Overall the past few years, the internet has become a major part of todays society. From Snapchat to Twitter to Instagram and hundred more the use of social media is growing rapidly.  It has become an integral part in many everyday lives. But social media is also being used in a negative way. Bullying and other types of cyber abuse are a growing issue with social media pages.  Social media can also have its upsides. With this relatively new idea growing in the workplace many companies use their account to try and promote their product as well as keep customers returning with incentives.  With these companies growing rapidly the number of jobs grow increasing fast as well. However, with the job shortage in America picking the right employer for your unfilled position can be a tricky task. HR managers and other employers are taking any means available to find the perfect employee including background checks and checking social media pages. Employers have begun to check their potential employer's pages to insure they are putting their best foot forward as a company. But the real question is do employers have the right to check these social media pages for their employees or future employees? By looking at the ethics behind searching social media pages, the idea that the company is doing this to put a truthful, honest employer to be seen by the public. This is important because with the use of social media pages so high, having a company putting the best foot forward can lead to better production and overall satisfaction from customers in the long run. 

Social Media is growing quickly today with more and more users popping up on social media. With eight-nine percent of potential employers using social media monthly, activity is growing quickly within society today (Smith). This number continues to grow.  Many authors think of social media is like "a double-edged sword" where not matter what you are going to get cut (Reyes).  It can either help or hurt your job search (Snagajob). Today about forty percent of companies are using employers to look at their potential employee's social media sites (Smith).  This all started with the growth of the internet in the late twentieth century early twenty-first century (Fountain). By the year two thousand forty percent of the American households had internet access in their homes (Fountain).  From here, internet sites began to arise with allowed individuals to fill out applications online and be screen all without leaving the pleasures of their own home (Fountain).  Also, With the internet growing so rapidly, social media sites began to arise and would forever change the internet into what it is today.  Not only does social media bring a younger crowd to the internet but it also allowed companies to gain business through advertisements and other pages to promote their products. Social media also has gone through quite a large change with the advancement of technology being so large over the past two decades (Stollack).  Social Media growth in the past decade has made a huge impact in the workplace. Site such as Facebook and Twitter are seeing almost a billion users each month and is growing steadily still (Stollack).  Little things such as business cards having become obsolete to sites such as LinkedIn making face to face communication almost extinct (Stollack). The increase in technology being used, has lead to social media pages beginning to be search when it comes to the job search process which has become a large controversy that is growing as the technology around becomes more advanced.  

With technology growing, background checks are also easier to give. Employers give background checks due to federal laws, terrorist acts, or false credentials to ensure that the potential candidate that they may be hiring is an overall well-rounded truthful person (Background Checks).  A background contains criminal records, past employers, credit records, drug tests, social media sites, etc. to give a company the best possible information to make a decision about their potential candidate (Background Checks).  Jobs that envolve children or the elderly are more likely to require a background check than others but many jobs now and days are automatically requiring these background checks (Background Checks). By conducting these background checks companies are given even  more information to find the best possible employee for the job opening. Without background checks, more lying and cheating the system would occur causing the companies to not put their best employees in the field. This would break the cycle mentioned above leading to chaos throughout the company.

Social media can also help out within the workplace. It can lead to a wider audience being reached, expand research and marketing, and creating more open communication being introduced in the company (Daniel).  Companies can also use social media in the office by sharing profiles and blogs or podcasts to help keep track of any information talked about during meetings or conversation (Daniel).  This can help lead to more jobs being made within the company because the company is creating more progress. This then leads to social media being used yet again to try and find employees and the cycle will continue until a maximum profit is reached for the company.  The social media also helps recruiters find candidates easily (Daniel). Apps help find online profiles of candidates who may subscribe to a company Twitter or Facebook once hence again helping the cycle continue (Daniel). The workplaces using technology has tied into the idea of many applications being online. Now and days most interviews can even be found going through FaceTime, Oovoo, or even Skype instead of face to face interviews between a candidate and the employer. With all the technology growing so advanced, face to face communication has gone from being something found on a daily basis to many being able to work from home never having an physical contact when it comes to their work day. 

This idea that having a good social media pages for your company has already came up as a problem in todays society. Sometimes social media can backfire against workers.  Matt Watson, a 30-year-old man lost his job at All City Coffee because of posts he made on social media (Lacitis).  Watson wrote on his blog "'I like to use a lot of big words when I tweet, that way if my boss ever finds my twitter account, he won't understand any of it'" (Lacitis).  This along with many other derogatory post was found on his page leading to his termination for the coffee company (Lacitis).  The post was would by two men who found Watson's blog and reported it to Watson's boss with the inappropriate posts (Lacitis).  This examples goes to show that even after being hired that social media can still have an effect on your job.  Data has been found that eleven percent of employers have had to fire someone over an inappropriate post they may have written about their place of work (Reyes).  Watson was not the only employee to lose his job over inappropriate social media posts. A Denver math teacher, Carly McKinney was placed on leave after a Twitter account was found with posts about weed as well as inappropriate photos (Broderick). After deliberation the women was fired because of her inappropriate actions just like Watson, the barista. (Broderick). From this article, we learned that even the smallest of posts can end up hurting an individual so much to the point of getting fired from your job. If the employees would have kept this information to themselves and off social media, both individuals would have had the chance in keeping their jobs. 

