Stalking or Research?

I am jumping right in to this week’s blog and putting this out there now.  To make me feel better about myself, I am officially changing the name of ‘Facebook stalking’ to “internet research”. And, boy am I a really good internet researcher! Eh. . .who am I kidding? I proudly wear my FB stalker badge with pride! And, honestly, when I am on a mission, I spread my stalking to all areas of the internet and not just limit myself to Facebook.I had so many moments this week where “internet research” came up. From me being the ‘stalker’ and fb stalking my girlfriend’s ex and his new girlfriend to when I was the ‘stalkee’ and  being fb stalked by one of my exes.

Look. . .it’s natural and normal. . .we all do it. . .and if you say you don’t, you’re totally lying. Every last one of us has looked up a former friend or our high school boyfriend, just out of curiosity! Hell, the hammer literally just told me that he did a little stalking of his own on my ex. He figured that since my ex was stalking me, he would stalk him a little. All I’m saying is, WE ALL DO IT! I know for me, when someone from my past pops into my head, the first thing I do is a quick check up on their life. I literally hate it when they have a private account and I have to dig further or jump on to google to get any nugget of info. Come on, you’re not that big of a deal! You don’t need a private account!

Honestly. . . just throw me a freakin bone and make a few posts public, I really don’t think that is too much to ask!My expert ‘researching’ skills came in handy a few years ago when I effectively fb stalked The Hammer, for my girlfriend. She had met him in a bar and they chatted for a bit but didn’t exchange numbers. She was telling me about him the next night saying that she wished she had asked for the digits but she didn’t and was now living in that regret.

That to me was enough of an invite to begin my search, armed with just his first name and what he did for a living, I got to work. One of the perks of living in a small town, you can always find some connection and after a relatively short search on google, I found an article in the paper where he was quoted.  That gave me his last name, off to Facebook I went and Ta-Da! There he was! Now, today. . .The Hammer loves to give me a hard time that FB stalking was the way we first became connected but all I say back is, ‘you’re welcome’!

It just took him 4 years from my initial friend request for him to officially become The Hammer, talk about a slow play! If not for me and my abilities, he wouldn’t even be here and he wouldn’t have a cool ass nickname. . .again. . .you’re welcome!I feel like I want to impart a little of my knowledge to you and hopefully you will then share some of your tips and tricks with me so I can broaden my stalking abilities. I am completely opposed to those pay sites and think they are such a waste of money, all you have to do is just spend a little time doing the searching yourself.

So, depending on the information that I have, my usual stalking methods include google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and twitter. Sometimes, I will go to the public records to see if there are any divorces, foreclosures, traffic violations, arrests. This can be so very satisfying!Let’s say I have their whole name. I simply search their full name and sometimes city in each of the above locations to see what I find. When I begin the search, I don’t always know what I am looking for but at some point in my hunt, I do find some tasty morsel of info. I feel that it sounds like I’m looking for dirt or something bad happening in their life, but that isn’t always the case. Like I said, it depends on who I am ‘researching’.

I could see that a former friend had a baby or got a great new job, which makes me sit back from afar and feel so much happiness or joy for them. Or it could be that the new girlfriend of my ex looks like a man and again, I sit back with so much happiness and joy, but this time, for me! HA!And all I can say is Thank God that Facebook hasn’t created a way to see who’s been checking you out. . .or I might have to hang my head in shame for some of the people I’ve searched over the years! I feel that my methods are pretty solid and I usually have walked away from a research session with more information than I know what to do with but I am always open to new methods, new ideas and new tips. So. . .throw it at me. . .what am I missing out on? 

-Annie