Line #37 Main/InternetStalking


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/SarahsScribbles https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_6519.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:How ''romantic''!]]
3
4	->''"Still lookin' at your Instagram and I'll be creepin' a lil'''
5	->''I'll be tryin' not to double tap, from way back''
6	->'''Cause I know that's where the trouble's at"''
7	-->-- '''Music/EdSheeran''', "New Man"
8
9	Not to be confused with stalking in a criminal sense, Social Media Stalking (otherwise known as Online or Facebook Stalking) is when a character scrolls through someone's social media for the purpose of uncovering information or for interpersonal reasons. In other cases, they might be Googling the person to look at the results.
10
11	Since practically everyone in the developed world has a phone and Facebook has around 3 billion active users, it's not surprising that it's a popular trope. It often involves someone browsing their love interest or their ex's profile to fawn or jealously seethe at photos. It's frequent in contemporary TeenDrama pieces because, you know, the PhoneaholicTeenager stereotype. Often, a person will take pride in their detective skills, and share all the juicy things they found out through Googling. It can be used to reinforce that SocialMediaIsBad or that social media is important to socialising, and may reflect a broad trend in the media that EverythingIsOnline.
12
13	The trope can sometimes toy with LampshadeHanging and be PlayedForLaughs, or in darker and more dramatic instances, it's borderline criminal. In most examples, it involves a woman stalking a male, which could be considered a Main/DoubleStandard.
14
15	Compare AcquaintedInRealLife, ItsASmallNetAfterAll, SelfieFiend, StalkerWithACrush, SmittenTeenageGirl.
16
17	As this is TruthInTelevision, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.
18
19	%%Entries have been alphabetised. Please add new tropes accordingly%%
20
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
27	* In ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'', Retsuko's friend Fenneko is constantly checking out Tsunoda's social media page to keep tabs on her.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]
31	* ''Film/IngridGoesWest'' is about a woman meeting an Instagram influencer she has always been obsessed with.
32	* In ''Film/{{Searching}}'', a father tries to find his missing daughter by searching and retracing her internet activity.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Literature]]
36	* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearsBigChapterBooks'': In ''The Berenstain Bears Lost in Cyberspace'', Teacher Bob talks about this, including how random strangers on the Internet will take advantage of your personal information to lure you into a trap and kidnap you. Lizzy is shaken despite pointing out her dad is chief of police. She also finds other criminals by accident in a poetry chatroom and runs to school in a panic after realizing the poems are code for extortionist plans.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Live-ActionTV]]
40	* In ''Series/TrophyWife'' Diane creates a fake profile on Facebook so she can keep an eye out on her children. She uses this profile to find the party Hillary has snuck off to.
41	* Zoe discusses stalking Stephen's Facebook in ''Series/ZoeEverAfter''.
42	--> '''Zoe:''' You know, Stephen, I hope you don't mind, but I checked out your Facebook profile and your relationship status read, "It's complicated." So either you're going through a breakup too, or you a low-down dirty cheater.
43	* Ilana discusses stalking Jaime's boyfriend on social media in ''Series/BroadCity''.
44	* In ''Series/TheMiddle'', Frankie Facebook-stalks one of Sue's friends on social media after her daughter wasn't invited to a slumber party.
45	* ''Series/Charmed2018''. After Lucy suspects Parker cheated on her, she and the girls do a deep dive on social media to find dirt on him.
46	* Joe becomes obsessed with Beck in ''Series/{{You}}''. He tries looking her up on Facebook but can't find her profile. He reverse-image searches a photo of her, and uses meta-data to find out what location she's from to narrow his Facebook search.
47	* The fictional investigative documentarians in the {{Mockumentary}} series ''Series/AmericanVandal'' go through Snapchats, instant messages, Facebook profiles, stories and more to find clues.
48	* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': In season 7, after being shushed by a stranger in a local bar, Dee and Mac attempt to find him online. Dee friends him on Facebook and uses his status updates to track his whereabouts, which is an example of social media being used to actually stalk someone.
49	* In ''Series/{{Love}}'', while pining for Gus, Mickey scrolls his Facebook profile and looks at photos of him and Heidi with jealousy.
50	* ''Series/NewGirl''
51	** In season 4, Cece is obsessed with looking at photos of Schmidt and Fawn on social media. Surrounded by trash and dirty clothes, she is obviously still hung up on him.
