How to find out when you joined a Social Network

I've been looking over the social networks that I am a member and checking the details of each one. I'm making a note of the username and password (using the fabulous password service, LastPass), checking that my details are correct and updating and optimising my profile.

I've signed up for so many social networks over the years, and I became interested in finding out when I actually signed up for the services. Not all social networks make finding this information out easy. So, here is a "how to" for finding out when exactly you signed up for a social network.

When did I join Twitter?

This used to be very easy if you had the Twitter mobile app- it told you this information on your profile page. Sadly, Twitter removed this information when they updated their app. Apparently Tweetdeck also gave this information but this no longer does. So, we have to fall back to using a 3rd party app called When Did You Join Twitter?! Basically it does "what it says on the tin"- you put in your username and it tells you when you joined. I knew I signed up to Twitter fairly early on (with my personal Twitter account @baritoneuk) and it told me I joined on November 14, 2006. You can also drag this bookmarklet to your browser's bookmark bar which allows you to find out the date of a Twitter account anywhere- just by selecting the text of a Twitter username and clicking the button:

Twitter Join Date

It's a shame that Twitter make looking back at your old Tweets difficult, I might publish a post on ways to find your old Tweets and how to archive them. There were a few tools that would show you your first Tweet, but most of these have died a death due to changes under Elon Musk's ownership. There is always the internet archive of course...!

When did I Join LinkedIn?

LinkedIn makes finding out when you signed up a lot easier. All you need to do is log in, and go to your settings page (just click on your name at the top and then click settings). There, just under your name is the date you joined! Easy! I joined on December 27, 2004. Wow, I feel old.

When did I Join Google+?

This is harder, as Google+ don't tell you, and they haven't released a public API to help. Probably the easiest way is to find out when your first Google+ email came through- either an invite or a sign up email. I was invited when it was back in beta and so I got an invite email on July 1, 2011. If you haven't got your emails (perhaps you deleted them) then you are going to find it more difficult- perhaps one way (if you haven't got too many posts) is just to scroll down until you find your first post. Hmmm, not a great way to spend your time. If anyone has any other ideas, please leave them in the comments.

When did I Join Facebook?

If you are good at keeping your emails then it's just a case of finding your Facebook welcome email. I received my Facebook Registration Confirmation on March 21, 2007.  However, Facebook actually puts when you joined Facebook on your timeline. Just scroll down to the year you think you joined and you should see the date.

Other Networks

I've not discussed newer networks such as Pinterest because, well, they're new, and you probably know when you signed up (check your inbox for your welcome email). I'll update this post in the future to include ways of finding out when you signed up for StumbleUpon, YouTube, Flickr etc. If you know how, then please let me know in the comments?