By: Joe McGauley
Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist
We all have our reasons for using Facebook to learn more about a person we don't actually know that well. For instance: is your office crush single? Is your blind date a hate-mongering Trump supporter? Is your ex's new BF as douchey as his bleached tips would suggest? Call it snooping, or stalking, or simply due diligence -- but everybody does it.
But some of us are a little more dedicated than others when it comes to digging up juicy digital dirt. Gird thy privacy settings, people, because it's about to get weird.
Credit: Screenshot via Facebook app
Tracking you down, even if they don't know your name
Can't remember the name of the guy or gal you, uh, connected with at that random party? No problem. Facebook's creepily powerful Graph Search, the semantic search engine Zuck & co. rolled out in 2013, allows people to search content on the entire social network using natural language.
Let's say all you remember about this person is where they work or went to college (or both). Search for "people who work at X company" or "people who went to X college." Combine the two for even more narrowed results. Maybe you met them through a friend who works at Thrillist. Search "friends of people who work at Thrillist."
There are literally hundreds of ways to narrow people down. With some simple sleuthing and a little patience, people can find you based on even the smallest detail.
Seeing where you've been...
Here's where Graph Search starts to get really freakin' creepy. You can use it to find out what parties someone's been to, or locations they've checked into. All you need to do is type "places X person has been in the past X months/years" or "events X person has attended."
... and what your interests are
Unless you've Fort Knoxed your privacy settings, anyone can easily find out the bands, movies, books, websites, people, or groups you like. All it takes is your name and a few keywords in the search bar, i.e. "pages liked by X person."
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