Benefits of Social Media Screening

You can learn a lot from social media. Some of it you may not want to know. Like how your uncle’s podiatrist appointment went or what an old coworker thinks of the latest Star Wars movie. Employers can also learn a lot about job candidates from social media. But once you learn something, you can’t unlearn it — and that can potentially create serious issues.

Thankfully, there could be a way to extract value from social media and protect your organization. That’s where the social media screening solution from Verified Credentials can help employers. Here’s a look at how these types of solutions work and how they can help your organization meet its hiring goals.

What is Social Media Screening?

Social media screening is an AI-powered background check that searches publicly available social media profiles. The system looks through social media posts, pictures, comments, likes, and other online activities. It detects content that may be derogatory, hostile, coarse, or defamatory.

What does that mean for you? It could help identify potentially risky online content as you work to make employment decisions. Social media screening can reveal things like narcotics use, violence, hate speech, harassment, and intolerance. Reports can also filter out information that employers shouldn’t see during the hiring process to potentially help protect them.

Many employers are already looking at social media on their own. Research shows that roughly 70% of employers have reviewed applicants’ profiles as part of the screening process for job candidates and current employees.

The Benefits of Social Media Screening

Social media screening may help companies protect their brand. It may also promote a safer, more welcoming corporate culture. When used as part of a comprehensive background check program, Verified Credentials’ social media search could potentially help employers:

• Protect the safety and well-being of their employees.
• Protect their brand reputation.
• Establish an objective hiring process.
• Promote consistent reporting criteria.
• Maintain candidate privacy by avoiding irrelevant and protected information.

Social media screening could be a valuable tool for gathering information.

Which Social Media Platforms Get Searched?

There are certainly a variety of social media platforms out there. The scope of a social media search depends on what information is public. Even if a profile is private, a search may find activity on public posts. The social media screening solution from Verified Credentials involves a broad search of publicly available social media profiles from:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• X (formally known as Twitter)
• TikTok
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• And more

Social media platforms rise and fall in popularity. After all, not many of us are spending time on MySpace these days. And certain sites may attract different demographics - like TikTok vs. LinkedIn. A robust scope like this could help keep the search relevant to your candidate pool.

Why Going Third-party May Offer Benefits

With social media literally at our fingertips, it can be tempting for some employers to conduct their own searches. But there could be some potential benefits to Verified Credentials’ social media screening solution, including:

• Increased automation and efficiency in the hiring process.
• Promoting reliability and standardization of reports
• Saving HR professionals time by eliminating manual processes
• Automatically matched profiles based on AI for increased objectivity
• Built-in quality control with tech and human review for accuracy

Social media screening can be a great resource to learn more about new job candidates and employees. A social media search from Verified Credentials could offer a reliable solution. Social media screening could help protect employers and potentially increase efficiency in the hiring process.

Interested in social media screening for your organization? Contact Verified Credentials today to learn more about our innovative background check solutions.