If we are friends, which I am with most of my exes, I am likely to be in some sort of vague online contact with them, or have the potential to do so. Every so often, perhaps three times a year, I will google for one or another of the ones where the relationship ended badly: in part out of a vague desire to know what they're up to these days (with a certain amount of "I hope they're okay; we were bad for each other, ultimately, but I hope they're okay"); and in some cases, because I want to know how close they are to me (social circles, home city, etc.).

What I won't do, though, is set up alerts or anything, if we are not on civil/cordial/friendly terms. I want to make it a conscious action to track them on my part, not something I can excuse as, "well, it comes up automatically."