Social Media Background Investigations

Who Should Get A Social Media Investigation Done:

The most obvious contenders for needing a social media investigation done on someone would be possible employers checking up on their applicants, someone on a dating site wanting to check on their love interest, anybody trying to locate someone, or even someone checking up on their own social media footprint.

There are some considerations to look in to when thinking of doing a research-intensive investigation, however. The time it takes for a single person to comb through all social media is intensive. Some people spend hours or even days looking meticulously through Facebook profiles, LinkedIn contacts and Instagram tags trying to track people down just to come up with nothing. This is where a knowledgeable private investigator can come in handy. In the modern age, social media research is a common practice by investigators and their expertise and skill make it far less labor-intensive for them than the average person.

 

Can Background Investigations include Social Media:

Typical investigations do not include social media information. They will include items like a subject's address and criminal history. When a licensed third-party company does a social media check, it is separate from public or legal documents. They take the time to sift through multiple profiles and redact any sensitive information if the check is conducted for employment purposes. Just keep in mind that even the best social media checks can only pull up information that has already been in the public domain. Any digging or hacking of social media accounts to find private information is illegal by any person or company.

Social Media Research- For Employers:

Employers conducting social media investigations have more at stake when it comes to legal ramifications. It is no secret that a lot of employers use social media checks to identify top talent, and sometimes as a core part of pre-employment background screening. Social media investigations should always be conducted before the interview takes place, however. Failure to do so opens an employer up to suspicions of rejection based upon a candidate’s protected statuses. Of those employers who have used social media investigations to reject candidates, their top reasons for rejection range from “provocative/inappropriate photographs, videos or information”, “discriminatory comments on race, gender, religion etc.,” to “candidate lied about their qualifications.”

 

Social Media Investigations- For Private Citizens:

Social media investigations are used by private citizens for various reasons, from checking out that person they are talking to online to trying to track down a long-lost high school friend. While private investigators don’t have access to information that’s private on social media, they can use different investigative techniques to gather more information than the typical person. They can also find more information in less time than other, less trained individuals.

 

To be sure, social media is not going to disappear anytime soon and social media background reporting will remain necessary for private citizens and corporations alike. Using a private investigator for social media research, whether it’s to check your own footprint, to check a job applicant or find a missing person, is the best way to discover what you need to know. Click Here to get more information on best practices for social media checks and how a private eye can help.