When it comes to Social Media and all its machinations and platforms and applications, make no mistake about it... not only is Big Brother watching but so is your entire extended family.
And if they get too busy to watch, that's ok, there are trained professionals who will be more than glad to run a social media background check and/or monitor everything you do and say in our digitally enhanced world. In the new world, the plug never gets pulled and the power never goes off.
This was the opening paragraph from a recent press release...
"SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Social Intelligence Corp., a provider of specialized employment screening and monitoring services, today launched its Social Intelligence product line, a range of analytics and services designed to scour the expanding web of social media for insight into employment and organizational risks. The new product line features a candidate screening service called Social Intelligence Hiring and an active monitoring service called Social Intelligence Monitoring, which enables companies to enforce social media policy and limit their exposure to reputational damage and legal liability."
I'm sure there are more companies that offer this kind of service and if there are not you can bet your next Tweet Up there will be as the background screening services market is a $3 billion industry.
More from the press release...
"Social Intelligence Hiring provides HR professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to gain insight from social media while ensuring consistent hiring practices and adherence to State and Federal employment laws. Tracking the worldwide network of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, individual blogs and thousands of other sources, Social Intelligence Hiring provides a comprehensive online profile of job applicants."
"Social Intelligence Monitoring provides employers with the tools necessary to protect their companies from the misuse of social media by ensuring employees are adhering to the guidelines defined by their social media policy."
And a quote from Max Drucker, CEO and President of Social Intelligence Corp...
"Almost every company hiring today is 'Googling' potential candidates. But that is not enough; companies need to have a systematic, compliance-friendly approach that encompasses the deep web of sites and blogs extending far beyond Facebook and Twitter. Social media has been the wild west of HR for the last several years; this product launch represents a significant step toward social media screening becoming fully integrated into the HR workflow, complete with best practices that adhere to state and federal employment laws."
I think what Max touched on is key. Face it, whenever any of us want to find out about anything, what do we do? We Google it.
And he is spot when says "social media has been the wild west of HR for years" but he brings up a very pertinent point, one I am certain he purposely included and that is the use of the phrases "compliance-friendly approach" and "best practices that adhere to state and federal employment laws."
Above all else, his company and those like his - and those companies that use this kind of service, will need to be cognizant of any and all state and federals laws, rules & regulations i.e. privacy and social media.
The bottom line is if you are "socially" active - and you know who you are, before you hit that enter/post/send button, be sure... just, be sure.
Of course on the other hand there's Google CEO Eric Schmidt who believes that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth.
But Eric, what about those of us who are not young anymore but want to change our identity? I am not one of these people mind you but I'm sure many would jump at the chance for a Social Media Do Over, dont you?
What do you think about all of this?
Obviously we should all know by now (you would think anyway) that what we say in an online arena, can and will be used against us if deemed inappropriate by the powers that be, whomever they are.
Do you watch what you say and post?
Do you hit the pause button before hitting the enter button?