In this technological age — the age of the Internet, if you will — I always find it slightly amazing how there are still some people I know, of whom you can find absolutely no trace online.
Cherry trees in our neighborhood!
Earlier today, I was having a message exchange with somebody I basically haven't had contact with since my University days, and we started talking about some of the people we used to know and hang out with.
As we were talking, I started searching for some of these missing people online, using Google, Facebook, online phone books and other common sources.
What I found surprising, is that even with some basic knowledge like where they had moved to and what they were doing for a living, there was not so much as a trace of anything under their name online. No email address, no photos, no job profiles, not on Facebook, not on LinkedIn; it was as if they had simply been wiped off the planet's surface.
Spring!
Now this wasn't because they were genuinely missing or had passed away, they simply weren't connected to anything.
I'm sure if I had the professional tools like you might have if you were a debt collector or a skip tracer I might have been able to locate them. It just seemed odd that there were no signs of them whatsoever. So much for "everybody's online!"
One of the friends we had in common back then used to work for the school system in Austin TX where we all went to college. Aside from one listing of her name — she had since married and we knew her married name — in an online PDF document of school staff (which incidentally was about 10 years old), no mentions whatsoever.
How can you be a public school teacher, and be "invisible?"
It was interesting, and just goes to show that there are still a lot of people — even in highly technological western societies — who have little use for — or interest in — the technology that surrounds them.
In truth, I can relate to a certain degree. For example, I was one of the last people in my circle of friends who got a mobile phone. And that was years after everybody else had long since gotten phones. I just didn't see any particular purpose to having a device that would enable people to get a hold of me 24/7!
Of course a lot has happened since then, and even though I didn't have a cell phone for the longest time, I was (and is) a very active Blogger so unlike these old University friends of mine I'm pretty much all over the place online.
In truth, I don't really have anything to hide. And beyond that, I'm not sure what the point of using social media really is, if you want to keep everything about yourself private. If you don't want people to find you don't be online. As proven by our friends we couldn't find!
Thanks for reading and have a great remainder of your weekend!
How about YOU? Have you ever tried to find old friends online? Do they typically come up when you search on their name? Or are some of them mysteries you just can't find? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210418 00:59 PDT
x156
You have a point here, i have few friends same thing applies too, no trace at all. Sometimes i wonder what could be the case.. hmmmm!!.. at least someone else like you is talking about it too..
Nice post by the way @denmarkguy and am now following u
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Thanks for stopping by @ikechukwu411!
It's just a strange thing. I could understand if these people lived out in the bush somewhere, but they are in large cities and almost certainly carry a smartphone. And yet, they are invisible.
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Sometimes, the invisibility is annoying. Many of us have that one friend who refuses to engage with social media, but they still want to be invited to all the parties and other types of events.
These days, invites are conveniently done over social media. One invitation gets sent to all your friends--except that one friend who refuses to be online.
For that person, you have to hunt them down and hope they answer their phone, or find the email you spent extra time writing just for them.
If you do not manage to get ahold of the person before the event occurs, they get mad at you because you did not include them
There is a level of narcissism attached to this behaviour.
Of course, I am not speaking about 90 year old Grandmas who do not know how to use the internet. I mean young people who own smartphones and computers, but refuse to have a social media account because they think it is a tool for the deep state to spy on them or something....
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