Often people ask, where do I start with OSINT? I could tell you to use Google better, or hand you a list of tools. But honestly, the skills that made me a skilled OSINT practitioner came from reading Wikipedia as a kid, picking up bits of knowledge about nearly everything. When I wonder something, I have reference points to fall back on.
But everyone’s got a different background, different education, different skillset. Nobody’s better than anybody else when you account for all that.
The real way to test your OSINT skills in practice? Head to r/HelpMeFind on Reddit. People post questions there asking for help locating things. Could be literally anything: commercial products, old vintage items, video games, car parts, lost family members, family history, obscure media. It’s up to you to find it.
Real queries, real people, real practice. No simulations, no textbook scenarios. Just genuine investigations where someone actually needs the answer. Here’s one of mine: a user was looking for a Russian artist’s interactive website with rooms and levels. Found it in seconds. That’s the game. Sharpen the toolkit. Start digging.