Tools, Potential, and Pitfalls of Social Media Screening: Social Profiling in the Era of AI-Assisted Recruiting

Yeqing Kong Georgia Institute of Technology ; Huiling Ding North Carolina State University

Abstract

Employers are increasingly turning to innovative artificial intelligence recruiting technologies to evaluate candidates’ online presence and make hiring decisions. Such social media screening, or social profiling, is an emerging approach to assessing candidates’ social influence, personalities, and workplace behaviors through their publicly shared data on social networking sites. This article introduces the processes, benefits, and risks of social profiling in employment decision making. The authors provide important guidance for job applicants, technical and professional communication instructors, and hiring professionals on how to strategically respond to the opportunities and challenges of automated social profiling technologies.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2024-01-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519231199478
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. College Composition and Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 7 →
  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Rhetoric Society Quarterly

References (95) · 4 in this index

  1. Accredited Schools Online (2022, October 27). How to nail your social media profiles in…
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  3. Proceedings of the 2005 joint annual meeting of the interface and the classification soci…
  4. Computers and Composition
  5. Basulto D. (2012, May 3). Is social profiling discrimination? Washington Post …
Show all 95 →
  1. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology
  2. 10.1089/cyber.2018.0670
     ↗
  3. Southern Journal of Business and Ethics
  4. The development and psychometric properties of LIWC-22
  5. Technical Communication
  6. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law
  7. Cahmen D. (2022). The role and impact of personality in sales . h…
  8. CareerBuilder. (2018, August 9). More than half of employers have found content on soci…
  9. Intercom
  10. 10.1111/jcc4.12072
     ↗
  11. 10.1080/15332845.2012.668651
     ↗
  12. Introduction to algorithms
  13. Council of Europe. (2010). Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)13 of the Committee of Ministers …
  14. 10.1111/1748-8583.12033
     ↗
  15. Programmatic Perspectives
  16. Harvard Business Review
  17. 10.1007/978-3-319-29989-1_2
     ↗
  18. 10.1002/joec.12074
     ↗
  19. Fair Credit Reporting Act 15 U.S.C § 1681. (2018). https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/statutes/fair-c…
  20. 10.2139/ssrn.2366564
     ↗
  21. Computers and Composition
  22. International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies
  23. 10.1177/0093650208321782
     ↗
  24. Harwell D. (2018, November 23). Wanted: The “perfect babysitter.” Must pass AI scan for respect and attitude.…
  25. Heaslip E. (2022, June 6). The complete guide to high volume hiring. Vervoe …
  26. 10.1007/s11623-006-0140-3
     ↗
  27. 10.1007/978-1-4020-6914-7_2
     ↗
  28. 10.1007/978-1-4020-9498-9_14
     ↗
  29. How Humantic AI Works . (n.d.) https://humantic.ai/resources/How%…
  30. 10.1108/IJCHM-01-2021-0073
     ↗
  31. Humantic AI. (n.d). Create analysis . https://api.humantic.ai/#cr…
  32. Humantic AI. (2020, August 28). EQ, Talent Acquisition and AI . h…
  33. IBM. (n.d.). What is natural language processing? https://www.ibm…
  34. Janz T. (n.d.). The accuracy of instant talent analytics: A personal network validation…
  35. 10.7551/mitpress/8435.001.0001
     ↗
  36. Jobvite Recruiter Nation Survey . (2020). https://web.jobvite.com/rs/328-BQS-080/images…
  37. Kalkat A. (2019, October 13). How to assess soft skills and personality at scale …
  38. International Journal of Advance Foundation and Research in Computer
  39. Information, Communication & Society
  40. 10.1093/jla/laz001
     ↗
  41. Computers and Composition
  42. 10.1145/3472714.3473697
     ↗
  43. 10.1371/journal.pone.0201703
     ↗
  44. 10.1108/ER-04-2015-0072
     ↗
  45. 10.1007/978-3-319-29989-1_1
     ↗
  46. 10.1145/2566486.2568045
     ↗
  47. LinkedIn Talent Solutions. (2019). 2019 global talent trends: The 4 trends transforming…
  48. 10.1007/978-3-031-02145-9
     ↗
  49. 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.05.009
     ↗
  50. 10.1088/1742-6596/1140/1/012043
     ↗
  51. Mithal M. (2011). Letter to Renee Jackson, Counsel for Social Intelligence Corporation …
  52. Mitrou L., Kandias M., Stavrou V., Gritzalis D. (2014). Social media profiling: A panopticon or omniopticon t…
  53. Ngai J. (2011, November 12). Is there a standard for measuring social influence? …
  54. 10.1109/CAC.2017.8244176
     ↗
  55. 10.1111/ijsa.12067
     ↗
  56. Spanish Journal of Psychology
  57. 10.18574/nyu/9781479833641.001.0001
     ↗
  58. 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101647
     ↗
  59. Journal of International and Comparative Law
  60. Pandian A. (2022, December 31). Professor Michal Kosinski breaks down how personality A…
  61. Patterson D. (2018, November 29). AI babysitting service Predictim vows to stay online …
  62. 10.1609/hcomp.v7i1.5281
     ↗
  63. Pennebaker J. W., Boyd R.L., Jordan K., Blackburn K. (2015). The development and psycho…
  64. Linguistic inquiry and word count: LIWC 2001
  65. Recruitment and selection: Strategies for workforce planning and assessment
  66. 10.1108/JEIM-11-2020-0436
     ↗
  67. 10.1016/j.cogsys.2023.01.006
     ↗
  68. 10.1080/08832323.2013.848832
     ↗
  69. 10.1145/3380851.3416774
     ↗
  70. 10.1177/0149206313503018
     ↗
  71. 10.1007/978-3-319-29989-1_14
     ↗
  72. Academy of Strategic Management Journal
  73. 10.1016/j.clsr.2010.11.009
     ↗
  74. Multiliteracies for a digital age
  75. Social Intelligence Corp. (2017). Social Intelligence white paper: How to mitigate bran…
  76. Social Intelligence Corp. (2020). Pre-hire strategy in the digital age: Combining old a…
  77. Social Intelligence story . (n.d.). Social Intelligence. https://www.socialintel.com/about/
  78. Social media screening at scale . (n.d.). https://info.socialintel.com/social-media-hir…
  79. Stevenson S. (2012, April 24). What your Klout score really means …
  80. 10.1111/ijsa.12277
     ↗
  81. Thibodeaux W. (2017, November 3). This artificial intelligence can predict how you’ll behave at work based on…
  82. 10.1007/s10672-014-9250-5
     ↗
  83. Tolan J. (n.d.). 3 tips for hiring in high-turnover industries . …
  84. 10.1108/PR-12-2019-0680
     ↗
  85. Twigg L. (2020, April 6). Holistic screening: How social media screening complements your background screenin…
  86. 10.1108/SHR-07-2018-0051
     ↗
  87. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2014, March 12). Social media is part of…
  88. 10.1007/s10672-021-09372-4
     ↗
  89. What is social media screening . (n.d.). Social Intelligence. https://www.socialintel.c…
  90. Zivkovic M. (2022, September 2). High volume hiring: Top 3 challenges and how to overcome them. Toggl Blog. h…