The Downside of Social Media Essay

Many individuals have resorted to social media to connect with friends or strangers alike. Social media has also encouraged people to display private conduct to the public. Many colleges and businesses have resorted to viewing an applicant’s social media for work force readiness. I believe this is a good strategy, because it can eliminate competition in the work place.

Using social media to determine and find prospect employees is not ideal. The requiring of passwords can lead to discrimination. Social media passwords allow employers to profile their prospective employees. Profiling employees can cause an employer to change decisions towards their prospects, instead of treating everyone equal. “Research shows that employers are discriminating based on what they find on social

Social media has become a world stage for many people to display and share their accomplishments, failures, and even their shenanigans. No one seems to care anymore if their boss, spouse, or conservative grandmother knows how wild that party they attended over the weekend was, or who their romantic fling was with that week. It’s a sad fact and even though most people do it, posting ones every day move can still affect their job and personal relationships.

According to a survey report done by the Kelly services with 170,000 people from 30 different countries, 55% of all the participants believe that the use of social media for both the personal and professional posts can cause problems in the workplace (Bennett, 2012). According to a study done by the proof point, many US companies that have hired the employees more than 1000 in number face a real problem with their employees to use social media (Ostrow 2009). Almost 17% of these companies had faced serious disrepute due to the offensive comments on the social media websites (Ostrow 2009). Almost 13% of the US companies have investigated the use of personal text messages that have been found to infringe the company’s law (Ostrow 2009).

Employers on our social media, this is a fact that everyone in this age accepts but do not necessarily like or want. Some people say it is okay to check social media when looking for who to hire, but this infringes on privacy rights. If an employer finds something discriminating on a profile and decides not to hire the person this is not okay, even though some may say it is because you want to know what you are getting into. An employer could find information that was not even true on social media, this would not work in favor of employment. It is not okay to check social media when employers are hiring because it invades privacy, discriminates and the information provided on the site could be false.

A current and somewhat controversial topic regarding the hiring process is employers’ use of social media screening. The most popular sites to be checked are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and now more than ever, companies are looking on the Internet to see if applicants are active on these social media websites (Swallow). Harris Interactive conducted a survey of 2,303 respondents from February 9, 2012 through March 2, 2012 to find out how many companies used social media sites to check on job applicants. The results showed that 37 percent of respondents indicated their companies used social media web sites to check on job candidates. Sixty-five percent indicated they were looking to see if a job candidate appeared professional and 51

The purpose of this literary review is to enlighten my viewers of the importance of the ethical idea of companies crossing the lines of business with your personal life, when involving social media accounts. Most of my research has operated from the ATU library using the find it tool. Furthermost, the researched information use was from peer-reviewed research journal. I will discuss includes social media cons in the work environment, if it is ethical to get fired over a post, and laws that protect both parties. Social media includes an assortment of electronic communications—most commonly networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Pinterest, Instagram, and the likes thereof. Social media also covers all forms of blogs, including Twitter (a micro-blog), wikis, online journals, diaries, personal newsletters, and World of Warfare and YouTube also are included under the umbrella term of social media (Lieber 2011).

Sites such as LinkedIn helps recruiters in recruiting candidates by expanding the reach of their personal networks, contact candidates directly, and manage an array of talent (Schawbel, 2012). With most people being aware that employers do reference their profile for character check, people do believe that employers have the right to view their information in order to learn about the candidates’ personality and to ensure the person is not a liability (Budden, Elkersh, Vicknair, & Yancey, 2010). In conclusion, employers should be using social media only for job-relevant purposes. Employers should take specific steps

Olivia Perkins writes in “More Than Half of Employers Now Use Social Media to Screen Job Candidates, Poll Says; Even Send Friend Requests”, the do’s and don’ts for creating the perfect profile. According to Perkins, interviewers prefer applicants with social media accounts over applicants without them (line 8), just to give an extra bit of knowledge to who the applicant truly is. This article relates to articles “Student Awareness of the Use of Social Media Screening by Prospective Employers” by Terri Root and Sandra McKay and “The Law and Social Media in Hiring” by Johnathon Segal because all three use a mass number of stats and percentages in their writing. “60 percent are looking for information that supports their qualifications for the

Because adolescents are growing up with more access to social networking, texting and instant messaging on various sites have become prime means of communication. While this is not necessarily bad, many people feel the need to over-share things about their personal lives online. More and more people are using Facbeook and more and more employers are using Facebook to scope out potential employees. If there are inappropriate pictures and comments all over someone’s Facebook page, they are more likely to not receive the job. Some students get in trouble for things they post on Facebook and Twitter. Some users are beginning to notice this and have started deactivating their accounts to regain a sense of privacy. CNN’s article “The anti-social network: Life without Facebook”, states that some students who are trying to maintain a professional image for future employment are deleting their pages.

“Tweet that!! Post that pic on Instagram!! Slide in my DMs!!! Add me on Snapchat!!!” These are the phrases our generation love to use when we try to interact with one another. Social media is a great way to open up opportunities and can assist us with getting our merchandise/business/art promoted or advertised for the world to see. However, there are numerous ways that social media can ruin people’s reputation/careers/future in getting a job. Today I am going to provide the positive and negative features of social media.

Social networking sites are a dangerously sharp double-edged sword. Professional sites such as LinkedIn can showcase one’s talents and provide an advantage within a large applicant pool while personal sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, myspace, even YouTube, if used irresponsibly, can make public many aspects of an individual’s private life which can reflect negatively, when viewed by others. The article “Didn’t get that new job? You need a better Facebook score” (Garling) highlights one of the many ways prospective employers can quantify someone based on their social media presence. The article describes a process whereby hiring managers rely on a consulting firm of sorts. This firm provides a score for each applicant based on their social media presence.

Social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook have created a new ethical dilemma for many businesses. Corporations, small businesses, and even universities are struggling create policies to manage their employees social networking behaviors. Social networking access, particularly for recruiters, can provide personal information about potential employees, which would otherwise not be available. A business must follow statutes and guidelines when disclosing information to the public. Individuals on social networking sites have no such constraints. Employees can and do make comments about their employers online. Employers can and do watch what employees post online. Any individual can send or post potentially damaging information

The sharing of photos picturing wild, late-night college parties, alcohol consumption, and new tattoos or piercings is becoming commonplace in social media. Though they may vary in degree, none are the particularly “good” traits that one would expect to find in a good employee. Practices such as these should stand out as “red flags” that are not typically desired by employers. Other, more subtle, red flags include: obvious mood swings, overly emotional postings, and overly personal content. All of these, potentially detrimental, characteristics can be detected, and avoided, easily with a quick review of a candidate’s social media profile(s).

Most importantly, users who over use social media are put in danger when they share private information. Admittedly, my opponents say that social media helps people communicate and be “accessible 24 hours a day via computer, tablet, and smartphone” (Newsela). However, users need to be careful to not share personal information. Such as it is known that businesses “In 2012, more than half of employees surveyed reported visiting non-work related websites at work” (Newsela). This also shows that workers are