Today, networking platforms are the fastest and most common method to keep in touch, strengthen professional connections, learn more about products and services, build customer databases, and verify information.
But finding someone’s social media profile can be tricky, especially when so many individuals out there have the same or a similar name. Besides, some don’t even use their real name in their handle and resort to nicknames or other monikers that have a deeper meaning to them, but not necessarily to you.
And what if you don’t even know their name and only have a contact number? Thanks to digital data and advanced search solutions, nothing is impossible. With the right tools and techniques, you don’t need to look far to discover a person’s social media by phone number.
Almost every social media site offers search facilities to discover people and content.
All you need to do is type the relevant individual’s contact number on the search bar and hit the Search button. If the person in question has added it to their profile or if it is mentioned in a comment or post, the platform will list it under search results.
When there are no matching results, add open and closed quotation marks at the beginning and end of the number. Trying different number formats could help, too.
Pros & Cons of This Method:
Search services on networking sites are not going to cost you anything.
Plus, a whopping 86.3% of adults, from Gen Zs to baby boomers, have a social media profile. This makes networking platforms a vast information source for discovering people.
On the downside, there are dozens of social media sites right now. So, unless you know which ones to check, determining where to look can be tricky. You can always hazard a guess or try the top ones and keep your fingers crossed.
Some social media platforms allow users to sync contact lists with their accounts. This enables them to identify people they already know from elsewhere and send invitations to connect and become part of their social network.
An indirect advantage of this feature is the ability to detect who is on a particular platform and who is not. So, if you are not sure which ones someone uses, you can simply log into your profile on a site and use this facility to identify whether the relevant person is on it.
And if they are, the platform will direct you to their profile so you don’t need to worry about finding the right one among countless search results.
Pros & Cons of This Method:
Needless to say, syncing contacts involves minimal time and hassle. It is also free.
But not all platforms offer this feature. When they do, you must have an account with them to use it.
It is also important to keep in mind that for this technique to work, a user must have linked the relevant contact number to their account and enabled their profile to turn up on number searches. If not, you have little chance of discovering them by syncing their number.
Google’s dominance in the search market makes it an ideal source for discovering social media information with a phone number.
Leveraging powerful indexing and search capabilities, this search engine can identify matching social media profiles in under a second.
To get started, key in the contact number within open and closed quotation marks and click Search. Similar to social media searches, you may need to try a few different number formats for best results. You can also add the name of a networking site to find matching results from their domains.
Pros & Cons of This Method:
Google is a free search tool renowned for its search prowess.
But it is not the Oracle. It works on certain algorithms. So, there are inevitable glitches and loopholes that could prevent it from finding the right information.
For instance, when someone makes their social media profile “private”, Google is unable to index and list it on SERPs.
The search engine also determines the relevance of results based on criteria it sets on its own, which may not necessarily match yours. As a result, you might find irrelevant search results for your query and end up wasting significant time browsing SERPs.
Many people search platforms offer reverse number searches, where you can browse their people databases using a contact number.
These sites differ from Google and other search engines, mainly because they aggregate and organize information to create profiles and enable people searches.
Their data comes from public sources, such as state records, public directories, and networking sites. So, they can provide much more relevant information about an individual, including their social media profiles.
Pros & Cons of This Method:
Search engines typically list links to related pages, which may or may not contain relevant details. People search sites, on the other hand, provide comprehensive reports that contain vetted information about a number’s owner. These won’t be just limited to social media, either. You can likely find a person’s full name, age, address, and a variety of other useful details on them.
However, many people search sites usually charge a fee for their services. So, ensure the information you are looking for is worth the price.
When you need to discover someone’s social media profile with a phone number, several techniques can help you find information quickly.
If you know which networking platform a person is using, its search bar and contact syncing feature are good places to start. Otherwise, Google and people search sites can both be useful in identifying social profiles with a reverse number search.
But remember that people can change their phone numbers over time. So, the information you find with a number search might not always be accurate or up-to-date. This is why verifying details is important to confirm you are dealing with the correct person.
