Is there any way to find out whether someone is talking bad about me online?

[Emily]

Hi. When I was in middle school, there's this girl who got constantly picked on by other mean girls.
I even heard the rumor that these bullies were even harassing her on some sites on the net.
Since her last name was very unique i googled her name to know what's goin on but nothing came up as a result.
Then my friend told me that the bullies used an insulting nickname so that it wouldn't hit google or any search engine when someone typed her name.

well... I'm in HS and kinda paranoid about bullying and online harassment.
some of my friends got harassed on some sites like Facebook or twitter even though no one picks on them in school.

My question is: Is there any other way to know If someone is talking bad about me on the net other than just googling my full name?
I know some bullies talk bad about their victims by nicknames like a code name on the net so that they could get away.