Bad Hires Cost More Than Money–Why You Need Social Media Screening in 2025

Over 30 years ago, when the general public first began to dip their toes into the internet and social media, there were some hesitations. Chatrooms came with warnings, oversharing was discouraged, and online interactions were often anonymous. Fast forward to today, and the digital landscape has completely transformed. Social media platforms are now central to how people communicate and share opinions—often with little thought to privacy.

At the same time, hiring has evolved from mailed-in resumes and phone call follow-ups to digital applications and AI-assisted recruitment. But while businesses have embraced technology in hiring, many are still relying on outdated methods to assess candidate risk. On online platforms, candidates openly express their views, document their personal lives, and engage in conversations. However, what they choose to share online can reveal behaviors that pose risks to employers and their employees.

The truth is, traditional hiring tools and even background checks don’t account for the reality of how people behave today. Social media screening is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have.

What You Need to Know About Social Media Laws

The people you hire can make or break your workplace. Someone who gives back to the community outside of work is likely to be empathetic and a strong role model while they’re in the office. But, some potential hires who might even seem like they’d make great coworkers, but an online search reveals they’ve been threatening others online.

In fact, the way people behave outside of the office can reveal a lot about how they might act back at work. And, the recent Okonowsky v. Garland case from 2024, involving the harassment of a fellow employee via social media, makes it clear that online conduct transcends the online world. In fact, it extends into the workplace and businesses have a responsibility to ensure that poor online employee behavior doesn’t cross the boundary of workplace misconduct.

Misconduct on social media–such as harassment, promoting violence, or engaging in illegal activities–can have significant implications for workplace culture and the company’s public image. This recent ruling reaffirmed that employers have the responsibility to take disciplinary action for online misconduct if it directly impacts the workplace or violates established policies.

More concerning, however, is the potential impact social media misconduct may have on others’ physical and psychological safety. As seen in the Okonowsky v. Garland case, online harassment or threats can escalate beyond the digital realm, leading to real-world consequences such as physical harm or severe emotional distress for those targeted.

Beyond physical safety, the psychological toll of online harassment, such as trolling, cyberbullying or hate speech, can lead to anxiety, depression, or feelings of isolation. For businesses, such incidents can impact workplace safety and, if employees or clients become targets, create a hostile work environment.

But the risks don’t stop there. In our hyper-connected world, customers, investors, and business partners can easily uncover problematic posts tied to an employee, putting the company’s reputation at stake. Viral backlash, public scrutiny, and lost business opportunities can follow, damaging not just internal culture but also external relationships and long-term financial stability. What an employee says online doesn’t just reflect on them—it reflects on the organization as a whole.

Employers must recognize the line between personal and professional behavior is blurred in the digital age. While employees may have a right to express themselves online, businesses also need to take action to protect their reputation and maintain a safe work environment.

Online Behavior is Changing, and So Should Online Screening

The digital landscape today is vastly different from what it was even ten years ago. What makes the new era of online content different from previous years is the fact that a new generation of users are on the internet. And this generation, Gen Z, have grown up with the internet their whole lives, meaning they’re bringing unique values, experiences, and attitudes toward technology and online communication.

As digital natives, younger members of the workforce are accustomed to sharing all aspects of their lives, the good and, in some cases, the bad, with an online audience. With these generations already comprising half of the workforce and projected to make up 74% by 2030, the volume of online content they produce continues to grow.

Despite not growing up with the internet, social media, and public communications in the same way, Gen X and Baby Boomers are also online sharing their lives and contributing to the overwhelming amount of data being shared.

As a result, the likelihood of employers encountering inappropriate or controversial posts during the hiring process has also increased. In fact, 2023 research uncovered that 1 in 10 candidates engage in online misconduct. And, preliminary 2024 data suggests that while the number of job candidates engaging in misconduct is remaining relatively steady, the types of misconduct found in social media screenings are becoming more extreme.

All of this emphasizes the growing need for businesses to adopt robust candidate screening practices as they face an increased risk of hiring individuals whose online behavior could harm workplace culture, safety, reputation, and profitability.

