Social Media Search

How To Perform a Social Media Search

A few years ago, 2005 to be more precise, Pew Research Center compiled its first statistics on social media use by adults in the U.S. It concluded that only 5 percent of the adult population was using it. Today, 70 percent of adults are using social media according to the latest Pew Study. Businesses now launch marketing campaigns for their products and services built around social media, and employers use it to gather information about job applicants. A social media search is used by many to find out more about a person and what their interests activities are as well as who they associate with.

Top Social Media Sites

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• YouTube
• Instagram

A social media search on the various website can provide you with a look at whatever the person posted and, even more telling, what others have posted about that individual. Should you really be concerned about your safety, you could use a public records database operated by a third party to conduct a criminal records search. The results could tell you if someone you’ve recently met has a criminal record for DUI or might be registered as a sex offender. A Social Media search can serve as a safety net to find people you might associate with that are less than desirable to have as friends.

Searching Social Media Networks

Social network sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, allow people to connect with each other, share information and exchange pictures and other data using their computers, tablets, smartphones and other devices capable of accessing the internet. The ability to interact with people all over the world brings with it the reality that not everyone using social media are who or what they claim to be.

Searching social media for information about someone offers you the peace of mind of knowing your friends and acquaintances are exactly who and what they claim to be. You might also want do a search to find out what social media is saying about you. The same way you might request a copy of your credit report to check for errors and incorrect information, doing a social media audit of yourself serves much the same purpose. Remember, many employers are now searching social media to find out about people applying for jobs with their companies and using the information to decide whether to hire them.

Social Media People Search

You can find people with whom you’ve lost contact or learn more about someone you might have just met by looking at their profiles and what is posted on social media about them. A Facebook search, for example, begins by simply typing the name of the person into the search bar. You can also search by entering a telephone number. If you met someone and exchanged telephone numbers and first names, the telephone number search on Facebook is a pretty effective method of finding out more about them.

Conducting a Google search is every bit as easy as searching on Facebook, and the results can be truly impressive. For instance, go to Google and type in any of the following information into the search bar:

1.Someone’s Name

2. An Address

3. A Telephone Number

4. Email Address

Pretty much anything you know about a person can be pieced together to narrow or expand a search. If you want to find out if the name an individual gave you matches images posted of him or her on the internet, simply go to Google Images. Typing the person’s name into the search bar produces images posted on social media matching the name you entered. You can also click on the image matching the person and select “view” to open the page on social media containing the image.

Search individual social media platforms can be time consuming, so there is an alternative you could use. Public record databases can be used to search find social media accounts for individuals as long as you have a name to enter. If you want additional information about the person beyond what is available on social media, you can use these third-party databases to do a [url=http://**https://www.searchquarry.com/background-check]background check[/url] and find out if your new friend or employee is who he or she claims to be.

Social Media Crimes

Federal and state laws have been enacted to control the scope of the searches and the information you can obtain on social media. For example, many employers demand access to their employees’ social media accounts. About [url=http:// http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/state-laws-prohibiting-access-to-social-media-usernames-and-passwords.aspx]half of the states[/url] have passed laws prohibiting this practice. The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act makes it a federal crime to violate a website’s terms of service, so going to Facebook and attempting to obtain another person’s user name and password would probably violate the law.

At least 16 states protect students from being compelled to hand over access of their social media accounts to educational institutions they are attending or applying to for admission. Wisconsin now makes it unlawful for landlords to demand social media access from tenants or prospective tenants.