Blast from the past

There is some difference in forums like this and what people tend to think of as social media, like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Linked-In and so on. People tend to have "handles" on forums, which aren't their real names, whereas a lot of the other type of social media, where people amass "followers" do use their real names, as they like feeling "famous", getting attention, having their "content" shared, whereas forums are more for the exchange of information, ideas, etc.

I read and/or participate in a couple of Mexico forums and a couple of Airbnb hosting forums, but have no social media accounts aside from that.

There was once a discussion on a hosting forum where some hosts said they look up their prospective guests on social media to make sure they aren't some sketchy weirdos and I said no one would be able to find out anything about me because I have no social media accounts. Another host claimed that was BS, that you could Google anyone and find all kinds of stuff about them. I told him I bet not. So I gave him my real name in a private message and I was basically right. The one and only thing he was able to find was an old business address I had 10 years ago.

What amazes me is how naive a lot of people are about social media. I've seen people post their real name, email address and phone number on internet forums, like they don't understand that's visible to anyone anywhere in the world. That's a real good way to end up with identity theft.