George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was first published in 1949. I would have thought his vision would no longer be current 65 years later. The world he described was a world where Big Brother watched people, constantly searching for information on crime or any other type of offense against the glorious super state of Oceania.

Edward Snowden showed us that what the Big Brothers are doing these days is not that different from what Orwell described. Sure, the technology is quite different from what he had imagined, but Orwell’s novel is not about science and technology, but about the horrible world where governments can monitor our every move, observe us in our most intimate moments and know everything we do. Modern supercomputers, satellites, and all kinds of technology make this easily possible for various government agencies.

However, there is so much information that it is easily accessible without spy satellites, supercomputers or without disturbing mobile phones. It’s the information that millions of users put online every day of their own free will, just to get a few likes, retweets, or shares. People tell themselves that they are doing this to keep in touch with each other, but they don’t realize how much personal information they are giving each moment of each day.

With more than half of Australians active on Facebook, it looks like this would be the most promising social network to start an investigation. The information found on Facebook is really varied. There are photographs, comments, and records that reveal a person’s current location. Plus, there’s a timestamp on everything, making it easy to create a collage of events that a person went through at any given time. You don’t need any special equipment for all of this and much of it can be done with a simple smartphone.

Of course, people tend to forget that social media isn’t just about Facebook and Twitter. In addition to other household names like LinkedIn, Google+, or Pinterest, there are dozens of other smaller niche websites that cater to all types of profiles. Finding information on all of these platforms can become a great investigation on its own.

Researching social media isn’t just about snooping. People tend to forget that Facebook is first and foremost a communication platform. As many of the younger generations no longer even have a landline and choose not to publicly reveal their mobile phone number, Facebook and other social media can be an easy way to track them to communicate or even deliver court documents.

Being a private investigator and not knowing anything about social media is something that has become unimaginable these days. While traditional methods such as surveillance remain highly effective, they are greatly complemented by extensive desktop research based on an extensive social media profile, and as the next generation spends more of their life on the Internet, the value of this Profiling branding will only increase. .