Many different items can cause employers to not hire employers. California University of Pennsylvania's Career and Professional Development Center created a list reasons why employers disregarded a certain applicant because of items they found on social media. These points include candidates with poor communication skills, lying about qualifications, inappropriate photos or information on these sites, and anything about drinking or drugs that may have been posted (Cal U).  Having inappropriate, unnecessary information on your page makes it look like you are "letting it all hang out" to any potential employers (Snagajob). Also, bad mouthing any previous employers shows that you are not really dedicated to your job (Snagajob). It will leave the company wondering why it is even worth it to hire you (Snagajob).  Finally, before any interview, stalking the company is not a good idea (Snagajob). This could lead to unwanted information coming out in the interview and lead to a very awkward situation (Snagajob).  The goal is for non of these situations to be found on any social media pages or found during your interview. If you do have of these issues on your social media, although they were never be gone for good it is best to try and take these off your page and any other page it may be posted on.  Once something is posted on the internet, it is on there for good. The information can still be found even if you delete a post.  Sometimes, many candidates do not even know that their pages are being looked at and broken apart when they are applying for jobs. The reality is that "Hiring mangers will use any publicly available information to learn more about you" whether that information is good or bad and you may never know that they look at these pages (Lipschultz). Companies will do almost anything to try and find information on any potential candidates for a job they may have open even if it is unethical. Companies will use your social media pages as well as any friends that you may have that seem to seen on your page a lot (Vanderkam). If their pages are inappropriate, companies see that as their influence on you (Vanderkam). The best idea is to unfriend or disconnect form anyone that may have a negative influence on your chance of putting your best foot forward when it comes to cleaning your social media pages. Companies are looking to put forth the best qualified candidates to fill their empty positions.

In order to avoid incidents like the one stated above from happening, measurements can be taken to keep social media pages clean and presentable to potential employers. Keeping your social media pages clean lets potential employers know that you are serious about wanting to apply for a specific job (Vanderkam). This can be seen by removing any inappropriate photos you may have on your page, putting higher privacy settings, and removing any complaints you may have from previous jobs that could be seen as inappropriate. This is also known as not letting it all hang out (Snagajob).  Putting your privacy settings on the highest settings also helps from letting any friends, family, coworkers, etc. posting anything that you may not see appropriate for your social media pages (Snagajob). The author also suggests that you should not be invisible online either (Vanderkam). She suggests that having a LinkedIn or a blog will show employers that you are ready and mature enough for the job showing that you know the proper use of these sites (Vanderkam).  Others suggest that by post interesting articles about your industry or pictures with friends from events can give yourself a one up on the competition by marketing yourself as the best product available (Lipschultz). You should always ask yourself the questions "Would your mother approve" or "Would my next boss approve" when you decide to post your next picture or tweet on the internet (Lipschultz). Also, the social media pages can be used towards your advantage (Snagajob).  Use your friends to ask if they are hiring at their workplace or if they of anywhere that may be hiring (Snagajob). By taking the following steps, It becomes easier to but your best foot forward when putting yourself into the job market craziness that candidates are predicted to face. 

Employers are looking for the overall well rounded employee. California University of Pennsylvania gave reasons on why employers hired applicants based off of what they found during the social media screenings. Employers seem to be looking for candidates who are creative, well-rounded, and that have good references while still acting very professional on these pages (Cal U).  This will good communication skills and any awards or professional qualifications given will let you be the most well rounded potential employee while still giving off a professional look (Cal U). It also helps if you are very selective of who you friend on these sites (Cal U). Many companies will look at your friends to see how they influence you.  Also, having your page cover your entire life or personality will help get a job as well. It allows employers to see you as a well rounded person. For example, if you are a dog person and love sports it is okay for those to be found in profile feed. It shows you as a caring, determined person who is well rounded overall.  If you have all of the items listed above, it gives you a higher chance of getting the job compared to if the information on your page is not appropriate for the potential job that your applying to be placed into. 

Some believe that social media monitoring by companies is not a good idea. An argument is that companies are too busy focusing on the social media of their employees than they are their company which can be a waste of time and money (Kumar).  Another example is that this monitor just makes employers put up fake accounts or but up restriction walls so that the company can not see the pages (Kumar). The point trying to be made is that there is not a point in monitoring the social media pages because employees are going to find any way possible to dodge their pages being searched by their employer.  A second issue is the issue of bias. The searching of social media could bring up different points of view in race or politics which could lead to a company not following the Equal Employment Opportunity (Kumar).  These points however make no sense. Companies are responsible for the actions of their employees. If a employee has issues on their social media pages, this reflects the company itself as well as the individual. The company is responsible for the individual because they hired them. Also, due to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act companies are not allowed any bias when going through social media. This means they can not judge anyone of their race or religion. 

Overall, the ethics behind social media pages being checked are to ensure the company is hiring the best man for the job and are putting their best face out into the world. Social media checking is just one part of the piece when it comes to this. By searching the pages, this allows companies to ensure that the employer they plan to pick is what they say they are and is right for the job. Without checking social media pages, mistakes that could effect the entire company could be made affect the company or even America as a whole. 

