Last month I found a friend back. We had lost touch and before you know it there is no way to contact that person.
One evening you chat with some good friends when you suddenly think "what ever happened to...".
Enter search engines.
Finding lost friends, looking for a distant family member, searching for people you know or knew; it can be very easy with search engines.
- Search for their exact name
Put it between quotes to make search engines stick the words together. Example: "john doe" - City, place of birth, state, etc.
Be specific. Even if the person has moved to another place or country, they might talk about these places of the past on blogs or forums.
Example: "john doe" +Toronto - Nickname
People often stick to the same nickname. Current and past nicknames are often discussed and explained on blogs and forums. Works best with just first name + nickname.
Example: john +"sep guy" - Schools
Where did he go to school? College? University? This type of search can bring up references from the past by your lost friend and references to your friend by others who knew or know him. One of those people might still be in contact with him. - Clubs, bands
Same as with schools and nicknames: this is something we tend to talk about later on in life. Was he in a metal band? Search for: john +"frozen vomit". Did he join a sport club? Search for: john +"judo throwers Toronto".
If you get no hits, remove his name. See if someone mentions that band or club. Maybe you get lucky! - Preferred activity
What did this person love to do? They might still talk about it today. Example: john +"bird watching". Or: "john doe" +"bird watching". Etc. - Who did they know
Which names is this person likely to drop, likely to talk about? "Kelly and I always....", "When I was young I was in love with...", "My best bud....", etc.
Example: john +friend - Profession or What do they know
What is his profession? Then or now? What might be his profession now?
Example: "john doe" +seo. Or: "john doe" +"car repair" - Forums
Many people at one time or another will register on a forum. Even if they don't post their profile will be there. Use combinations of name and nickname to search.
Example: "john doe" +forum. Or: nickname +forum. Or: john nickname +forum. - Scour social sites and directories
Search on social sites like FaceBook and Twitter. Use member directories such as the MSN Spaces / Hotmail one.
About the Author: Ruud Hein
I love helping to make web sites make it. From the ground up if needed. CSS challenges, server-side scripting, user and device friendly JavaScript tricks search engines have no problems with. Tracking how the sites perform and then figuring out how to make that performance and the tracking better.
I'm passionate about information. No matter how often I trim my feeds in my feed readers (yes, I use more than one), I always have a couple of hundred in there covering topics ranging from design to usability, from SEO to SEM, from life hacks to productivity blogs, from.... Well, you get the idea, I guess.
Knowledge and information management is close to my heart. Has to be with the amount of information I track. My "trusted system" is usually in flux but always at hand and fully searchable. My paid passion job at Search Engine People sees me applying my passions and knowledge to a wide array of problems, ones I usually experience as challenges. It's good to have you here: pleased to meet you!
