eChatter

Leave Social Media Monitoring to the Police

Social media content has been helpful to police in many ways. In some instances, criminals themselves make the mistake of using social media to their disadvantage. These are two real life examples:

1. Three teenagers break into a junior high school and steal items. They are easily caught after posting images of their exploits on SnapChat, where several classmates see this and tell their parents and the school.

2. A victim met a gentleman in an apartment’s parking lot to buy a handgun. As they were agreeing on terms, the gentleman allegedly loaded the gun and demanded the victim’s belongings. The person handed over his money in an envelope, at which point the gentleman got into a vehicle and fled. Instagram posts led to his arrest, on his own accord.

In other instances, police rely on other social media data to assist with crime investigations and even crime prevention. However, there are some risks that come along with it. One example comes from eyewitness recollection and the increase in social media usage. It’s widely known that eyewitness testimony can be unreliable; some research indicates that up to 70% of wrongful convictions are due to eyewitness inaccuracy. With regard to social media, this intensifies as everyone now plays “detective” in news making situations, providing potentially false information on public venues, creating additional work on the part of law enforcement as they sort through millions of social media posts and content and follow up on these leads.

While it can be tricky, law enforcement’s use of social media data has surely been invaluable. It’s important though, as citizens, we let law enforcement do their job and not muddy up the waters, so to speak. I can imagine their social sites receive well more tips than a traditional hotline; they have tools and resources to better sort through information, but it is helpful to “post with caution” when news breaks and not flood inboxes with information that may or may not be helpful.

Using Social Media To Evaluate Job Candidates

The question hiring managers and HR professionals face now is how—and whether—to perform online background checks on job candidates. This is a fair, ‘objective’ review of current realities.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: easysmallbusinesshr.com

Social Media Background Checks: Modern Day Job Screening [Chart]

I was listening to a radio show the other day while I was working, and as they were talking about the role of social media in the hiring process, the guest

I was listening to a radio show the other day while I was working, and as they were talking about the role of social media in the hiring process, the guest

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.bitrebels.com

How to Use Social Employment Background Checks

Employers want to use every tool at their disposal for vetting potential employees – social media is one area that is more “gray” and, while HR departments realize its value, they have many questions about its use, and how to go about vetting a candidate socially.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently published a study around the topic of social media’s use for employment screenings and recruitment. Key findings show that:

43% state that they have used social media research or online searches during the screening/vetting process.

36% have disqualified a potential candidate based on something found in an online search or in a public social media site.

Rob Walker, The Workologist columnist in the New York Times responded to a question on how HR departments can manage social media for employment screening. The response explains it very simply – HR departments should make use of what’s available, and be cautious, but not overly cautious.

Some of the top concerns HR departments have when it comes to using social media as a screening tool include:

Not being able to “unsee” information that they shouldn’t in order to be compliant (ie age, race, marital status, etc), that is easily found when looking at a person’s social media profile

How to go about incorporating social media research – what’s the best method, at what point in the process should this be done, etc?

These concerns may be keeping HR departments from jumping into the social media arena, and they may be missing vital information to help with the decision making process. There are many ways that concerns can easily be addressed.

Use a formal social media research program – whether it’s an outsource or an internal program, using a formal program or software geared toward HR can go a long way. For one, it will be compliant with state and federal laws with regard to employment; there is no chance to see things that you shouldn’t, as that type of information is stripped from the search results. Additionally, a third party vendor will add credibility to the research, which will be a benefit should issues ever arise.

Only use public information – don’t try “friending” or connecting with potential candidates. Privacy settings help those who want to keep some of their social activity from the public arena, and that needs to be respected. A strong social media program only looks at public data – if information is uncovered by viewing someone’s Facebook content that you’re “friends” with, there is a chance that the person has their settings to only show content to their friend list – it is not something that a standard social media search would uncover, so it’s off limits to you.

Use it at the right time – while that “right time” may vary and is still unclear at this point, deciding when to use it and being consistent will help with your strategy. Using social media research as a final tool, after the first round of interviews perhaps, will be helpful in learning more about the serious candidates. It’s good to have conversations within your company to determine which point in the process is best prior to rolling it out. Consistently will not only help make the process more efficient, but may help if there is ever a question of legality/discrimination brought up.

The concept of incorporating social media research into employment background checks is not new, but it is being seen more and more as a valuable tool for HR departments. I’m anticipating that this time next year we’ll be seeing it as a standard part of any employment screening. Learning now and developing a solid strategy will give your company the edge in making good hiring decisions.

Is Uber Doing Enough To Screen Drivers?

Uber has been making news recently, as their background screening policy has come under fire. They recently settled two class action lawsuits regarding their additional “Safe Rides Fee.” The issue wasn’t necessarily the additional fee (which will not go away, but will be changed to a “booking fee”), which Uber states is necessary to offset the costs of the background checks done on drivers and the 24/7 support they provide. Part of the issue was the language used; they referred to the background checks as “industry leading” and perhaps misled customers to believe that their background checks were more involved or in depth than others.

This has found to be not entirely true, as other news had circulated over the summer where four Uber drivers were found to have criminal records, ones that would have prevented them from becoming employed as a taxi driver in Los Angeles, leaving some to wonder how thorough their checks are.

Uber and other companies, such as Lyft, have been game changers in the taxi/rideshare industry. Because the business model is so different than a standard taxi service, it is more important than ever to ensure that drivers are thoroughly screened, and references to ‘industry leading’ background checks should be fully disclosed to give customers a peace of mind when using these services.

Upon review, it appears that Uber is utilizing a strong software program to conduct background checks, including social security confirmation, driving history, criminal records, and a credit check to name a few. Like most companies, adding a social media background check would provide an additional layer of security and potentially uncover issues that may not be found through traditional background checks.

Social media background checks have become more sophisticated and detailed than merely running a Google Search on an individual. Like standard background checks, they are FCRA compliant and provide detailed history of an individual from online resources.

While these new ride sharing programs are gaining steam and providing a popular option for those seeking services, it is more important than ever for these companies to provide a rock solid background check and be transparent with their customers as to what they are doing to keep riders safe. While this will not solve 100% of the issues, a thorough background check of all angles, both standard and online, is a good proactive means to providing the highest quality drivers to their customers.