The internet can help you track down your long lost college roommate, or get you more information about the cute guy or girl you met last night. You might be amazed at how much there is to be found out about a person online. If you're interested, read on to learn how to track people down online.

• Information that previously was only available to private investigators is only a mouse click away. Whether your interest in finding out information about a person is frivolous or serious, there's lots to be discovered when you track people down online.

• Before beginning an online search, spend some time listing everything you already know about a person, as that will help you in your online search. Some things you may already know are:

1. All names and nicknames they've used
2. Dates of birth, marriage, and death (if you're doing genealogical research)
3. Places they've lived
4. Hobbies, activities, and professional societies they've been members of
5. High schools and colleges they've attended
6. Names of spouses parents and children
7. Companies they've worked at
8. Social security number

• Your first step should be to do a Google search for the person.

1. Begin by searching under their name, usually all the variations you identified in step 1.
2. Use quotation marks around the term to narrow the search.
3. Add additional information, such as a city or school name, to craft other searches, based on the information you brainstormed in step 1.
4. Do a specific Google News, Blog, and Images search for the person

• If you have information about specific organizations that the person your looking for has been associated with, you can use that information in your search.

1. Search for the names of local newspapers in areas that the person lived, and then do a Google site search of those resources
2. Many colleges and high schools have alumni directories that you can search online. If they are not searchable, there will probably be the name of a contact who you could email for information.
3. Companies generally have archives of press releases online, that you can search for mentions of an individual.

• Online white pages function just like phone books, looking up phone numbers and street addresses for individuals in a specific location. You'll generally need to know a last name and state, although complete names and zip codes produce more targeted results.
  • WhitePages.com
  • AnyWho
  • InfoSpace

• There are search engines that specialize is finding information about people. Some, like Lexis-Nexis, thoroughly comb through public records, but require a fee; others are free.
  • LexisNexis
  • Pipl
  • CVGadget
  • MyLife

• You can use social media sites to find people you know who have a profile on those services, and you can also use the contacts you have on those services to help you in your search for information about other people.
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter