Find People Online: How to Search for Someone on the Web
By Wendy Boswell, About.com Guide to Web Search
The Web has an inexhaustible supply of free resources that can help you find people online. Reconnect with that old high school sweetheart, find out what your college buddy has been doing all these years, track what your family and friends are doing online....yes, you can do all that and more on the Web.
- How to Find People on the Web: Use Search Engines to Find Someone
- Social Networking: The Online Water Cooler
- Specific People Search Sites: Free Tools You Can Use to Find People
- Public Records: How to Snoop for Government Information
- Social Bookmarking: Share Your Favorites with Other People
- The Social Web: Connect With Other People Online
- Phone Numbers: Look Up a Phone Number On the Web
How to Find People on the Web: Use Search Engines to Find Someone

Search engines are powerful tools, and you can use them to assist you in finding someone: you can use the Web to track down addresses, look up phone numbers, search for maps, and more.
- Google People Search
- Zoominfo to Find Business and Work Information
- Fifteen Specific People Search Engines
- Find Amazing Details with Zabasearch
- How to Use Spock to Find People on the Web
- How do I find a specific person's birthday?
- Yahoo People Search
- Obituary Searches
Social Networking: The Online Water Cooler

Social networking is taking off in a big way, and for good reason: it's a great way to connect, learn, and discover; not to mention you're bound to make some new friends along the way. Learn how you can leverage social networking sites to make your Web searches better and connect with other people.
- What is Social Networking?
- How to Find Message Boards
- Ten Social Sites You Might Not Know About (But Should)
- Find Message Boards with Boardtracker
- Ask.com's AskCity
- Amazon's Askville
- Yahoo My Web 2.0
- Freecycle
- Use the Web to Find a Roommate
- Five Things You Can Do With Craigslist
- MSN Groups
- Yahoo Answers
- Bookmooch, a Free Book Exchange
- Track Your Friends with Spokeo
- Yahoo Answers
- The New Netscape
- Multiply.com
- Social Networking Sites Roundup
Specific People Search Sites: Free Tools You Can Use to Find People

There are plenty of great sites out there that can help you in your quest to find someone, and best of all, they're all free. The Web is the best possible place you can start if you really want to look up someone online.
- Use MySpace to Find High School Classmates
- MSN Groups
- Use the Web To Find a Prison Inmate
- Use the Web to Find a Roommate
- Free Military People Search
- The Best Free People Search Sites
- A Step by Step Guide to Finding Someone Online
Public Records: How to Snoop for Government Information

It's utterly amazing how much information is available online, including many types of public records and a huge variety of government resources. You'll be surprised at how much you can rustle up on the Web with very little effort - you just need to know where to look.
- The Top Twenty Essential US Government Web Sites
- USA.gov, the US Government's Official Search Portal
- Use Clusty to Find Government Information
- Top Ten Places to Find Free Public Records
- Find Your State DMV Online
- Google Uncle Sam
- Help with Military Records and Information
- Do you have unclaimed property? Find out!
Social Bookmarking: Share Your Favorites with Other People

Do you like to share stuff with other people? Of course you do! With the advent of social bookmarking sites - sites that make it as easy as possible for you to broacast what you like - this is as simple as pie.
- Top Ten Social Bookmarking Sites
- Save Web pages with Iterasi
- How to use del.icio.us
- Furl
- Instapaper
- Find new addictions with Tastespotting
- Share2Me
- eSnips
- Digg
- Share your shopping lists with Wists
- Share your iPhone photos at Natuba
- Best Digital Photo Sharing Sites
- Social.FM
- Publish and Share Documents with Scribd
The Social Web: Connect With Other People Online

Did you know that you can use the Web as a dating service? How about for talking instantly to other people, or chatting with people in public forums from all over the world?
- Top 12 Free Online Dating Sites
- Find an Instant Messenger Client
- Five Things You Can Do With Craigslist
- See What People Are Talking About with Technorati
- Send Quick Messages with Twitter
Phone Numbers: Look Up a Phone Number On the Web

Using a phonebook is SO over! You can use the Web to look up a phone number, trace a call via reverse lookup, even look up 1-800 numbers.

