this article). "Even when you delete your online profiles and delete your accounts, the records still remain."
If you know where the person you are looking for lives, you have nothing to lose by doing an exhaustive search on these portals. If this person is or has been looking for their better half , you can find their profile with a lot of relevant information.
3. Explore the Deep Web
Roughly speaking, the Internet consists of three parts: the "regular" web, which is available to everyone and is indexed by popular search engines such as Google without further promotion; Deep Web accessible but not indexed in traditional services ; and difficult access to the Dark Web.
There are millions of documents and information waiting on the Deep Web that a regular search engine doesn't index. But there are engines that specialize in deep web search , such as Pipl.
Specifically, Pipl is a search engine for data about people hiding on the Deep Web. It's free and easy to use . Don't forget to check it out!
4. Perform a reverse image search
We are usually lazy, so we tend to use the same image for multiple profiles and accounts. If you find a recent image of the person you want to search for, you can do a reverse search on Google itself or on services that specialize in this type of search, such as TinEye . This way you will find other accounts with more or more information to help you refine your search.
5. Do you know their hobbies? use this hint
Do you know what the person you are looking for loves? You can find her on forums and communities dedicated to her hobbies. For example, you can take a look at Facebook Groups. If you know where this person lives, you can refine them and find them in Meetup groups. This is an alternative that requires some out of the box thinking and extra effort, but it can pay off.
6. Use browser extensions that spy on you
In particular, there are two extensions, ContactOut and Discoverly , which display information normally hidden in, for example, your Gmail contacts or LinkedIn profiles . If you have already found a person, but you need, for example, their email address or phone number, these extensions can be useful.
7. Don't forget the person's friends
If you don't find the person in question, the key can be found in the profiles or accounts of their friends or family. “People are connected, connected, and ultimately connected in a wide variety of ways,” explains lead researcher at North American Investigations. "You can create a chain of connections that will lead you to a person with patience and some information."
"Even if a person doesn't have an account, there's a good chance someone in their family or friends has one."
Imagine, for example, that your name is Ben Grimm and you want to find your Aunt Petunia , but you can't find her. Try it with your cousins then. Through them you can find your aunt.
8. Beyond Google
Throughout the article, you have already seen that there are many search engines besides Google. But there are many more. If your initial Google search fails, don't forget Bing or DuckDuckGo. And if those two don't work, try search engines that index more content than usual, such as WebCrawler, DogPile, or Monster Crawler. Oh, and don't forget the WayBack Machine, a service that lets you navigate to pages that have theoretically been removed from the web.
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