Looking for a little dirt on your potential online date? Trying to figure out the ages and birthdays of your secretive coworkers? Or maybe you just wanna find out how much of an online footprint you’re leaving. Whatever your stalking desires, don’t just let your search begin and end on Facebook. There are many other resources on the net to aid in your personal information hunt. Here’s a few pointers:
1. Look Beyond Facebook
Just because Facebook is the hot social network right now, doesn’t mean that it’s the only one out there. Most ‘net users still have a LinkedIn account or a MySpace page that they’ve forgotten about. You might also want to check Twitter to see what they’ve been tweeting about. Branch out a little.
2. Google ’em
When you search Google, you’re likely to get a lot of unwanted results, but try narrowing your search a little bit. Adding quotes around a name, adding or removing a middle name (or initial) or using nicknames might be the key. Also try searching Google Images. You might be surprised by what comes up.
3. Find Their Photos
Looking for some more photos of your victim? After all … you might not want to go on a blind date if you find out that they’re ugly. And photos of your coworker before she had that nose job might still be floating around somewhere. Try searching Flickr, Picasa or another photosharing wsite.
4. People Search
Search engines like WebMii, 123People and Pipl can do some of the work for you. These free people searches will help you crawl the net and stalk to your heart’s content.
5. Are They Looking For Love?
Why not poke around a site like Match.com or PlentyOfFish to see if they have a dating profile. Most sites don’t let you search for free, but you can always create a free dummy profile for yourself? And if Facebook didn’t clue you in to whether or not that cute delivery boy likes boys, this probably will tell you the truth.
6. Find Their Phone Number
This can be a little hit or miss, now that the pesky National Do Not Call Registry is out there for anyone and everyone to join. But give the online yellow and white pages a try anyway at sites like AnyWho, WhitePages, or PhoneNumber.com. Then all you have to do is call them and breath really heavy why they threaten to call the police. People love that!
7. Find Their Home Address
Why call them when you can know where they live? My favorite site for this is ZabaSearch — it’s a great way to find people’s addresses.
8. Google Map It!
Once you’ve found your victim’s address … why not virtually tour their neighborhood with Google Street View? You might even find their car in the driveway. And if you’re really lucky, they’ll have been mowing the front lawn without a shirt on when the Google van drove by. Grrrooowwwwlll!
9. Find Out How Much They Paid
Now that you’ve got an address, check out Zillow to see how much they paid for their home. You’ll also find out when they bought it, how much it’s worth, and the taxes that they’ve been paying.
10. Hide In Their Bushes
By now you’ve probably seen their photos, discovered their sexual preference, and found out their phone number, address, house value, age, and a wealth of other knowledge. Why not just hide in their bushes? You’d be surprised how much you can learn about someone when you’re peeking in their windows*.
*I’m joking. Please don’t do this. Yes Polt, we’re talking to you.
