Find Someone You Met Once

Have you ever met someone, shared a great conversation, and then failed to get that person's contact information before leaving? This is more common than you might think, to the point that there are entire websites dedicated to helping people locate these lost connections. If you're trying to find someone who you've met just once, there are a number of steps you can take to try and locate him or her.

Steps

Finding the Person with the Internet

  1. Enter the person's name on an internet search engine. This is the most basic method of searching for someone online. Most people have some kind of online presence, whether through work, school, or social media. If you know the person’s first and last name, you can try searching on a search engine.[1]
    • Also type in any information you may have gathered during your conversation with this person. Did he or she mention what school they attend? Where they work? Organizations they're members of? Type these into the search engine along with the person's name to increase your chances of finding the person.
  2. Search for the person on social media. Social media is incredibly popular, and there is a good chance the person you're looking for has an account on one or more of the major social media sites. These accounts might show up during an internet search, but if you don't have any luck there, try searching on the social media sites themselves.[1]
    • Try the major social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
  3. Search the missed connections section on Craigslist. Craigslist has a section under its "Personals" section called "Missed Connections" designed for people to find others. Here, you can place an ad looking for the person you met. Also, you can search and see if that person if looking for you.
  4. Use websites dedicated to finding someone. There are websites designed to help people find each other. These work like the personal ads on Craigslist: users post a message and visitors can view these messages. You can also search the websites and see if the person you're looking for is looking for you too.[2]
    • You should search and post messages on several different sites to increase your chances of success.
    • The most popular of these websites are isawyou.com and blewmychance.com.
  5. Renew your search regularly. Due to the speed of online data compilation, your site posts will get buried relatively quickly, so you may want to occasionally make new ones. Additionally, people make new social networking connections all the time, so just because the person doesn't have any mutual friends to help narrow the search yet, it doesn't mean he or she never will. Try not to get discouraged and renew your search from time to time.[2]

Finding the Person Offline

  1. Return to the scene where you met. If you met in a particular restaurant, park, or coffee shop, or public transportation, there is a chance the person you're looking for visits there regularly. Make this location a part of your usual schedule, and you might have a chance of running into him or her again.
    • Try to visit the location around the same time you first met. If this is part of the person's normal routine, then he or she probably visits about the same time.
  2. Speak to the staff at the location you met the person. If the person if a regular at this particular location, it's possible that the staff might know who they are. Ask around and see if anyone there knows the person you met. If one of them does, then ask if you can get the person's contact information. Some people might not be willing to hand out contact information, however, so in this case just ask if the worker could pass your contact information on to the person you're looking for.
  3. Try posting in local newspapers with a description of your meeting. Daily and weekly newspapers in a city often have sections for personal ads where people can post exactly this kind of information. If the person you want to find sees the ad, then he or she will have an easy way to contact you.[3]
    • Like with posting ads on the internet, try to post in as many newspapers as possible. You don't know which newspapers he or she reads regularly, so posting several ads will increase your chances.

Warnings

  • If you suspect based on your initial meeting with the person that he or she isn’t interested in seeing you again, then you’re better off abandoning your search. If your desire to find the person is not reciprocated, then any advances you make could be unwelcome.
  • If you succeed but the person is uncomfortable that you took steps to locate him or her, then you should respect any wishes to discontinue contact.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://lifehacker.com/329033/how-to-track-down-anyone-online
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000899.htm
  3. ↑ http://odnp.uoregon.edu/2011/09/09/searching-for-love-in-all-the-right-pages-personal-ads-in-historic-oregon-newspapers/
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