What Is Social Media Screening (and Should Your Company Implement It)?

Today, most people spend a substantial amount of time online, sharing content, expressing views, engaging with others, and collaborating on things important to them. And everything they say and do on social media, more or less, becomes public information that’s searchable and sharable, possibly forever.

This presents profound benefits to an HR manager. When you are hiring someone, for instance, the social media activities of that individual could provide important insights you might otherwise not uncover with regular interviews and pre-employment vetting. 

According to a CareerBuilder survey, around 70% of employers are already making use of social media screening during recruitment. And thanks to technology, you can now conduct platform-specific vetting, perform reverse image searches, automate public data checks, and do much more to make the entire process effective, reliable, and seamless.

If all these sound foreign to you, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we explain what social media screening is about (including its pros and cons) so you can determine whether it’s right for your company.

Social Media Screening: What It Is and Why It Matters

Vetting someone’s social activities typically involves going through their profile bios (i.e., how they introduce themselves), the content they post, and their interactions with others (e.g., their likes, comments, shares, and who they connect with).

While most of these are personal in nature, sites such as LinkedIn can offer information related to professional activities, too, like a person’s work portfolio, industry interests, and recommendations/references.

During the hiring process, HR teams can vet a candidate’s accounts on multiple platforms as far back into the past as they wish.

But is it legal to screen someone’s social media activities when they have already provided what they wanted to share in the form of a resume? Reviewing publicly available information is legal within certain parameters (more on that later).

Most HR managers choose to review candidates’ social profiles to:

• Verify Information on the Resumes

Many people use networking platforms for career advancement. So, when you want to cross-check what a candidate has put down on their resume, fill in any gaps in their work history, or find credible evidence to support some of the statements they have made, their online activities and content (especially on LinkedIn, etc.) can be pretty useful.

• Learn More About Candidates

People may not share certain things on their resumes, intentionally or by omission. Sometimes, they could overlook specific professional accomplishments or leave out critical skills, life experiences, and personal interests that may prove invaluable to a hiring manager when assessing potential employees. However, you can usually gain a more comprehensive picture by reviewing a person’s social profiles.

• Identify Potential Risks

A wrong hire could result in detrimental legal and reputational implications for your business.

You can minimize the risks by vetting a candidate’s social activities for red flags, such as signs of fraud, extremist views, inappropriate language, offensive, violent, defamatory, or sexually explicit content, and discriminatory remarks (based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc.).

• Assess Cultural Fit

Most employers consider cultural fit a priority for creating a cohesive and positive work environment where employees stick around longer. One way to assess this is by reviewing a candidate’s social media profiles to understand their personal values, personality, and communication style. Their online activities could also give you an idea about how they conduct themselves and what they are passionate about.

So, Should Your Company Screen Employees’ Social Media Activities?  

Social media vetting has undeniable benefits. But before you make it part of your pre-employment screening process, it’s important to consider specific concerns surrounding it.

These include:

• Privacy breaches, where invasive practices by hiring managers can be construed as unethical and a violation of privacy. After all, social media typically involves an individual’s personal life, and one can question its relevance when a candidate has already provided all work-related information on the resume.
• Legal implications when HR managers fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations. An example is discrimination based on protected information (e.g., race, religion, and age) found on social profiles.
• Unfair advantages gained by candidates who lie and exaggerate on networking platforms. (Also, not everyone’s active on social media are at the same level, which could make it difficult for HR professionals to effectively compare what they see online.)
• Personal biases that interfere with hiring decisions, especially when much of the information on social media has to do with people’s personal interests, opinions, and preferences.

Of course, none of these are deal-breakers. With careful planning and deliberation, you can address many of these concerns and benefit from the distinct advantages of social media screening.

Here are some tips to make the best of online vetting if you choose to make it part of your candidate screening process.

• Understand the Applicable Laws

These include the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Guidelines, as well as state privacy laws you may need to comply with.

• Set Clear Standards and Protocols

For instance, determine what information on social media to evaluate and how to use it in decision-making. A standardized process could help eliminate biases and establish consistency. 

• Respect Privacy

If you intend to conduct a social media screening, inform the candidates in advance. Also, stick to work- and role-related information, and avoid unethical practices like getting into a person’s closed network by creating fake profiles. 

• Put Things in Context

Don’t be hasty to judge someone based on a single post or comment. Remember, each platform is different. You can gain a glimpse into different sides of an individual’s personality by checking their activities on multiple social media sites.

• Consider Third-Party Screening Services

Although third-party service providers can be costly, they can help you prevent personal biases from interfering with decision-making and adopt legally compliant methods and tools for the screening process.

To Conclude

A person may pretend to be someone they are not on their resume or during a job interview, but their online persona doesn’t usually lie. This is why many HR managers now opt to review candidates’ social activities to make more informed and accurate hiring decisions.

Social media screening can help you verify what’s on the resume, learn more about the candidate, assess cultural fit, and, importantly, identify red flags that could one day backfire on your organization.

However, if you plan to include online vetting in your pre-employment screening process, ensure you familiarize yourself with the relevant laws and take steps to maintain consistency, objectivity, and transparency.