Cyberseeking?

The internet has made it increasingly easier to find out information about people (I'll call its cyberseeking)- between facebook, myspace, blogs, photobucket, google, google-earth, etc. you can find out quite a bit about a person without ever even meeting them. By "googling" my name you can find out all the xc races (and times) I ran, my blog, laurete stuff, church stuff, school/honor roll type stuff...nothing too personal

I find it rather fun to look up people that I know and find out things about them ....but where do you draw the line between finding out information and the illustrious activity fondly known as "stalking." There's even a website where you can find out how much someone paid for their house, how many houses they own, etc. It was public domain but for some reason I felt weird about being able to see the exact price a person paid for their house (or houses) and a record of all the previous owners. I think it's all about motives when it comes to cyber-informations seeking. My most common motives are usually sheer curosity and the excitement of finding out anything via the internet. Another motive...Sometimes if I know I'm going to meet someone in person, (like through mutual friends) I'll check their facebook so I'll have a few conversation starters. (I'm not really sure if this is unsual or uncommon or just plain werid but it helps with my social ineptness). Usually what I find out is not much more than I would find out by just talking to someone because when the information is posted most people know it will be readily available public information. So what's the general opinion of cyberseeking-- creepy, stalkerish, or just a new way to get to know people better sans the small talk?

Why do I continue to cyberseek....well here's a little story. Seinor year in high school my friend met this guy at the community college she was going to. Since I'm such a caring friend I thought...hmm...I better make sure this guy is alright...did a little cyberseeking...and I came to find out he had been charged for manslaughter about 6 months previously. I told my friend she probally should try to meet someone else...with a cleaner record.