How do you define "searching" for lost media?

So, it can vary a bit depending on what kind of media is being searched for. But I think there are some features you'll find in most "searches".

I think the biggest that a proper Lost Media Search™ needs is multiple people. You can certainly look for things that interest you on your own. But a full and proper Search™, I think, needs to be a somewhat coordinated effort inside of a group of people all with the same intent, finding the piece of media.

As for what the actions a search will usually take, again this will vary a little depending on what is being looked for, but there are commonalities. Seeking out and making contacts is one that gets focused on a lot. Just figuring out who was involved in the making or distributing of media, and finding a way to contact them. Another common tactic is just searching the internet, which is more complicated that putting "smashfest" (for example) into a search engine. Depending on the media being looked for, it's sometimes smart just find online communities that would know something about the media being looked for. With any luck, they'll either have the media, or or least hopefully offer some insight.

I think the most important aspect of a search, the one that I think usually leads to stuff getting found, is just the online discussion of it. As popular as making contacts and reaching out to people is, it just doesn't seem like a lot of media is found that way. It seems usually, that the best thing about contacting people, is that they can confirm whether something exists or not. It can be helpful to know something doesn't exist, so that people can stop looking for it (like ADWSS or YYBI). But the thing that actually gets stuff found is either someone who has the media comes across an online discussion of it and decides to share, or someone else happens to come across both the lost media and the discussion looking for it, and links the two. I think that's one reason we need to make sure there's always a lot of discussion here on the forums, and not focus on discord so much. We want these discussions to show up in search engines. If some guy finds the slamfest video on an old hard drive, and he googles it to figure out what it is, we definitely want him to come across LMW thread about it.

As for what an individual should do, I think it's just the discussion. Just talking about something spreads the awareness, and makes it more likely that someone who has the media will find the search. If there are already people doing the active "searching", like contacting people, and scouring the world wide web, then the best thing you can do is just keep posting to threads about it. Brainstorming new avenues, trying to come up with new leads, thinking outside of the box. It almost doesn't matter as long as the conversation is ongoing.