We live in the information age. A lot of old-timers thought they would not live to see the day when everything that you need to know about is widely available and that access to these huge amounts of information can be done anytime, anywhere. Even private eyes who once scoured offline data are now changing their search methods. Because of this many are now considering becoming a private eye. Many private eyes now sit right in front their computers, scouring the Internet, harnessing all online resources available.

The Internet is a powerful search tool that anyone can utilize. Every information under the sun is now available on the Internet even criminal records, court records and even SSN records can now be accessed almost instantly when it was virtually hard to just several years ago. But for many people, the Internet is still an intimidating technology. It shouldn’t be. Using the Internet is easy and fun. Finding any information on the Internet is just a breeze.

About 10 years ago, Yahoo! and MSN were at the forefront of free online search. Now Google is king making its name synonymous to finding information on the Internet. Just key in the right keyword and in an instant relevant data are turned up in order according to relevance. For example, if I wanted to know more about a celebrity, say, Paris Hilton. All I have to do is just key in her name on the search box of any search engine and presto! Pages and pages of relevant information about Paris Hilton.

Another effective way to find people is by using people search sites like the one by Yahoo! or you could look people up by using popular social networking sites such as Friendster, MySpace and Facebook. These sites have millions of profiles. All you have to do is key in on the search box a person’s name and location. Of course, social networking sites only return profiles from within the network. However, when you do search for people using networking sites, you might want to do it subtly by viewing profiles anonymously. Users are notified each time other users view their profile by showing a page where viewers are displayed. Friendster, for instance, allows users to view other user’s profiles anonymously so that your profile won’t show up on the “who’s viewed me page”. Another problem with searching for profiles online using these networking sites is that not all users want their profiles to be viewed publicly. Some opt to have their profiles viewed by friends within their network.

Is online sleuthing for you? Find out by starting to search for anything or anyone online now.

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