If we were to wind back the clock a few decades, you might have had to travel across the world in a bid to find a long, lost relative. Nowadays, things are much easier.
Of course, it’s not a case of finding them instantly. While this can occur (provided you are armed with a name, of course), you still need to do a little groundwork.
If you have thought about a relative that you want to reconnect with, or even connect with in the first place, let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take to make that elusive contact.
The rise of people search services
One of the biggest advancements in this regard has been people search services. The name is in the game here; they allow you to search for people.
One might suggest that this can be performed on the likes of Facebook and other social networks, and this is true to an extent. However, people search engines tend to have a little bit more about them. They will allow you to search with more variables, so you are not presented with tens of thousands of people with the same name.
Not only that, but there is a lot more verifiable information out there. Documents such as criminal records are checked, meaning that those relatives that might not even have social media have a much higher chance of appearing in your search.
In short, if you are looking for the quickest method to find your relatives, this is probably it.
Let’s talk about social media
We touched upon it in the previous point, so now seems to be the time where we should give a special mention to social media. As we have alluded to, it’s by no means as comprehensive as a people search service, but there are benefits.
Firstly, most of us are familiar with the Facebook interface (or the social network of your choice). It means that you can quickly type a name in, perhaps with a city, and get a list of people who match your filters.
Of course, the filters are quite basic and if you only know one part of their name, things suddenly turn for the more difficult. Nevertheless, as a quick starting point, there’s nothing wrong with turning to a website like Facebook.
Every family has “one”
Most families will have that one individual who knows all the family gossip, or might even have gone as far as putting together a family tree. Even if they might not be your cup of tea, this might be the time to put any potential bad blood to one side and to tap into their knowledge.
Sure, there’s every chance that they don’t have an address for the person; after all, they are apparently a long, lost relative. What they might possess is some information, or a lead, which can guide you in the right direction though. Armed with this, there’s every chance it can help you along your quest.
