We all do it. If you want to make your search worthwhile, you’ll have to learn how to stalk on social media in a way that’ll give you all the answers.

There’s really nothing wrong with it. Wanting to know how to stalk on social media can actually help you a lot, especially if you’re in the dating world. You can’t really find exactly what you want to from a dating profile and that’s when looking them up on social media will come in handy.

A social profile tells you a lot more than a premeditated dating bio. While you might be able to tell if you like them initially from that, their social media reveals all their hidden secrets. People often reveal too much about themselves online.

Stalking social media after a breakup can be really harmful

This is the worst thing to do. If you want to know how to stalk on social media because you miss your ex, just stop here. Shut down your phone and go read a book or distract yourself in some other way.

You’ll just get hurt. We never see things we want to see on social profiles. We look for specific information and end up with everything that person is doing. Unless they’re someone who doesn’t post much online, you’ll always find too much. [Read: All the dangers of social media revealed]

How to stalk on social media to find what you’re looking for

There are a ton of reasons to want to stalk someone’s social profiles. You may be suspicious of them lying or you might just want to know more about them. The bottom line is that you want to know something and aren’t sure how to find it. Luckily for you, we have some tips.

#1 Search for them on separate medias. Google isn’t really your friend just yet. If you try to Google someone in order to find their social media profiles, you’ll end up searching through pages and pages of other people with the same name.

The best way to find a person is to hop on each specific social media platform you know they have and search for them that way. You can even type in their name and where they live for better accuracy.

One thing to remember about this is that some people don’t always use the same username or even full name across the board. If you can’t find them, try different versions of their name. If you still can’t find them, search for a friend of theirs and then search in their followers or friends until you find the person you’re looking for. [Read: 9 social media sites to snag yourself a date]

#2 Add them as a friend if you can. A lot of valuable information is blocked to outsiders. You have to be following them or be their friend in order to access the stuff you want to find. That means you may have to add them.

Just be aware that they can obviously see this. Everyone is notified when someone follows or adds them. It might not allow you to be incognito when stalking them and they might have an idea of what you’re up to.

#3 Use someone else’s profile if you don’t want them to know it’s you. Sometimes your social media stalking has to be anonymous. I’m not saying you have to make a fake account, but see if you can use someone else’s. The best person’s to use is a friend’s.

You can even have them add or follow the person. A lot of people accept friend requests from just about anyone. Just make sure that person doesn’t know the account you’re using is a friend of yours.

#4 Scroll through ALL their pictures. You can learn a lot about a person from what they posted a long time ago. Their true self is more evident in their earliest, youngest photos. So don’t just stop at the last week’s worth of pictures.

Go all the way back. You might also learn a lot more about them simply because you’ll have a wider variety of information. [Read: Should couples share so many pictures on social media?]

#5 Take note of the stuff they share. What someone shares says a lot about them. If they’re political, they’ll often share news from politics and you’ll know exactly how they feel about certain issues. You can also see how much they love animals and what issues they’re passionate about.

But don’t take all of that to heart. Sometimes people share stuff in order for someone else to see it, like a friend or coworker. Read what they say about what they shared so you’ll know for sure.

#6 Don’t forget to look at the date stamp. Some people don’t post very often. If it’s been months since the last time they posted, the information could be outdated. For example, a guy might have a photo of him with a girl visible.

If that picture was taken six months ago, he might not even have her in his life. Keep this in mind when you’re looking at certain information so you don’t make the mistake of assuming something is relevant now.

#7 Snapchat is the best for day-to-day information. So are Instagram stories. If you can, add them on both so you can see what they post every single day. Oftentimes, social feeds are primarily a highlight reel of their life. They’re not always accurate.

But when you look at what they’re doing every single day, you’ll get a better idea of their life. Plus, you can see who they spend time with and that’ll help you have more information to work with when you stalk them on social media. [Read: How to maintain your intimate snapchat streak]

#8 Look at their close friend’s profiles. If you want to take the stalking a step further and really get all the information you can, hit up their friends’ profiles. Go to someone’s page who tags them a lot and see what they have posted.

A person’s friend is more likely to post goofy or embarrassing pictures to their page. That person might also spend a lot of time commenting and interacting on their friends’ profiles so don’t forget to look there.

#9 Take it slow. There’s no need to speed through the stalking of social media phase. You want to take your time here in order to gather as much information as you can. If you zip right through it, you could miss really important things about them.

Plus, if you go too fast, you might end up liking something that’ll let them know you’re searching their profiles. [Read: 11 things couples should quit doing on social media]

#10 Read the comments. This is a part most people forget. You can’t just skip over the comments on their posts and pictures. If you see a lot of comments on something, click through and read them.

This will help you pick up on more of their opinions and even their personality. There’s always more information given when they engaged with someone. Just be careful not to like any comments unless you want them to know you’re stalking them.

[Read: 13 ways to give yourself a social media detox]

Knowing how to stalk on social media can help you figure out if someone is worth even talking to. But you have to get it right and know all of the information. These tips will help you do that.