Is Your Online Screening Process Suited for Today’s Workforce?

As the workforce evolves and AI reshapes the job search process, businesses must ask themselves: Are traditional candidate screening methods still effective?

Historically, candidate screening relied heavily on resumes and interviews—methods that, while useful, often fail to provide a complete picture of a candidate's behavior and character. But today, job seekers are leveraging AI to fine-tune resumes, auto-generate cover letters, and even craft interview responses, making it harder than ever for employers to discern who a candidate truly is. In a hiring landscape where technology is being used on both sides of the equation, companies need a more modern solution to gain a holistic view of candidates.

Thanks to the shift in the way people share their lives online, there’s now a wealth of publicly available information that offers an unfiltered look into a candidate’s long-term behavior, providing insights that polished applications lack. However, traditional screening methods simply aren't equipped to analyze this vast amount of data.

As a result, employers who fail to incorporate social media screening risk missing clear indicators of misconduct that could pose serious threats to workplace culture, business reputation, and revenues.

To stay ahead of these changes, businesses must move beyond outdated screening techniques and embrace solutions that sift through AI-assisted applications to effectively analyze their web presence.. Traditional methods, while important, should be supplemented by modern technologies capable of scanning social media, blogs, forums, and other online sources for signs of misconduct. While resumes, interviews, and skills-based assessments might inform hiring teams about a candidate’s ability to complete a job, most hiring teams lack an unbiased and substantiated way to meaningfully understand how candidates may behave in the workplace.

So, the question isn’t whether you should adapt to the new era of candidate screening—it’s whether you can afford not to.

Adopting Social Media Screening Technology

With online behavior shifting and new technologies emerging to help candidates with job applications, social media screening is essential in our digital-first world. The right candidate screening tool helps organizations make data-driven decisions about who the best candidates are while safeguarding their business from the risks posed by patterns of dangerous online and in-person activity.

However, not all screening solutions are created equal. When it comes to comprehensive screening technology, solutions must cover both major and emerging social media platforms, including video-based platforms like TikTok and new networks like BlueSky, to ensure a thorough evaluation of candidates across all ages and demographics in the workplace.

Compliance is also critical. Screening technology must adhere to employment laws and privacy regulations, ensuring that hiring teams can legally and ethically evaluate candidates. Scalability is also essential, as businesses need a solution that can efficiently analyze large applicant pools across a variety of online sources, from blog posts to social media comments and online forums, all while minimizing the time to hire.

Further, adopting social media screening technology is far more effective when it seamlessly integrates with existing hiring tech stacks, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow. Additionally, every business has unique hiring standards and risk factors, meaning that definitions of undesirable behavior can vary. That’s why the best solutions are highly configurable—allowing organizations to tailor screening criteria, filter for specific keywords across global languages, adhere to industry regulations, and align with internal hiring policies. A flexible, compliant screening tool ensures that businesses can identify misconduct that poses the greatest risk to their workplace, employees, reputation, and overall success.

Beyond the technology itself, businesses need a screening partner that facilitates a smooth transition to their new screening technology while providing continuous support and training to help maximize the benefits of online candidate screening. That partner is Fama.

Fama offers the most advanced and comprehensive social media screening solution, designed to be compliant, scalable, and configurable while seamlessly integrating with leading ATS platforms. More than just a technology provider, Fama serves as a strategic hiring partner, guiding businesses through implementation, providing ongoing support, and delivering data-driven insights to proactively mitigate hiring risks.

In an era where AI-enhanced job applications make it harder to distinguish candidates, outdated screening methods are no longer enough. Fama’s technology helps businesses make informed hiring decisions, protect workplace culture, and safeguard their reputation by identifying candidates who pose risks before they have an opportunity to step foot into the office. With a modern, compliant solution, companies can ensure they’re hiring individuals who align with their values and contribute to a safer, more trustworthy, and profitable work environment.

Hiring the right people requires the right team on your side. To gain a holistic understanding of candidates and ease the implementation process, get started by booking a demo with Fama today!