52	** In season 5, Winston grows jealous of selfies his girlfriend posts with other guys. He constantly checks her Instagram to see what she has uploaded. He vents his feelings about this to the others.
53	* ''Series/{{Atypical}}'': When Zahid decides to ditch his nursing exam to get married, Sam and friends must find his whereabouts to stop the wedding. Paige and Abby help him by analysing Instagram photos, creating fake accounts and looking at places Zahid has checked into.
54	* ''Series/{{Fargo}}''. V.M Varga attempts to Facebook stalk Gloria, but because of her mild {{Technophobia}}, he can't find any details about her.
55	* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'': When Josh's ex-girlfriends Rebecca and Valencia learn that Josh is dating a girl named Anna, they fall into a rabbit hole of stalking Anna on the internet in hopes of learning everything they can about her. This is depicted in the song "Research Me Obsessively", where Anna's online images come to life and seemingly taunt the two. The lyrics go from light social media scouring to posing as a high school friend to gain access to her private social media to paying someone on the internet to do a background check.
56	--> "''Research me obsessively, uh huh!''
57	--> ''Find out everything you can about me''
58	--> ''You know you want to''
59	--> ''dig for me relentlessly, uh-huh!''
60	--> ''Using every available''
61	--> ''search tool and all forms''
62	--> ''of social media!''"
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Music]]
66	* From Music/BadBunny's BreakupSong "Pero Ya No":
67	-->Ahora en todas las redes me sigues ([[InternetStalking Now you follow me on all the sites)]]\
68	''[[GratuitousEnglish Sorry]]'', mami, no me hostigues (Sorry, ''mami'', don't harass me)
69	* Performed in his Netflix special ''Inside'', Creator/BoBurnham lists various things you might see scrolling through a 'White Woman's Instagram'. Although the things he lists range between banality and stereotype, there's also a verse about grief and family, which a large amount of users feel comfortable publicising on their social media accounts.
70	-->
71	--> "''Some random quote from Lord of the Rings''
72	--> ''Incorrectly attributed to Martin Luther King''
73	--> ''Is this Heaven?''
74	--> ''Or am I looking at a''
75	--> ''White woman''
76	--> ''A white woman's Instagram''"
77	* The subject of comedy duo ''Music/GarfunkelAndOates'' song "Google".
78	-->
79	-->"''Everybody Googles each other''
80	-->''Everybody does their Facebook research''
81	-->''It's how we get to know one another''
82	-->''To make sure that we don't get raped.''"
83	* The subject of the comic torch song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpqX8UTcEs I Google You]]" written by Creator/NeilGaiman and Music/AmandaPalmer, about a person late at night wistfully looking up an old flame online.
84	--> "''I Google you''
85	--> ''When the day is done and everything is through''
86	--> ''I've seen that journal that you kept that month in France''
87	--> ''I've watched you dance''
88	--> ''on Website/YouTube...''"
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:VideoGames]]
92	* In ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' Ayano can stalk other students online to learn about their interests. This will make interactions with them easier.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Webcomics]]
96	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Tom tries to do this during his ultra-manipulative attempts at wooing Susan. A slip of the tongue lets Susan know that he was quietly stalking her whilst his messenger was set to Invisible, and his whole attempt falls apart quickly.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
100	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In 'Lisa the Drama Queen', Homer mentions that he frequently looks at Lisa's social media.
101	-->'''Homer:''' I search all the children's Facebook pages for unflattering references to me. By the way, I enjoyed the photos of your trip to Yosemite.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/TucaAndBertie'': In "Vibe Check," Tuca spends a long time scrolling through her new crush Kara's social media, and becomes worried when she likes a very old photo. Thankfully Kara seems cool with it and comments on Tuca's photos teasing her about it.
103	* In the ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' episode, "Professor Lampwick", when Chloe asks Panda what lead to the bear brothers kidnapping the titular professor.
104	-->'''Chloe:''' Panda, how did this happen?
105	-->'''Panda:''' Well, first I internet stalked him, found his house and I asked him to come with us, but he got real mad so I uh-[[ExplainExplainOhCrap oh man, that sounds real bad out loud.]]
106	[[/folder]]

Context Main / InternetStalking