How to Research Your Next Date or Co-worker Online

During our daily lives, we are often presented with situations where we are thrown into the unknown – dating and employment are two examples. When dealing with a new date, or a new co-worker, we are walking into the unknown. We don’t know much about the person involved and it can be a daunting experience when meeting face-to-face. How much do you actually know about your first date? How much do you know about the person who you could be sharing an office with? Not a great deal, so you may want to research…

If you feel a little insecure or unsure about an upcoming date or employment meeting, there are means and ways you can use to uncover more information about the person in question. If you really can’t wait or don’t want to risk finding out through the traditional method of talking, we have provided four different methods you can use to research your new date or co-worker online.

*Before using any of these methods, think carefully about what you are doing and consider whether your research is warranted and necessary… *

Method 1 – Use a people search engine

This is an extremely safe method and can often yield surprising results. Aside from standard search engines such as Google and Bing, there is actually a wide range of search engines known as “people search engines”. These search engines are actually dedicated to finding out information about a specific person – a perfect tool for pre-date or pre-employment research! The following are several popular people search engines to consider using:

– Pipl: “The most comprehensive people search engine on the web”
– Wink: Free people search engine
– PeekYou: Dubbed as “Free people search made easy”
– ZabaSearch: Database of public information

Each of these websites takes information found from various different sources such as the internet, public records and other media to present data about a specific person. If you use Pipl for example, you can simply type in the person’s name and it will return data about that person if it can find it including addresses, phone numbers, social profiles and contact info.

Method 2 – Use a regular search engine

To find out even more information, you should consider using a standard search engine. This is another safe and harmless method and can yield surprising results. If you have never Googled your own name before then we advise having a go – you may be surprised at what information is floating on the web about your life and personal details. Using the same method, you can search for a potential date or co-worker through a regular search engine.

Just open up a web browser such as Google, Bing or Yahoo and type in the person’s name. A search such as this will probably return things such as social media profiles, but it can also yield some interesting results and information that you could find useful.

Method 3 – Look at social media

Another useful and perfectly safe method to use is to search through social media. Most people in today’s modern world have at least one social media profile (usually Facebook) – some people even have three or four. These social media profiles can act as a window to our soul and are a great tool to use to find out information about an upcoming date or new employee. Consider searching Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat.

Use the social media search functions and type in your person’s name – look through the listed names (there will more than likely be more than one) and then look at their profile – if they have not set their profile to private then you should be able to look at everything from their photos and family to their own social media posts.

Method 4– Create a second social media account

If none of the above methods yields desired results (we are pretty sure that at least one of them will) then there is always the fifth method. We advise using this method only as an ultimate last resort and only if it is necessary – this method could be looked upon as devious and underhand, and even a little weird and if the person found out. It would likely affect your future relationship with them.

If you still want to go for it, consider creating a fabricated social media account and sending a friend request to the person. You could use a throw-away email address and then create an account using fabricated details including a photo. Send them a friend request, and if they accept, you can then look at their social media profile in return. This method has risks, and it will be considered unethical and morally wrong at best. Only use the account to look at their profile and don’t further abuse the deceit.

There you have it – different methods with which you can research your date or co-worker online. By using these methods (maybe not the last one) you can potentially gain a little more info about the person and ease any concerns you have about your upcoming encounter.   

Writer’s Bio: Lewis Murawski is a Director of Kahootz Media. He has been ranking websites on the first page of Google for more than 10 years. Connect with Lewis on LinkedIn.