Social Media Usage Role in Hiring and Firing Decisions

Social Media Usage Role in Hiring and Firing Decisions

Using social media websites gives its users the power to post their personal information
online and helps them communicate with friends and strangers. For instance, twitter allows
people to send out tweets of 140 characters that can be retweeted and liked to reach a bigger
audience. Facebook allows people to form groups with common interests and share
information with others. Most of the information can be viewed by anyone who searches for a
person. However, users have the power to adjust their privacy settings to allow only a
particular group access to their information such as friends. Human resource managers
actively utilize social media profile information to carry out background searches on potential
employees. Many employers in the US said that they found information from social media
websites that made them change not to hire a candidate. Internet behavior can be the basis of
a rejected job application. In the 21 st century, social media engagement has become
mainstream, and the use of an individual’s social media activity in hiring and firing decisions
has spurred a heated debate on whether people should be granted the right to express liberal
views without the threat of discrimination.
Employers take it a step further. They argue out that posts from friends and family on
someone’s social media reveal more about them as opposed to their personal posts. Such
comments have been used by hiring managers to make decisions on whether to hire or not.
There are instances whereby friend can post on your timeline in Facebook things you don’t
subscribe too that might make you lose a job opportunity. A survey carried out found that
forty three percent of hiring managers will not hire based on comments they deem
inappropriate that have been written by friends and relatives of the candidate on their social
media profiles.
With a small investment, hiring managers can utilize social media to widen job
application materials in addition to test scores meant to better see how potential employees
are living their lives. For instance, they can use LinkedIn to view an applicant’s connections
in the professional world in addition to their work history and interests in general and
information not listed in the application form. Media such as picture and videos can also give
hiring managers a better understanding of the behavior of the applicant. For instance, people
are fond of posting their life happenings in Instagram through pictures and videos. One can
understand what a person holds dear to their life through places they visit and what they post
in general.
The mainstream nature of social media and its role in the 21 st century HR highlights the
need to review equal employment opportunity (EEO) impacts. According to Sheats (2019),
fewer companies are using candidates’ social media in their hiring decisions due to the
increased risk of discrimination. For example, a candidate’s picture in their social media
account can reveal their gender, ethnicity and many other factors that may form basis of
personal information disclosure. Although social media screening can be instrumental as a
background check, the multifaceted nature of the kind of information that may be discovered
during such a process might pose overarching concerns that attenuate legal risks. For
instance, a potential employee might have posted racist rants while at the same time being
involved in volunteer work. While the former would be considered serious grounds of not
proceeding with the hiring process, the latter provides valuable information that would make
a potential employer inclined to hire the individual. As such, key aspects such as what to look

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ROLE IN HIRING AND FIRING DECISIONS 3
for, who does the searching, and deciding the inclusion criteria of the hiring process might
prove valuable.
Different people have varying motivation behind their use of social media. According
to Drouin et. al (2015), some of the top reasons include to develop and maintain social or
personal relationships, to maintain connection to others, to gain social capital, and to source
for information. As such, this diversity behind motivation has made social media engagement
a key component of workplace culture. Given the relevance of social media, most companies
have social media policies that put a cap on what is considered a liberal approach to social
media usage. Although there is a significant percentage of individuals who argue that what
they post should not attract the threat of job termination, most employers support a moderated
approach to social media engagement, especially on sensitive matters such as racism or
political opinions that reflect support of terrorist groups.
One of the biggest concerns associated with an individual’s social media usage is
whether employers should be at liberty to use it in their hiring or firing decisions. In most
cases, social media serves a valuable use in society as people can freely express their views
on a variety of issues while maintaining meaningful connections with people in their circles.
However, a significant number of employers support the use of social media background
checks as they believe it casts a more truthful aspect on the nature of the potential employees.
This mainstream use of social media has further brough on legal risks for employers who
impose social media engagement policies. Given the volatile nature of user privacy and
information, the debate on social media role in hiring and firing decision remains a core issue
in many organizations. Ultimately, there is need for set federal regulations to elucidate the
limit to which social media engagement should impact hiring or firing decisions.

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References

Drouin, M., O’Connor, K. W., Schmidt, G. B., & Miller, D. A. (2015). Facebook fired: Legal
perspectives and young adults’ opinions on the use of social media in hiring and firing
decisions. Computers in Human Behavior, 46, 123-128.
Sheats, L. B. (2019). Effect of Social Media Use for Hiring Decisions and Generation of the
Applicant on Perceptions of Procedural Justice (Doctoral dissertation, Capella