With 149.35 million American users, Instagram is one of the best places to find old friends, build new connections, create lead lists, or even dig a little deeper into a person’s online activities. However, many people are not familiar with effective ways to find a person on Instagram. The platform’s 2 billion global community can certainly seem overwhelming to explore.
But thanks to sophisticated algorithms, AI, and other advanced technology, there are several effective tools at your disposal to find someone on Instagram.
In this article, we share our top four effective ways to find a person on Instagram.
Table of Contents
1. Try a People Search Engine
These search tools specialize in discovering people’s information and are one of the effective ways to find a person on Instagram. So, there is a high chance they can help you find someone’s Instagram profile or at least other useful information to speed up your search process.
How do they work? People search sites aggregate data, typically from public domains, such as federal databases and public directories. With the help of powerful algorithms and advanced technologies, they organize all the records they collect into searchable databases.
These databases can include information belonging to millions of people. Nuwber, for instance, has data on 300 million Americans from all 50 states. It even allows you to search people’s info by address.
It can produce names, dates of birth, locations, contact information, address histories, education details, financial records, and, you guessed it, social media profiles.
The type and amount of information you can find will vary based on the people search tool you use. Paid ones can naturally get you more details that are up-to-date and verified for accuracy.
But is it worth paying for this type of service for effective ways to find a person on Instagram? It all depends on the purpose of your search.
If you are looking to reconnect with a loved one you have lost touch with or hoping to build a lead list using social media profiles, then incurring a cost is definitely worthwhile. These platforms can significantly save you time and provide in-depth information on just about anyone.
2. Use Instagram’s Search Bar
Instagram is not just for browsing content. It has some excellent search facilities to help you discover people. After all, it is a networking platform that is in the business of connecting individuals.
For this, Instagram provides a search bar. Keep in mind that its search features may not be as sophisticated as some of the other social media sites, like LinkedIn. But it can still get the job done.
There are several effective ways to find a person on Instagram and browse the platform’s profiles and content using the search bar. Depending on what you already know about the relevant individual, we recommend searching by:
- First and last name,
- Username,
- Location,
- Hashtags.
To find matching results, enter the specific information you want to search for and click search. You can also select from the suggested search terms that appear when you type in the first few letters of your keyword or phrase.
The results are usually listed based on relevance. But you can choose to view the most popular or recent ones first.
When you have a username or first and last name of a particular person, this method could produce the right profile pretty fast. Otherwise, you will likely need to go through dozens of search results to find some information.
If you are still struggling, use the search bar to discover someone else who might know the individual in question. Then, go through their posts and follower lists to check whether you can find any clues that could direct you to the person you are searching for.
3. Sync Your Connection Lists
As you may have already realized, there is a reason why Instagram likes to connect people. The more individuals you discover on its platform, the higher the engagement and the greater the likelihood of producing impressive user stats, thus attracting more people.
One important facility the site uses to enable user discoverability is contact syncing. It basically allows you to find people you already know from elsewhere on Instagram.
Now, there are two main ways to leverage your existing contacts to uncover people on Instagram with this feature.
- Sync the contact lists on your phone,
- Add your Facebook contacts.
To enable these two options, go to “Discover people” under “Settings”, and click the “Connect” button in front of “Connect contacts” and/or “Connect to Facebook”.
Remember, Facebook and Instagram are both Meta platforms. So, if you know someone on Facebook, you can easily discover them on Instagram by syncing your accounts. However, you will still need to enter your Facebook login credentials to facilitate contact syncing.
Based on your interests, connections, and past searches, Instagram also makes profile recommendations for you to follow new users. It would be one of the effective ways to find a person on Instagram.
4. Search on Google
Google is one of the most effective ways to find a person on Instagram.
To start your search, type [first and last name] + Instagram on Google’s search bar and hit enter. If you don’t see relevant results within the top 10 search results that appear on the site’s SERP, try refining your search further.
For this, add a few other identifiable information, such as an Instagram username, location, workplace, or school. In addition, use open and close quotation marks around keywords to limit results to exact matches.
If you have a photo of the relevant individual, go to www.images.google.com. Upload the file, and click search to get the site to look for matching results (hopefully on Instagram).
The biggest upside to using Google is its ability to scan and identify information on a range of sites, from social media to personal blogs.
However, this method could take a while to yield some results, especially if you don’t have much information to go by. Unfortunately, time is the price you pay to find data for free. So, remain patient and keep digging.
To Recap
Whether you are looking to stay in touch with an old friend or want to learn more about a potential lead, finding effective ways to find a person on Instagram is not as hard as you may think.
The site provides a search bar and a contact syncing option for users to easily discover people on its platform.
However, if this doesn’t work, a people search tool could help you uncover an Instagram profile or at least other information that could speed up your search. But, if you prefer a search engine, Google is an excellent option to consider.
FAQs
1. Are People Search Engines Legal to Use?
Yes, people search engines gather information from publicly available sources and are legal to use. However, accessing certain types of information, like financial records, may be subject to specific regulations depending on your location.
2. How Accurate Are the Results from People Search Engines?
The accuracy of results can vary. Paid services generally provide more accurate and up-to-date information compared to free ones. It’s recommended to verify information from multiple sources if possible.