> [!info] > Input: [[Social Media Account|account]] > Output: friends list, [[Social Media Activity|extended activity]], hidden profile fields > > Types: [[Business Weakness|business]] > Weakness: [[SOWEL-1. Having and Filling Account]] > Functionality: [[SOFL-22. Accounts]] ### Explanation Some platforms expose materially different data to authenticated viewers compared to anonymous visitors. A Roblox profile's details (recent activity, friends, inventory, badges) are typically hidden until you sign in; freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr restrict extended client and freelancer history to logged-in users; LinkedIn changes what's visible based on whether the viewer is logged in and how the viewer is connected to the target. In recent years, with the explosion of automated scraping and AI training, virtually every major platform has been steadily moving useful public-facing data behind a login wall — fields and feeds that were openly indexable a few years ago now routinely require an authenticated session. Create a low-friction sock-puppet account on the target platform (a fresh email, a generic name, no real connections) and re-fetch the profile through it. Compare the logged-in view against the anonymous view side-by-side. Look specifically for: friends/followers lists, online status indicators, post history beyond the first few items, "tagged in" sections, profile photos at full resolution, and any "to view, log in" walls. Beware: a freshly created account may itself be restricted on some platforms (Instagram throttles new accounts; Twitter sometimes shows reduced data to brand-new accounts). For a clean signal, use an aged sock-puppet with a small but non-zero footprint. ### Examples {{some links to articles, videos, etc}} ### Tools (no dedicated tool — manual technique; create a sock-puppet account on the target platform and re-fetch the profile through it) ### See also - [[SOTL-7.3. Check Aggregators and Mirrors]]