According to research, approximately 67% of people use social media to stay in touch with friends and reconnect with old ones.
If you’re trying to locate an old friend or business partner on social media, but they don’t want to be found, it can be difficult.
Finding people on social media isn’t as easy as using an email search engine Gmail or Hotmail. You need a different approach for locating someone on Facebook and other sites.
But don’t worry. We’ve got your back!
Keep reading for our complete guide to finding hidden profiles, and romantic partners using a social media profile search.
Find Out What Account They Are On
The first step in conducting a successful social media profile search is figuring out which online platform you should be searching for. Keep in mind that when looking for an individual it’s good to look on multiple platforms.
This is because there are various privacy settings across the various sites. This means that you might have limited access to some accounts while other accounts might provide more information.
Search by Username or Name
If you do not know the individual’s username, the next best option is to search for their full name and location on social media sites. Facebook and LinkedIn are the best sites to try this on.
Depending on your level of access (private vs public profile), you may only be able to see the most common information that has been provided by the user such as city or school attended.
If this does not turn up results, try looking up just their first and last name instead of including any extra details about them such as middle names or high schools.
Examine Information Descriptions
Once you have located a person’s social media account, begin reading through all of their descriptive information. Note that most social media sites provide the option to include the individual’s birth date, etc in their profile.
If this information is not included on their public profile, you can often find it by clicking on a direct link on a mutual friend’s profile page or on a photo album from an event or organization they have been associated with.
You may also be able to dig up even more information if you click through to the individual’s full list of friends who might be connected with them on other networks as well as which websites they have both “liked”.
Search for Additional Personal Information
You can also search for more personal information that might be included on their public profiles. Common information that is often made public by the user includes:
- Photos of family members
- Articles they have shared online
- Any hobbies they may list in their “About” section.
Consider digging through any public photo albums they might have in order to find images of their friends and family.
You can also take a look at the people they follow on social media because it’s likely that these individuals are close to this person.
Search With Email Addresses
You can also try searching for someone’s email address to access more of their public profile information. Keep in mind that most users don’t include this type of contact information so it will not always work.
Also, many email addresses are connected to multiple websites so unless you know exactly what account you are looking for it is possible to get search results for multiple users.
Search With Phone Numbers
if you happen to have access to phone numbers, this could be a good option. Similar to email addresses, certain social media accounts are connected with phone numbers including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram.
If someone has included their number in this way, you will be able to find it by searching the name of their account while adding a “+” and the country code before the number itself (e.g., Facebook Messenger +1).
Find Additional Accounts on Different Networks
Remember that individuals might not only have one social media profile. That’s why it’s important to keep looking through other platforms for more information about them!
It’s also possible that someone may have accounts on sites you aren’t even aware of such as Vine, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Meetup, Flickr, and Pinterest.
To search for other accounts, use the same tactics you would if searching for their primary account.
Use Phone Number Based Searches
One way to locate social media users is to search by phone number. Several social media marketing services allow you to look up people’s names through their phone numbers.
These services include WhitePages, AnyWho, and LookupAnyone.
With this method, you will be able to find out whether someone has private profiles connected with their number as well as learn more information about them such as where they live or what other sites they are connected with.
Perform a Social Media Profile Search
You can’t always find someone’s social media account by searching for their name. Sometimes, people intentionally change the spelling of their names to avoid being found, and sometimes they use a different email address.
If you’ve ever tried to find someone on social media and they’re not on any friends list, it’s frustrating. Fortunately, the steps in this post can help you perform a social media profile search.
The very simple process can vary from platform to platform but the basic steps are the same for all of them.
Want more articles like this? Check out our blog!
