How to Use the Advanced Social Footprint Analyzer
Use the Advanced Social Footprint Analyzer to discover online profiles and mentions associated with a specific username, email address, or name across various categorized groups of websites (OSINT - Open Source Intelligence).
How to Use the Analyzer
- Navigate to the Tool: Go to the Advanced Social Footprint Analyzer page (replace # with `url_for` later).
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Enter Search Query: In the "Search Query" field, enter the identifier you want to search for. This can be:
- A specific username (e.g.,
john_doe123) - An email address (e.g.,
j.doe@example.com) - A person's name (e.g.,
"John Doe"- using quotes might help for names)
- A specific username (e.g.,
-
Select Site Group: Choose a category of websites to search from the "Sites to Check" dropdown. Available groups might include 'Social Media', 'Forums', 'Professional Networks', 'Gaming', etc.
- A preview box below the dropdown will show a list of the specific domains included in the selected group, helping you understand the search scope.
- Start Search: Click the button.
Understanding the Search Process
Once you start the search:- Task Submitted: Your search request is sent to the server to begin processing.
- Polling & Progress: The page automatically checks for updates every few seconds. You'll see:
- A progress bar showing the estimated percentage of sites checked within the selected group.
- Counts of found matches (categorized by confidence if available).
- The number of sites processed out of the total in the group.
- Patience Required: Searching across many websites can take some time, from seconds to several minutes, depending on the size of the selected site group and server load. Please leave the page open while the search is in progress.
Interpreting the Results
As the search progresses, results will appear dynamically in the "Current Results" section:- Live Updates: Found profiles or mentions are added to the list as soon as they are discovered.
- Sorting: Results are generally sorted to show more likely matches first (e.g., status 'good' then 'maybe', often followed by confidence rate).
- Confidence/Rate (%): Some results may display a confidence percentage indicating the likelihood of the match based on automated checks. Higher percentages suggest a stronger match.
- Status Badge: Look for badges like High Confidence, Good, or Maybe for a quick assessment of the result quality.
- Platform & Link: The name of the platform (e.g., Twitter, GitHub) is shown. Clicking the platform name usually opens the found profile or page directly in a new tab.
- Language: Notes the detected language.
Search Completion & Downloads
When the search across all sites in the selected group is finished:- Completion Message: An alert box (e.g., green for success, yellow if nothing found) will appear at the top of the results section confirming the search is complete and summarizing the findings.
- Download Buttons: If the search yielded results and the data is available for download, buttons will appear allowing you to download the full result set:
- : Downloads results in JSON format.
- : Downloads results in CSV format, suitable for spreadsheets.
Tips for Effective Searching
- Use known usernames or email addresses for the highest accuracy.
- If searching for a common name, try adding other identifiers (like location or company, if the tool supports it) or be prepared to sift through more results.
- If an initial search yields few results, try variations of the username or name.
- Searching smaller, more specific "Site Groups" (e.g., just 'Social Media') will generally be faster than searching very large groups.
- Review results critically; automated matching isn't perfect. Always verify important findings manually by visiting the linked pages.